Beach towns from California to Oregon

  Pacific Beach Shore Club, Pacific Beach CA

Much of the western coastline in is a different animal than the flat topography and sandy beaches of the East Coast;  here, the Pacific often crashes into rocky cliffs that make it feel like the rest of the continent just slid into the ocean sometime back in the Paleozoic era. 

Still, the waves are tastier, and some heavenly slivers of sandy paradise can be found (but beware the chillier waters of the vast Pacific--surfers here wear full wetsuits for a reason).  Plus you can't beat the clifftop views from the oceanfront courses.  Embrace the more rugged coast with rounds of golf (and booze) at these great West Coast beach bars and golf courses.

When To Go:  Mid-September through mid-November is an ideal time to strike a good balance between the sunshine of SoCal, the chilly winter winds you've seen at Pebble Beach's PGA tournament for years, and the burly early winters of Western Oregon.

West Coast

San Diego, CA:

The Courses:  Even though it's a municipal course, it's hard to call anything about Torrey Pines South a good value at $183-$219 out-of-towner greens fees plus $43 for advance tee times, even if it is a seaside U.S. Open venue (unless of course you're comparing it to Pebble Beach's $500 greens fees and mandatory 2-night room reservations). For a beachier feel at a much better price point, play Coronado GC (www.golfcoronado.com, $30-$35). Waterfront views of San Diego Bay and Hotel Del Coronado, flat topography, good conditions for the price, multiple waterfront holes (the 17th is a dog left par-4 where a slice will end up on a beach), and the Mission-style clubhouse has sweeping bay vistas and tasty brews. But as you'd expect it's extremely popular, so book a tee time after 10AM on their 14-day advance system and come with a large bucket of patience, as 5-hour-plus rounds are common.

The Bar:  DiscoverSD.com recommends Lahaina's Beach House (Pacific Beach) as the ultimate beach bar. Located just off the sand on the boardwalk, Lahaina's is always packed for daytime drinking, sunset scoping, and nighttime mayhem.

  Lahaina's Beach House

Or hit Pacific Beach Shore Club (4343 Ocean Blvd).  Steps from the beach, ocean breezes blowing through the windows, surf decor, seafood and Mexican fare, and a quintessiential San Diego spot to hang for Chargers games.

Where To Stay:  If you like your beach bar atmosphere a bit more refined (or you just can't get enough boat drinks with your toes in the sand), stay at The W Hotel San Diego which has its own little slice of paradise with a sand-edged bar alongside tasty "beach" cabanas.

Laguna Beach, CA:

The Courses:  Pelican Hill GC.  Per Golf Magazine, "Big-ticket green fees keep the crowds away, but the canyons and rough make five-hour rounds the norm. Still, with Pacific Ocean views, rangefinders on the carts and rangers bearing extra divot mix and bottled water, the slow pace is a lot more palatable. It's classic Tom Fazio, so there's great shaping, especially the bunkers. Some of the tree-lined holes blur together, but the ocean and canyon holes rock. And don't let the short length fool you — a bunch of long par 4s will keep you on the bogey train. Guests at the incredible new hotel pay the same green fees as outsiders: $235. But this includes a forecaddie, perfect weather and back-to-back oceanside par 3s."  If the fees at Pelican Hill are a little steep for you, hit nearby San Juan Hills GC (www.sanjuanhillsgolf.com, $75 weekend) for Ocean County's best value, a lush valley course with rolling elevation changes and sculpted water cutouts.

The Bar: Esquire digs The Sandpiper Lounge (www.geocities.com/sandpiperlounge/). "Long before Laguna Beach was Laguna Beach, locals flocked to "The Dirty Bird" on the Pacific Coast Highway for stiff drinks and zero pretense. Beachy without too much nautical kitsch, the lounge sits steps from a decent surf break, but mercifully, about a mile from the town's touristy downtown. Open 365 days a year with live music most nights and a pool table and pinball machine in the back room, the bar has been run since the forties by the same family, who haven't changed much at all over the decades. Order their signature 'four-second-pour' cocktail."

