Del Monte Golf Course opened on May 1, 1897 as a nine-hole layout designed by English-born golf and polo enthusiast Charles E. Maud, built on land leased from David Jacks because the Hotel Del Monte's own grounds were already occupied by a racetrack and polo field. The course expanded to 18 holes in 1903, becoming one of the first 18-hole courses in California. In 1920, British architect William Herbert Fowler redesigned the routing, and much of what players walk today reflects his work. Because the older Presidio course in San Francisco was temporarily converted to a drill field during the Spanish-American War, Del Monte holds the distinction of being the oldest course in continuous operation west of the Mississippi River, still played on its original site.

On the course

The course sits inland from the Pacific near the foot of Jacks Peak, on relatively flat parkland terrain with modest elevation changes toward the far end of the property. Mature pine, oak, and cypress trees line tight fairways, and the small, sloping greens — pitched strongly back-to-front and ringed by bunkers — are the defining test. The original out-and-back routing remains largely intact, although the corner that once held holes 15 through 18 and the old first hole was lost to Highway 1 and the Hyatt in the 1960s, prompting a reshuffle that turned the old second into the new opener. The par-5 13th asks for a carry over a small tree-filled ravine.

Who it suits

Del Monte hosted the first California State Amateur in 1912 and the 1916 Western Amateur, the first time that event was played west of the Continental Divide. It still hosts the Monterey Open and Monterey City Amateur and serves as one of the three courses used for the Pebble Beach Invitational. At roughly 6,357 yards and par 72, it rewards accuracy and short-game touch rather than power, making it a fit for players who want classic, walkable, century-old golf without the wind exposure of the peninsula's ocean-side courses.

Architect: Charles E. Maud · Opened: 1897