The Links at Spanish Bay has never had the appeal of the other tourist courses on the 17-mile Drive.
The Pebble Beach Company
of Links to the Spanish Gulfat Pebble Beach, was conceived as a Scottish-inspired course, a nod to the old country on the California coast.
In keeping with this theme, a bagpiper plays at sunset on the 18th green. It’s a fitting touch. But a second fiddle would also make sense. Of the three tourist courses along the 17-mile drive (Pebble Beach Golf Links AND Spyglass are the other two), the Gulf of Spain is rarely one’s first choice.
Pebble Beach Resorts would like that to change. In late 2023, ownership announced its plans to upgrade Spanish Bay with its siblings through a renovation handled by architects Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner. At the time, the schedule for that job was up in the air. It’s not anymore. A timeline was revealed last week. The course will close on March 18, 2026 and reopen next spring, ahead of the 2027 US Open at Pebble Beach.
“Partnering with Gil, Jim and their team gives us the utmost confidence that Spanish Bay will be a must-play course on par with other courses,” said David Stivers, CEO of Pebble Beach Company, in an accompanying statement. the news.
Hanse and Wagner are no strangers to major projects. In addition to their original work, which includes such Top 100 GOLF Magazines and like Ohoopee Match Club, in Georgia, and CapRock Ranch, in Nebraska, they have become a go-to duo for big-name restorations and renovations. In California alone, they have orchestrated edits at Los Angeles Country Club, Olympic Club and Lake Merced Golf Club, among others.
In the Spanish Gulf, they are given a picturesque canvas, along a very sheltered coast. Designed by the trio of Robert Trent Jones Jr., Tom Watson and Sandy Tatum, and first opened for play in 1987, Spanish Bay was built to recreate and protect native dunes that had been lost over the decades. Its current route runs through those dunes, then into the Del Monte Forest before returning to the coast toward its closure.
Hanse and Wagner’s work will stay within the original development footprint. Beyond that, few details of their plans have been revealed. But in a video posted by Pebble Beach, Hanse described the potential as “crazy” and said he expects the project to be transformative for both the playability and appearance of the course. The Pebble Beach Company, for its part, has said it expects the Gulf of Spain to transform from a “1980s-era, Scottish-inspired course into a modern California masterpiece.”
Even before Hanse and Wagner begin turning over the land, other work in Spanish Bay will begin rebuilding public access trails on property that was damaged in recent storms. This part of the project will begin this spring, with the course starting early next year. Until then, the bagpiper will continue to play every evening when the sun goes down.