Huntingdon Beach, CA:

The Course:  Save some dough for tiki drinks at River View GC (www.riverviewgolf.com, Santa Ana).  Dubbed the "best value in Ocean County" by Orange County Golf Guide, this short course measures just over 6,100 yards with a par of 68.  Prime time greens fees are just $44.

The Bar:  The only surviving location of the originator of the tiki bar concept in the lower 48 is Don The Beachcomber's (www.donthebeachcomber.com).  There's also one in Hawaii.

Redondo Beach, CA

The Course:  It's only a 9-hole par-3 executive course, but the think "golf in L.A.", and the palm-lined holes of Marriott's Manhattan Beach GC's (www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-information/golf-courses/laxmn-manhattan-beach-marriott/) are what you picture.  Besides, there are celeb's houses to be stalked on star maps, a nearby SoCal strand of sand on which to ogle the scenery, and Fire Chiefs to be drunk.

The Bar:  Travel & Leisure digs Old Tony's Bar (www.oldtonys.com) as one of their Best Beach Bars. 

"This octagonal all-glass landmark on top of Old Tony’s Bar attracts South Bay beach bums who come for the spectacular sunsets, crashing surf, and 360-degree views of the coast. A spiral staircase leading up to the Crow’s Nest, as it’s known, is lined with shots of celebrities who’ve joined the regulars for nightly live entertainment. Signature Drink: The Fire Chief, a grenadine Mai Tai with a kick from three different rums including a 151-proof floater, served in a take-home collectible cocktail glass imprinted with Old Tony’s logo, $7.75."

Santa Monica, CA

The Course: San Luis Rey Downs is one of those tracks that might be a local's favorite nobody'd ever heard of, if it wasn't for the fact that handlebar-mustached PGA & Champions Tour pro/CBS golf analyst & funnyman/author/King Jagoff Gary McCord cut his teeth learning the golfing life here. Check out McCord's book Just A Range Ball In A Box Of Titleists for laugh-out-loud-on-public-transportation tales of McCord and his Downs cronies: a stable of bookies, Vietnam Vets, horse trainers, army sargeants, topless bar managers, bald hairdressers, and bartenders, with nicknames like "Brain Damage", "The Kitchen", "Mad Max", "The Breathalyzer", "Lock & Load", "20/20" (who was legally blind), "Quick Pour", and "Unemployed Lloyd".

The Bar: Rusty's Surf Ranch (www.rustyssurfranch.com) is the quintessential SoCal beach bar per PGA Tour pro Duffy Waldorf.

Malibu, CA:

The Course:  Malibu CC.  Golf.com says, "This course is set back in Malibu Canyon giving the fairways a rolling topography. Elevation changes will test even the most skilled players' accuracy, and water hazards come into play on three holes. Hole #6, a dogleg right par 5 with a blind tee shot, has a creek running along the right side cart path, and a lake borders the left side from about 175 yards out up to the elevated green. Hole #7, a 205-yard, par 3, has a lake sitting between the tee box and the kidney-shaped green, and #9, a 370-yard, par 4, requires an approach shot over another lake."

The Bars:  Duke's Barefoot Bar (www.dukesmalibu.com) is a SoCal outpost of the famed Honolulu surfer-cum-tourist bar.  Thatch umbrellas shade you from the sun on an outdoor deck hanging over the crashing waves of the Pacific with water views all the way to L.A.

Drew Barrymore likes Neptune's Net (PCH @ the end of Malibu) for an as-true-as-it-gets beach bar and fish stand.  It was also featured in The Fast & The Furious.

Or Chez Jay (www.chezjays.com) for a great oceanside, dark, old marina kinda bar where Kennedy and Marilyn used to rendezvous.

