Bayonet Golf Course

Bayonet Golf Course on the Monterey Peninsula has long been a favorite playing field among local and traveling golfers who revel in its sublime scenery, supreme challenge, and lower price point compared to its more famous neighbors in this revered and storied Northern California golf destination. Designer Gene Bates redesigned Bayonet Golf Course and its adjacent sister layout, Black Horse Golf Course, at the high-end, 36-hole Bayonet and Black Horse facility. The championship courses and the facility itself have a fascinating history. They were originally designed in the 1950s on the Ford Ord military base that trained generations of American servicemen before being decommissioned in the 1990s. According to lore, Bayonet Golf Course, the more walkable and harder of the two, was geared for left-handers because the original designer, General  Boubon Bob McClure (the commander of the base), wanted to accommodate his boomerang southpaw slice. Gene Bates left  Combat Corner, the routing s infamous sequence of right-to-left doglegs (holes 11-15), intact during his renovation that maintained the character of the layout but improved its playability. Not only the direction of the holes at Bayonet Golf Course, but also their tree-lined aspect, along with big, white sand bunkers, still supply plenty of difficulty here. Although the trees have been thinned out and views opened up, the holes play long and narrow as they churn through corridors in the pine and oak forests. The stern straightaway opening hole, flanked all the way by trees, sets the tone for the round. There aren t many easy pars for any level of player at Bayonet Golf Course--it's a test strong players gravitate to. Just don t come expecting to swing freely with your driver. After  Combat Corner, the back nine finishes in fine fashion with a par 3 and a graceful, crescent-shaped par 5 backdropped by Monterey Bay. It s the most fun and scenic test at Bayonet Golf Course. Practice facilities are excellent, with an all-grass driving range featuring target greens fringed by bunkers like you ll see on the course, two short game areas, and a putting green that is right by the pro shop and overlooks Monterey Bay. After your round, the Bayonet Bar and Grill is a place to cap off the day with its diverse menu and indoor or outdoor seating that showcase beautiful Monterey Bay views. All in all, a tee time at Bayonet Golf Course offers an unforgettable Monterey Peninsula experience that won t burn quite as big a hole in your wallet as most other courses at this most glorious meeting of land and sea.