Monterey Peninsula Country Club
Designed by Seth Raynor
History
In 1925, as the Del Monte Properties Company pressed forward with its vision for a golfing peninsula, a group of members broke away to found something more exclusive: a private club that would give Monterey’s growing colony of golfers a home apart from the resort crowds gathering at Pebble Beach and Cypress Point. Monterey Peninsula Country Club took shape that year on land just south of Pebble Beach, and the timing placed it squarely within the golden decade that would define golf architecture in this corner of California.
The club turned to Seth Raynor, whose reputation had been built on the template-hole philosophy inherited from C.B. Macdonald — the Redans, Cape holes, and Punchbowls that Raynor carried from Long Island to courses across the country. Raynor’s work at Monterey Peninsula Country Club became one of his final West Coast commissions before his death in 1926, and the routing he laid down on the Dunes Course reflected the geometric clarity and template-based thinking that had made his name. He did not live to see the course fully mature, but his imprint on the layout remained the defining architectural signature of the property for decades.
The club has maintained two courses over its history — the Dunes Course, Raynor’s original design along the shoreline, and the Shore Course, added later in 1961 by Robert Trent Jones Sr. to expand the club’s offerings. Monterey Peninsula Country Club entered the modern championship rotation as a host site for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, lending its Raynor-rooted holes to the tournament’s rotation alongside Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill, a role that introduced the club’s private grounds to a national television audience even as membership itself remained closely held.
Playing Notes
Play at Monterey Peninsula Country Club and you're going to feel the Pacific before you see it — wind off the water shifts club selection hole to hole, and mid-round gusts are common enough that you should plan on hitting a club or two stronger than the yardage suggests on exposed stretches. With two full 18s to choose from, expect a mix of terrain: some holes tuck into cypress and pine, cutting off the wind and demanding accuracy off the tee, while others open up along the coastline where distance control matters more than raw power. The greens run true but can get slick in the afternoon, so lag putting deserves attention early in your round to get a feel for speed. Walking is entirely doable and arguably the better way to experience the terrain changes, though carts are available if you're playing 36 in a day. Bring layers regardless of the forecast — marine weather here shifts fast, and a course this exposed to ocean air will make you regret leaving the windbreaker in the car.