With miles of coastline, the Los Angeles area is littered with beachside bars. One of the best spots on the west side for true toes-in-the-sand drinking is Paradise Cove, located in the coastal community of Malibu. Located on a private beach off of the Pacific Coast Highway, this beach café offers indoor and outdoor dining as well as beer, wine, champagne, spirits and cocktails. [Drinking Made Easy]

Travel south on the PCH to Santa Monica and you’ll find another beach bar, Big Dean’s ‘Muscle In’ Café, located off of the walkway by the sand and below the pier. This oceanfront café also carries some history. In 1902 it was opened as Laring’s Lunch Room, making it one of LA’s oldest bars. In the 1970s it became Big Dean’s and has since served the likes of Cary Grant, Natalie Wood and Evel Knievel. [Drinking Made Easy]

The next stop isn't really Fat Guy's kinda place, but if you have your golf widow along, drop her off at one of Travel Channel's Sexiest Beach Bars, Malibu's Moonshadows, before you head for the course.  "Moonshadows is right off the Pacific Coast Highway and sits perched over the rolling swells of the Pacific. The perfect watering hole after a day at the beach, Moonshadows' restaurant serves up sizzling seafood while the lounge offers killer beats by California DJs."

Venice Beach, CA

The Course:  Rancho Park GC is 15 minutes west of downtown L.A., right next to the Rose Bowl, and it's only a few blocks from famed L.A. Tour stop Riviera.

The Bar:  Per Travel Channel's Sexiest Beach Bars, "Located right on Oceanfront Walk and Horizon Avenue, there's no better place to enjoy beautiful Venice Beach than the Sidewalk Café. The outdoor patio has been a coveted spot to eat and people-watch since the café opened 25 years ago. Live acoustic music in the evening is the perfect complement to the fresh homemade food and the nightly happy hour."  It looks awfully... Italian, but the beautiful California babies strolling/biking/jogging/roller-blading by make this a worthwhile stop.

A little farther south, located along the famous and eclectic Venice Boardwalk, is another beachside dining spot: On the Waterfront Café. European inspired, this Biergarten serves the finest German beer and features indoor and outdoor dining, with great views of the ocean as well as a prime spot for people watching.

Santa Barbara, CA:

The Course: Here in Northern California wine country, Sandpiper understandably gets a lot of the area's golf buzz given the location, pristine condition and holes running along the water.  But that comes at a price -- $175 on weekends. William F. Bell, who was brought in to build Torrey Pines after his father died, also designed Sandpiper, and there is a resemblance. 

  Sandpiper #11

Sandpiper has some memorable holes, but it has too many generic ones to consider it a great course. Four out of the six holes that have ocean views are favorites: the fifth, sixth, 11th and 13th. [Golf Digest]

The Bar: Maxim's Great American Bar Search digs Shoreline Beach Cafe (www.shorelinebeachcafe.com, Santa Barbara). Cure that hangover from yesterday's Sideways winery tour/vino session at The Hitching Post II) with brunch on the beach at the Shoreline. "Get the Bloody Jerry (with seasoned Clamato), the salsa-soaked carne asada and eggs, and a short stack of the house orange juice pancakes. Feel your will to live return."

Pebble Beach, CA:

The Courses:  Pebble Beach Golf Links defines oceanfront golf in America.  It's on your bucket list, so you gotta get there someday.  I know, it's a $1,700 price tag for a room and a tee time, before you even buy a plane ticket or a meal.  But dude, the 18th at Pebble?  Fuggettabbattit.

If Pebble's just a pipeline dream for your budget, head for the poor man's Pebble Beach, Pacific Grove GL. Per T&L Golf, "The 'Poor Man's Pebble' by the same design team has a tight parkland front through homes and cypress woods. The links-style back runs dramatically out to the Pacific at Point Pinos. Sandy fairways, tiny dune-flanked greens, and the truest links on the Peninsula despite being only 5,732 from the tips."  Greens fees are under $50.

