Pebble Beach vs Spyglass Hill: Which is the tougher course at this week's PGA Tour event?

Intrigued to know which is the tougher golf course at the 2025 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am? Well you have arrived at the right place as we have crunched some data for you ahead of placing bets and making fantasy picks ahead at this week's PGA Tour event. 

The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is one of the most iconic events on the PGA Tour, played on two of the most picturesque yet challenging courses: Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course. 

A total of 80 PGA Tour professionals contest the first two rounds on Thursday and Friday alongside an amateur playing partner at both Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill.

The event then switches solely to the pros at Pebble Beach over the weekend. 

There is no cut at the 2025 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. 

But which is the tougher of the two courses at this week's $20m Signature Event on the PGA Tour? 

Which is the harder golf course at this week's PGA Tour event - Pebble Beach or Spyglass Hill? 

GolfMagic has crunched the numbers from last year's renewal of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am to find out. 

While both golf courses demand precision and skill, Spyglass Hill is generally considered the tougher test.

Let's take a closer look...

Course Characteristics

Pebble Beach Golf Links, established in 1919 and designed by Jack Neville and Douglas Grant, is famous for its breathtaking coastal scenery and dramatic holes along the Pacific Ocean. 

It features relatively generous fairways but requires strong iron play and a deft touch on its small, undulating greens. Its exposure to coastal winds can make club selection challenging, adding another layer of difficulty.

Spyglass Hill Golf Course, designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and opened in 1966, presents a very different challenge. 

The course starts with a few holes near the ocean but quickly moves into dense forest, featuring narrow fairways, strategic bunkering, and some of the most difficult greens on the PGA Tour. 

With a course rating of 75.5 and a slope of 144 from the championship tees, it is widely regarded as one of the toughest courses on the Tour.

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: Scoring Averages (2024) 

Scoring averages provide insight into the relative difficulty of each course. 

During the 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the scoring averages were:

• Pebble Beach Golf Links: Par 72, 6,906 yards – scoring average: 69.82 (-2.18)
• Spyglass Hill Golf Course: Par 72, 7,041 yards – scoring average: 70.58 (-1.42)

These figures indicate that players found Pebble Beach slightly more forgiving, with an average score 2.18 strokes under par, compared to 1.42 strokes under par at Spyglass Hill.

While detailed statistics for the 2023 tournament aren't as readily available, historical trends and course difficulty ratings suggest that Spyglass Hill consistently plays as the tougher course.

Factors Contributing to Spyglass Hill’s Difficulty

Several elements make Spyglass Hill the more challenging course:

1. Tighter Fairways & Penalizing Rough – Unlike Pebble Beach’s slightly more open layout, Spyglass Hill’s fairways are narrower, and the surrounding rough is more punishing.
2. Varied Terrain & Elevation Changes – Spyglass moves from coastal dunes into dense Monterey pine forests, demanding precision on approach shots and club selection.
3. Trickier Green Complexes – The greens at Spyglass Hill are known for their subtle breaks and faster speeds, making putting more difficult.
4. Consistently Tough Holes – Holes like the par-4 6th, par-4 8th, and par-4 16th are regularly ranked among the hardest on the PGA Tour.

Conclusion

While both golf courses present challenges, Spyglass Hill Golf Course is widely regarded as the more difficult test in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. 

Its demanding layout, tougher greens, and tree-lined fairways typically result in higher scoring averages compared to Pebble Beach. 

That said, Pebble Beach remains a world-class championship venue, where coastal winds and small greens can make scoring unpredictable. 

If players catch Pebble on a windy day then it can play brutal. 

Ultimately, players who can navigate both courses effectively put themselves in the best position to contend for the title.

VIEW LIVE SCORES HERE

Here's some more great data, courtesy of a PGA Tour Data Analyst: 

World No.1 Scottie Scheffler is making his first start of the PGA Tour season having finally recovered from hand surgery.

Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay are also among the top five in the betting market prior to the start of the tournament. 

This week's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is one of eight Signature Events on the PGA Tour in 2025.

With it comes a huge $20m prize purse and the winner pockets a cool $3.6m. 

Scroll down for round tee times at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am...

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: First Round Tee Times

All times listed are Eastern

Pebble Beach Course

1st tee

• 11:35 a.m.: Sam Stevens, Harry Hall
• 11:48 a.m.: Harris English, Eric Cole
• 12:01 p.m.: Sungjae Im, Corey Conners
• 12:14 p.m.: Akshay Bhatia, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
• 12:27 p.m.: Erik van Rooyen, Taylor Moore
• 12:40 p.m.: Lee Hodges, Nick Taylor
• 12:53 p.m.: J.T. Poston, Sam Burns
• 1:06 p.m.: Sahith Theegala, Wyndham Clark
• 1:19 p.m.: Tony Finau, Max Homa
• 1:32 p.m.: Viktor Hovland, Rickie Fowler

10th tee

• 11:35 a.m.: Jake Knapp, Beau Hossler
• 11:48 a.m.: Tom Hoge, Justin Rose
• 12:01 p.m.: Cam Davis, Thomas Detry
• 12:14 p.m.: Taylor Pendrith, Si Woo Kim
• 12:27 p.m.: Mackenzie Hughes, Seamus Power
• 12:40 p.m.: Kevin Yu, Jhonattan Vegas
• 12:53 p.m.: Robert MacIntyre, Patrick Cantlay
• 1:06 p.m.: Shane Lowry, Aaron Rai
• 1:19 p.m.: Lucas Glover, Stephan Jaeger
• 1:32 p.m.: Andrew Novak, Justin Lower

Spyglass Hill

1st tee

• 11:35 a.m.: Maverick McNealy, Nico Echavarria
• 11:48 a.m.: Ben An, Matthieu Pavon
• 12:01 p.m.: Austin Eckroat, Davis Thompson
• 12:14 p.m.: Matthew Fitzpatrick, Cameron Young
• 12:27 p.m.: Ben Griffin, Mark Hubbard
• 12:40 p.m.: J.J. Spaun, Doug Ghim
• 12:53 p.m.: Max Greyserman, Russell Henley
• 1:06 p.m.: Nick Dunlap, Patrick Rodgers
• 1:19 p.m.: Jason Day, Adam Hadwin
• 1:32 p.m.: Min Woo Lee, Rasmus Hojgaard

10th tee

• 11:35 a.m.: Tom Kim, Collin Morikawa
• 11:48 a.m.: Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Aberg
• 12:01 p.m.: Scottie Scheffler, Brian Harman
• 12:14 p.m.: Tommy Fleetwood, Keegan Bradley
• 12:27 p.m.: Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth
• 12:40 p.m.: Keith Mitchell, Denny McCarthy
• 12:53 p.m.: Adam Scott, Gary Woodland
• 1:06 p.m.: Will Zalatoris, Chris Kirk
• 1:19 p.m.: Hideki Matsuyama, Sepp Straka
• 1:32 p.m.: Billy Horschel, Brendon Todd

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