Spanish Bay a huge treat...Awesome views at Carmel Beach, Pt. Lobos, Calif.

PEBBLE BEACH, California - Everyone who cares about golf knows about Pebble Beach. And probably Spyglass Hill. And almost certainly ultra-exclusive Cypress Point.

Spanish Bay isn't as well-known to golf fans. But it should be. Some buddies and I got to check it out Wednesday and it was, in a word, marvellous.

A very linksy course, with plenty of blind shots, tight fairways and wonderful views of the Pacific. Maybe one of the 18 holes was average, with the rest being anything from quite good to "OMG, did you see that?"

Superbly conditioned, with some very tough greens that reminded me of the song "96 tiers." Okay, that's a really bad 1960's music joke, but hopefully you get the idea.

A couple members of our foursome took advantage of a half-off deal and played Spyglass Hill in the afternoon (needless to say, they raved about the place), while I took a friend to some of my favourite spots on the Monterey Pensinsula, including colourful Pacific Grove, Carmel (see photo on the beach of yours truly) and the nature trails at Point Lobos, where the sea lions were out in force and the scenery was simply magnificent.

We also checked out Pacific Grove, a small-town that's a mix of Gravenhurst and Carmel, right on the edge of Monterey Bay with great restaurants, brightly painted Victorians, B and B's, fun shops and angle parking like the old days. We had dinner at a restaurant called Passionfish in Pac Grove, a long-tiume fave. Too bad there's no white fish with butter rum sauce, but our waitress is trying to get it reinstated.

They serve wonderfully fresh seafood and it was packed on a Wednesday night in a bad economy. They make great scallops, mahi-mahi and more.

Best feature? They add $5  to what they pay for a bottle of wine, and that's what you pay. We got a wonderful bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region of New Zealand for $20. Yes, $20. It would've been at least double that at any restaurant in Toronto. Sigh.

Anyway, to use the 60's music analogy to another extreme, today it's Homeward Bound. So no more California for a while, I'm sad to say.

Thanks again to the folks at The Inn on Spanish Bay. It's a wonderful hotel, and sipping a nice beverage along one of their fire pits and watching the sun go down over the Pacific is one of the great treats you'll ever experience. I snapped this shot from behind the second green on the Spanish Bay golf course.