Pebble Beach Resorts®

If you can't get on or afford Pebble Beach, try to get out to Spyglass Hill (Legend has it that Robert Louis Stevenson roamed these hills and sandy dunes of Pebble Beach for inspiration while writing his classic 'Treasure Island.') While nothing can duplicate the topography of Pebble, Spyglass is a pretty good consolation with some pretty good ocean views of its own on the front nine. And even though the back nine is inland, it's pretty special in its own right. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., the course got a much-needed renovation a few years ago, drastically improving drainage and the speed of the fairways.

I don't know how many times I've heard people say if Pebble Beach wasn't on the ocean, it wouldn't be that special. That's one of the dumbest statements a person can make about a golf course because setting is always a huge factor in the quality of a course and the setting just doesn't get any better than Pebble Beach. Yes, it's expensive at $495 (and the hotel rates if you book in advance), but how many $250 courses out there aren't really that memorable. Just put two of them together. And yes, it takes 5-plus hours to play, but you're at Pebble Beach; soak it up for as long as you can. And finally, the design of the holes are special, even if it wasn't on the ocean, even the inland holes. Never sell this course short; it's a world treasure.