Poppy Hills Golf Course Guide: Championship Bentgrass in the Del Monte Forest

Poppy Hills is owned and operated by the Northern California Golf Association, not Pebble Beach Company. This distinction matters for pricing: the course isn't subject to Pebble Beach Resorts's fee structure, and green fees reflect daily-fee rather than resort rates. Conditioning at NCGA courses is consistently held to a high standard — bentgrass greens throughout, well-maintained fairways, and the same kind of championship-ready setup the association uses when hosting events.

The course hosted the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am from 1991 through 2009 alongside Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill, which gives you a reference point for the caliber of golf it can deliver.

Robert Trent Jones II designed Poppy Hills, which opened in 1986. The layout moves through the Monterey pines and cypresses of Del Monte Forest, with relatively little coastal exposure — the feel is more forest golf than links golf, which distinguishes it from Pacific Grove or the Pebble Beach oceanside holes.

At 7,091 yards from the tips at par 71, Poppy Hills plays long by any measure. The course has significant bunkering and elevation changes throughout. The bentgrass greens are consistently fast and firm — similar to what you'd encounter at a top private club.

Poppy Hills is a natural pairing with Pacific Grove Golf Links — one inland/forested, one coastal — for a two-round day if you're in the Del Monte Forest area. It also anchors the 3-Day Monterey Golf Weekend itinerary as the primary course of the trip.

For groups that want Pebble Beach-area prestige without Pebble Beach Resorts pricing, Poppy Hills delivers the setting, the conditioning, and the difficulty. It's not a consolation course; it's a destination course that happens to be priced as a daily fee.