Pebble Beach Resorts is setting a timeline for the renaissance of Spanish Bay

The Links at Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach, was designed as a Scottish-inspired course, a tip from the old country on the California coast.

In keeping with that theme, the bagpiper plays at sunset on the 18th green. The right touch. But second fiddle can make sense, too. Of the three golf courses on the 17-mile drive (Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass are the other two), Spanish Bay is rarely the first choice.

Pebble Beach Resorts would like that to change. In late 2023, the owners announced their plans to bring Spanish Bay to snuff with its siblings with a renovation handled by architects Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner. At that time, the plan for that project was in the air. It’s gone. Last week, the timeline was revealed. The course will close on March 18, 2026, and reopen the following spring, ahead of the 2027 US Open at Pebble Beach.

“Partnering with Gil, Jim and their team gives us great confidence that Spanish Bay will be something to play on par with other courses,” said David Stivers, CEO of Pebble Beach Company, in a statement accompanying the news.

Hanse and Wagner are no strangers to headline projects. In addition to their original work, which includes GOLF Magazine Top 100 courses such as Ohoopee Match Club, Georgia, and CapRock Ranch, Nebraska, they have become the go-to group for big-name restorations and renovations. Only in California, they have rescheduled to be done at the Los Angeles Country Club, the Olympic Club and the Lake Merced Golf Club, among others.

In Spanish Bay, they were given a spectacular canvas, close to the most protected coast. Designed by the trio of Robert Trent Jones Jr., Tom Watson and Sandy Tatum, and first opened for play in 1987, Spanish Bay was built to recreate and protect the native dunes that had been lost over the decades. Its current route passes through those dunes, then climbs through the Del Monte forest before returning to the coast near its closure.

Hanse and Wagner’s work will remain within the original development area. Apart from that, few details of their plans have been revealed. But in a video posted by Pebble Beach, Hanse described the potential as “amazing” and said he expects the project to transform both the playability and appearance of the course. The Pebble Beach Company, meanwhile, said it expects Spanish Bay to transition from a “1980s, Scottish-inspired course to a modern California industrial.”

Even before Hanse and Wagner begin changing the land, another project in Spanish Bay will continue with the reconstruction of public footpaths in an area damaged by recent hurricanes. That part of the project will begin this spring, with course work beginning early next year. Until then, the bagpiper will continue to play every evening as the sun sets.