Pasatiempo Golf Club

I've been wanting to play this course for decades and finally made my dream come true. The course is nestled up in the forested hills above Santa Cruz and the views are amazing. Just like the course itself, what a layout!! I played a Monday and our foursome had no one in front, or behind us. A rare treat! The course was in great shape, especially the greens. They were perfect and trickier as heck. Now I know what the Pro's are putting on every week! The pin placements were tough that day, because there was a junior tournament earlier in the morning. You'll love them though, but its hard to get the ball into the hole due to the fast speed and undulations that are classic Alastair McKenzie. Like bunkers? You're in luck because there are hundreds of them in all shapes, sizes and angles...good luck...bet you go bunker to bunker like we all did! The staff was great and the facilities top notch. Be sure to ask the pro shop guys about Pasatiempo's connection to Augusta...it's a classic!

Can't wait to play it again!

I am one of those golfers that hates paying more than $40 for a round of golf. That said I did pay $170 for this round, very well spent. I am almost 69 years old and I walked the course checking out everything. The gentlemen I was partnered with had played the course before and he really helped me out. The course is just beautiful, fairways are in just great shape, bunkers have real sand, greens were fast but true and the tee boxes were the best I have ever hit off of. In my ratings for value I put excellent because walking this course you can see that it takes a lot of money to maintain it. As I always put in my reviews you get what you pay for and I got my money's worth today. These courses are really out of my normal expenses but once in a while I do it, I guess you could say one of my bucket lists. Highly recommend this course.

Playing Pasatiempo overwhelms the senses of even the most hardened golf critic (me).

I can think of dozens of courses that I've roasted over the years for these problems:

A lack of a quality practice facility.

Safety nets protecting homes and roads too close to the course.

Fencing within the routing where holes dangerously interact with one another.

Parallel holes where stray balls can end up in your fairway.

Holes along roads.

A hole where the length and difficulty is out of whack with the par on the card.

A layout too short by modern standards to hold any prominent event.

Pasatiempo has all of these 'issues', and I could care less. The place is so special that it's easy to overlook such minor details.

Walking Dr. Alister MacKenzie's home course is simply one of the best days in golf. Each MacKenzie bunker looks like its own work of art. The greens might be the most interesting in the game. Some tough holes I may never solve - no. 1 and no. 11 specifically - but it sure is fun to try.

If Pasatiempo isn't on the itinerary of every bucket-list chaser coming to Pebble Beach, then they're not doing the trip right.

Thanks, Doc. We owe you a cold one in golf heaven for leaving such a treasure behind.

Genuinely difficult course in good condition. Fair by tough. All should experience at least once. Saturday round, late morning, took 5hours. All staff were very helpful.

Weather was great, Course was amazing, Price seems a little high, but great facilities and friendly staff. Resturant was closed due to a private function, but had a beer in the Tap Room after the round. It was a memorable day.

This is a great and very challenging golf course. It makes you think about every shot and placement of shots is key. The course is in great condition right now as well. I'd highly recommend it, but bring your A-game!

Course in great shape but were sanded then watered so puddles on the green ,not all but a few. Bathrooms on the course did not wook a few of the water dispensers not functioning, no cart person so no water to drink. I realize it was 0800 tee time but staff never inforned us of any issues. So paying that much money and traveling form Phoenix to play there was disappointing

It is among my favorite things to play a course that you had high expectations going in and actually have the experience over-deliver.

I honestly cannot be effusive enough in my praise for this track. It is a little out of the way, but anyone traveling from San Francisco to the Monterey Peninsula to play should not pass up the opportunity to tee it up here.

There is a vibe here that harkens back to the early 1900s. A classic old-school layout built in the tradition of dramatic elevation changes and natural hazards. It is rugged, but the fairways and greens blend seamlessly into into the surrounding environs. The bunkering is a hallmark. Cavernous traps guard greens and the fairway bunkering is sound.

Elevation changes and sloping fairways are a natural defense of the course. The par-4 10th hole sweeps from right to left, feeding into a tricky green guarded by a massive trap on the left. The par-4 11th is one of the toughest par 4s I can remember playing. The second shot uphill over a barranca requires a 2-3 club up and a false front on the green will still repel approaches.

