Spanish Bay

On Friday morning, Jason had a 9:00am tee time at the Spanish Bay course. This course was at our resort so we just walked over to the clubhouse that morning. Jason was paired up with a father-son twosome from the Northeast who were super nice and made the day really fun. I'm not sure if my expectations were lower or the fact that it was the second day of golf, but I thought the Spanish Bay course was just as beautiful as Pebble Beach and felt alot more relaxing. The course ran right along the Pacific Ocean with 15 of the 18 holes being right on the water. The entire day was filled with stunning views and wildlife scampering around the course. We saw a ton of deer and several pretty birds and geese waddling around a pond on the course. Once again, I was the designated photographer and took a ton of pictures. Jason played well and shot a 95. The wind was brutal at Spanish Bay making the golfing more difficult and the air more chilly, but the sun was shining making it a gorgeous day to be outside. As soon as the round of golf was over, we headed back to our room, packed our stuff up, and checked out of the hotel. We were really sad to leave after a couple of great days but were also excited to enjoy the weekend in San Francisco. On our way back to San Fran we also drove through Stanford's campus and saw the golf course where Tiger Woods got his start. After a long morning of golf and a couple hour drive back to San Francisco, we were tired and just felt like hanging out so we got in our cozies and ordered room service, read, watched tv, and just relaxed. Enjoy the pics below from golfing at Spanish Bay. One more post to come on our weekend in San Fransisco!

Pebble Beach

On Thursday morning, Jason and I woke up early and got dressed and ready for his 9:20am tee time at Pebble Beach.  The round of golf was Jason's birthday present this year.  The Pebble Beach golf course was about a 15 minute drive from the Inn at Spanish Bay where we were staying.  It was a perfectly cool, crisp morning with sun shining.  It was rather windy which I suspect is fairly normal since the course runs right along the Pacific Ocean.  I was the designated photographer and took a ton of pictures.  The course was breath-takingly beautiful.  I think the pictures turned out incredible, and they don't even do it justice.  They've been preparing the course for the 2010 U.S. Open which is being held at Pebble Beach at the beginning of June.  Unfortunately for Jason, they have been working to make it play much tougher than normal.  The rough was very grown up (many times you could not even see your feet when walking in the grass) and many of the fairways have been narrowed.  They told us that they aren't even expecting many of the Pro's, if any, to break par at the Open.  There were a ton of workers out on the course building grand stands and setting up tents, etc.  I am not a huge fan of watching golf tournaments on TV, but I definitely think I will try to catch some of the U.S. Open this year since we were just there.  Although the conditions were rough, Jason played very well and still managed to shoot a 99.  Do you say shoot a 99 when talking about golf?  Jason always teases me that I get my sports lingo mixed up.  Anyway, I was very proud of him, and he was happy with his score.  Jason decided to enhance his experience at Pebble Beach by hiring a caddy for the day.  Our caddie Barney was fantastic.  He was helpful for Jason and was super nice to me and offered to take our picture together several times during the round.  Jason played with a guy from Santa Barbara and a couple that was visiting from Tokyo.  I got so tickled because after everyone's shots, the husband kept saying "It's a beauty" in his Japanese accent.  Everyone was very friendly.  Because the course is playing so difficult right now, it took almost 5.5 hours to complete the round.  Everything about the course was picturesque.  Pebble Beach does have some thieves that live on their course though.  I had an unopened package of sunflower seeds for Jason down inside my purse in the golf cart.  I got out to take a picture and came back and they were gone.  I started looking around and noticed them on the ground opened and spilled everywhere.  A huge crow had pecked them right out of my purse and helped himself.  The very next hole, I started digging for the granola bar I had put in my purse to have for breakfast, and it was gone as well.  The guys that work there said they have alot of problems with the birds stealing food from the carts.  haha  After the round of golf, we were STARVING since it was 3pm and we had not eaten all day since the birds stole our snacks.  We drove down to Carmel and had a cheeseburger from a little market there.  Carmel is a quaint little town with alot of character.  We were exhausted though so we didn't stay long.  We headed back to Spanish Bay and rested and just hung out the rest of the afternoon.  We weren't super hungry since we had a late lunch so we had a late dinner at the resort that evening.  I know this is getting long, but I just want to remember all the details of our trip.  Hope you enjoy the many pictures below from Pebble Beach.

 Jason and I in front of the club house

 Teeing off on hole #1

                                                                                             

   Barney and Jason scoping things out.

That is a golf tee in Jason's mouth despite the fact that it looks like a huge growth on his lip.  haha

You can see the famous Cypress tree out on the cliff.  It looks a little different with the grand stands behind it, but it's still really neat to see.

Jason and I on the 18th green.

 The lobby at the Lodge at Pebble Beach.  The window looks out on the 18th green.

 

Trophy case in the lobby