| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Pebble Beach, California United States |
| Established | 1986 |
| Owned by | Northern California Golf Association |
| Operated by | Northern California Golf Association |
| Total holes | 18 |
| Tournaments hosted | AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am |
| Website | poppyhillsgolf.com |
| Designed by | Robert Trent Jones, Jr. |
| Par | 72 |
| Length | 6,861 yards |
| Course rating | 74.6 |
| Course Record | Matt Gogel, 62 |
The Poppy Hills Golf Course is a golf course in Pebble Beach, California, on the Monterey Peninsula just outside of Monterey, California. It was designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr. and it opened in 1986. Along with the Pebble Beach Golf Links and the Spyglass Hill Golf Course, Poppy Hills co-hosted the PGA Tour's AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament from 1991 to 2009, being replaced in the 2010 rotation by Monterey Peninsula Country Club. It is the first course in the United States that is owned and operated by an amateur golf association, the Northern California Golf Association, which has its headquarters at Poppy Hills. Poppy Hills has been ranked among the best courses in Northern California and has been ranked in the top 20 in California by Golf Digest.
The course is a par 72 that is set among the many trees of the Del Monte Forest. The course is noted for its many dogleg holes as it bends through the forest. Many holes have elevated greens with undulating slopes to make putting difficult. Almost every hole has at least one bunker and several have ponds fronting the green. The second hole, a par three, actually has two greens, which allows for many pin positions. Another interesting fact is that the course has five par three holes and five par five holes. Most par 72 courses have only four of those.
The course measures 6,861 or 6,833 yards from the back (blue) tees with a slope rating of 74.6/144 for men. From the middle (white) tees the course measures 6,254 or 6,237 yards with a slope rating of 71.5/138 for men and 76.3/141 for women (as a par 73). From the front (gold) trees the course measures 5,471; 5,403; or 5,396 yards with a slope rating of 72.1/131 for men and 71.6/131 for women. Spikeless or non-metal spike golf shoes are required to play at Poppy Hills.
Matt Gogel holds the course record of 62, which is ten under par.
PGA Tour players have long criticized the inclusion of Poppy Hills in the AT&T, which replaced the Cypress Point Club in 1991. The switch occurred after the private club did not immediately admit an African-American member, despite the asking of the Tour. Just north of Pebble Beach, Cypress Point is set on the Pacific Ocean and has been called one of the best golf courses in the entire world, not just Northern California. Tour players have complained about the number of dogleg holes at Poppy Hills, and the course's poor drainage during the common winter rainstorms.