The Bars:  It's not a classic beach bar, but it does have great views of Stillwater Cove and Pebble Beach Golf Links, and it wouldn't be the complete Pebble experience without downing a few AT&Tinis at the resort's Stillwater Grill. Golf Magazine says order sublime seafood and an AT&Tini made of vodka, orange juice, and a splash of champagne ($12).

If you've just played Pacfic Grove and don't want to be tortured by Stillwater Grill's views of Pebble, take a nice drive south to Big Sur and hit the patio at the Rocky Point Restaurant (www.rocky-point.com). Isolated and hard by the cliffside overlooking the Pacific, Fat Guy had one of the most enjoyable meals of my life there, taking my time, having a few leisurely brews before I even ordered my steak, then lounging on an outdoor patio after dinner before I bade this great little spot a bittersweet farewell.

If you can't afford to stay at Pebble Beach Resort, AOL Travel ranks the Best Western Beach Resort Monterey (www.montereybeachresort.com) as one of their Top 10 Best Budget Beach Hotels in America. Right on the beach, towering pines in the background, the setting for many a Hollywood film, and starting at only $100/night.

San Francisco, CA

The Course:  Drive out to Bodega Bay along the coast and tackle the Links at Bodega Harbour ($45-$90, www.bodegaharbourgolf.com). This recently refurbished Robert Trent Jones Jr. design still sports some funky holes, notably the weird, wild, downhill par-5 5th, but the improved conditioning, eye-catching sea views and a handful of truly memorable tests make this worth the journey, especially for the after 2 pm rate of $75. [Golf Magazine's Travelin' Joe]

The Bar:  Wipeout Bar & Grill (Pier 39, San Fran).  Picture a waterfront outdoor bar with a huge patio on a pier, celebrity-signed surf boards, great burgers and tacos, and surf flicks on plasmas.

Bandon, OR:

The Courses:  While Bandon Dunes GR isn't classic American "beach golf", let's not forget that the true definition of the term 'links' derives largely from sandy oceanfront soil and ocean winds.  You won't find a better example of true links golf in the States. The ocean-cliffside Pacific Dunes course gets the highest rankings from golf mags, but decide for yourself, as any trip to this remote spot makes playing all of Bandon's 4-1/2 world-class coastal links a required option.

The Bar:  Bandon GR's Pacfic Dunes Grill. A 19th hole as pure as the golf here, with 360 views of Pacific Dunes, Bandon Dunes, and the Pacific Ocean.

Cannon Beach, OR:

The Course:  Gearhart Golf Links (www.gearhartgolflinks.com, Gearhart) was Oregon's first public golf course, opened in 1892.  Just driver-wedge from the beach, this ancient links costs just $75 prime time.  It's complimented by a 19th hole done by Oregon's brewery barons, so belly up at the McMenamins "Sandtrap."

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The Bar:  The Wayfarer made Travel & Leisure's list of Best Beach Bars in America.  "Restored original portholes and light fixtures and a more rustic look are the result of a recent $300,000 tune-up of this charming spot on the Northern Oregon Coast. From the glass-enclosed Lounge or the outside summer deck a few feet above the beach, you can hear the crashing surf and gape at Haystack Rock, a 235-foot-tall iconic basalt monolith. The restaurant itself is a special occasion kind of place serving some of the Pacific Northwest’s freshest seafood, but the atmosphere is unfussy.  Order the house drink, the Tolovana Fizz (named after the nearby park): house-infused strawberry vodka, Triple Sec, and a splash of strawberry purée topped with champagne.

Know a great beach bar?  Send it to me at the Contact Fat Guy link below, and I'll add it to the list.

[Fat Guy Note:  I have only explored some of these courses/locations.  As always, proper research and reservations are required.]

See Also:  Links Mag's Surf & Turf:  20 Best Beach & Golf Combos Worldwide