Warm-Up #2: Spyglass Hill Golf Course

We stayed overnight Tuesday evening at the Inn at Spanish Bay on the Pebble Beach property. We had arranged a package deal that included a round of golf at the Spyglass Hill golf course. I caught a shuttle to the golf course on Wednesday morning to play another “warm-up” round of golf. The shuttle took me down 17-Mile Drive which provides ample sightseeing of the beautiful Monterey Peninsula coastline. Julie spent her day sightseeing along 17-Mile Drive and drove to Carmel for lunch.

17-Mile Drive

Round: Warm-Up #2

Location: Pebble Beach, CA
Golf Digest Best-In-State Rank: #7

Date: 4 Jan, tee off at 11:00 AM 

Conditions: sunny skies, calm winds, 56 degrees

Yardage: 6,538
Lost balls: 1

Score: 92 on a par 72

Our foursome included John & Al (two retired NY Stock Exchange floor traders from Jersey) and Gary (an IBM salesman from Marin county just north of San Francisco). Since Tuesday was the day of the Republican presidential caucus in Iowa, the subject of politics naturally came up. John & Al were not shy in sharing their views of our current president, as you would fully expect from Jersey natives. One interesting facet Gary shared with me was that he had spent 2-years in an ex-pat assignment in Dubai.

After teeing off, we worked our way down the #1 fairway toward the sea. A 6-point buck grazed in the rough, undisturbed by our passing by. The sound of harbor seals barking in the distance helped set a tranquil setting for a round of golf.

Hole #1

View from #2 green

The golf course was difficult to play, but my score was indicative of a lack of ability to focus more than anything else. I think I was still coming down from a Pebble Beach high. A bad round of golf is still much better than a good day in the office. I like being retired!

The deer were plentiful, tame, and let us play through without any delay!

There is one more item worth mentioning from my day at Pebble Beach. It is customary to keep the ball used to shoot a hole-in-one. The ball that I saved was a retirement gift to me from my brother, John. As a salesman who’s career includes experience with Maytag, Phillips, Ford and LG John has had plenty of opportunities to play in golf outings with his customers. It was easy to tell that this particular ball came from John as you can see in the picture below.

"The Home Depot" logo ball