The variety of the holes is tremendous. The par-4 14th is an excellent example of what makes the course special. This would otherwise be a rather straightforward, mundane hole if not for the hillocks and hummocks on the left side of the landing area of the fairway. Balls collect here, much like links golf and makes the hole infinitely more interesting.

The par 3s are fantastic. The third and fifth holes play long uphil and are again guarded menacingly by sand. The eighth plays dramatically downhill and employs a beguiling slope that can carry the best of tee shots maddeningly to the front of the putting surface. No. 15 looks simple enough at a touch under/over 100 yards depending on pin placement, but it is a narrow target with no bailout surrounded by a natural hazard. Eighteen is like something out of Pine Valley. What a green complex!

I don't walk often, but I did here and thoroughly enjoyed doing so. I teed off at 7:20 and had no one in front of me or behind, making for a pleasant walk.

Tip: Golfnow offers hot deals here around noon or 1 p.m. If you want to play in the morning, wait a week out then check tee times for early in the day. They drop rates about $75 off the rack rate.

One of the best courses in the country...and possibly the world.

Giving this course a rating doesn't even come close to doing it justice. Pasatiempo is a flat out piece of history. Everything about this place is immaculate, from the clubhouse to the 18th green.

Anyone who is fortunate enough to play this course is being treated to golf architecture that is unmatched and can't be replicated or duplicated anywhere. Sit back, relax, and soak in every single piece of this place.

This course has charm, variety and cleverness. I understand why it led to Alistair Mackenzie being chosen for Cypress and Augusta. The course condition was excellent. Play was pretty quick at 1:00 P.M. The course is quite walkable.

After years of thinking about Pasatiempo I finally took the plunge and made a weekend out of playing it. The course was fantastic, the views, course layout, and greens presented a tough but fair golf course. Besides a few holes where we just weren't sure where the fairway went, it was fantastic. Highly recommended crossing this off your bucket list!

Pasatiempo is a course not be missed if you are ever in this area of California - well worth the time to get here from either San Francisco or Monteray

great layout, conditions and scenery!

Great course across the board. Course was in great shape, staff was great. Very tough greens but fun to play at the same time. The price is a bit steep even with the Hot Deal but definitely worth playing at least once.

Mackenzie wrote the book on golf course design, and this is a great challenge. If you like to walk only fairly flat courses, take a cart.

Been waiting to try Pasa for a long time, finally got to do it. Based on all the hype, I went in with crazy high expectations. For the most part, the course lived up to the hype. Some incredible holes, especially #3, 5, 10, 11 and 16 which are among the best I've ever played. Some greens are amazing but crazy difficult: don't be surprised to 4-putt (I did) or even putt it "from to off" the green (I did), but it's all part of the Mackenzie charm and makes you appreciate how the pros occasionally do the same thing at Augusta. It's a very walkable course; lot of hills may tire you out but worth the effort if you can do it, heightens the "old school" feel of the course in my opinion. Range is pretty disappointing but not a huge detractor. All in all a great day but it's pricy, so not someplace I will play frequently. That said, it's a great course for a splurge or special occasion.

This is the MacKenzie course you can and do want to play. Unfortunately for us mortals, the options for the Dr's work is limited. Of course, strategy is at a premium from the tee, fairway and those contoured greens. I did play it in a day when there was a four club wind in the morning, so the greens became even more difficult. When the scratch golfer is three putting, it can be a bad sign. After 7 holes, the winds calmed to two clubs and the green speeds weren't an issue. That would be my only possibile complaint.

The course is fantastic. The strategy is everywhere and I am sure that the more you play, the more you know where to go. All holes are fantastic and one commonality is stay below the hole on the greens. The course has quite possibly the best set of par 3s-I really enjoyed the punch bowl 8th. No weak holes here. It is a MacKenzie- so I won't go into details. You know what you are getting-greatness. Great use of hills, a creek on the back nine and barranca.

The course is only 1 hour from Monterey, and well worth the drive. Not as scenic as some of the courses down there, but as far as golf-equals. As far as price-that is relative. By no means cheap, but 36 hole rates and Golfnow do make it more affordable.

The club itself is very nice and welcoming. All of the facilities you want-they have.

If you are anywhere between San Francisco and Monterey-come here.

Perhaps the best course I've played since moving to California, that includes Pebble Beach. This was the design inspiration for Augusta National and while it was built in 1929, it has withstood the test of time.