Golf Course Information

Description

Bayonet and Black Horse re-opened to the public on December 22, 2008 following the completion of a three-phase, $13 million renovation by Bates Golf Design Group.

One of the largest scope and scale golf course construction projects to hit the Monterey area in years, Bates Golf Design made dramatic alterations to hole routings, corridors and view sheds. New tees, bunkers and green complexes were installed, and intrusive copse of non-native trees were removed to provide unobstructed views of Monterey Bay, downtown Monterey and Point Pinos from a number of holes on both courses.

The agronomic changes were equally as impactful, as all kikuyu and poa annua grasses were replaced with Jacklin T1 Bentgrass, a rich, dark-green strain developed specifically to compete with these invasive, regional species. Both courses feature the Jacklin bentgrass on all tees, fairways and greens, and Bayonet Black Horse is one of only two facilities in the entire region to utilize this preferred turf from tees through greens. To establish a new, divergent look from Bayonet, Black Horse will sport dense, fescue rough that will provide an unmistakable link-style feel to the layout.

"We are excited to re-introduce area golfers and those visiting the Monterey Peninsula to the new-look Bayonet Black Horse Golf Club," says Dick Fitzgerald, project director for Seaside Resort Development, the entity directing the renovation. "The whole-sale enhancements to Bayonet and Black Horse are staggering and golfers will discover two challenging, strategic and well-conditioned layouts that will rapidly emerge as 'must play' courses of the Monterey Peninsula."

Although various composite layouts allowed for play during construction, this is the first time both new and improved 18-hole courses will be open at the same time. Specifically, the full extent of the work performed by lead architect and principal Gene Bates on Bayonet's famed back-nine and Black Horse's picturesque front-nine will be on full display. The enhancements promise to garner similar high praise from golfers and critics as his earlier renovations of Bayonet's front and Black Horse's back.

"Bayonet and Black Horse are now complementary; both are challenging and appealing from an aesthetic standpoint and are on the level with each other," says Bates, who's worked on more than 150 projects worldwide during his illustrious design career. "But the style of the greens and bunkers make the courses distinctly different. Bayonet has traditional, deep, challenging bunkers. The greens are tamely contoured because the layout, from tee to green, is challenging enough that severe greens would be too punishing and not reward good shots or heroic recoveries."

He continues: "On Black Horse, the bunkers are large with serrated edges and clustered to draw one's eye to them. The green surfaces have a lot of movement, conversely, because there is plenty of room off the tee and the bunkers are less severe."

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