Bayonet & Black Horse – the best 36 holes on California’s Monterey Bay

Along the storied Monterey Peninsula on the California coast, the finest 36 holes of golf are found at Bayonet and Black Horse in Seaside, next to the towns of Monterey and Carmel.

Bayonet Golf Course was designed by Gen. Robert B. McClure in 1954, and redesigned by Gene Bates and re-opened for play in 2008. The course was named in honor of the Seventh Infantry Light Fighter Division (Bayonet Division). The par-72, 7,104-yard design, with its narrow corridors and steep bunkering, is considered one of the most difficult tests of golf on the Monterey Peninsula.

Bayonet features an uphill, dogleg-right, 476-yard, par-4 ninth hole that exemplifies the course’s significant challenge following the Bates redesign, which included new Jacklin T1 bentgrass throughout both courses.

Black Horse Golf Course, a 1964 joint original design by Gen. McClure and Gen. Edwin Carnes, was named in honor of the 11th Cavalry Regiment (Black Horse), which was stationed at the Presidio of Monterey (1919-1940). Carnes was the commanding general of Fort Ord from 1963 to 1965. Today, Black Horse is a 7,024-yard, par-72 layout. It features sweeping vistas of the Pacific Ocean and highlighted by fescue-framed fairways, and bunkers with distinctive, serrated edges, and slick contoured greens.

Black Horse presents players with the challenging par-3 15th, which was created in its renovation and overlooks the bay to fit into one of the premier holes on the Monterey Peninsula. Golfweek named Bayonet and Black Horse to its roster of “Best New Courses of 2009” in the highly competitive renovation category.

Play both Bayonet and Black Horse courses and one night’s stay starting at $382.

Click here for current Stay & Play Packages available at Bayonet Black Horse.