Monarch Beach Golf Links may be fit for a king but its fun vibe rules the day

In the beginning, long before a luxury hotel resort was built adjacent, it was called “Salt Creek Golf Course.” It was more than 40 years ago, back before the World Wide Web arrived on the scene and before smartphones took over everyday existence, that a new upscale golf course designed by architect Robert Trent Jones Jr. opened in South Orange County, in a part of Laguna Niguel later incorporated as Dana Point.

In the summer of 1983, when balata golf balls and persimmon woods were still popular in amateur and professional golf, Monarch Beach Golf Links emerged from RTJ’s blueprints on valuable oceanfront property just off Pacific Coast Highway, becoming the first upper-end public course in Orange County.

Back then, there were very few golf courses that close to the coast in Southern California, so Jones knew it was paramount to accentuate the breathtaking, deep-blue backdrop while designing a Scottish links-style
course in an area sometimes called the “California Riviera.”

“We wanted to take full advantage of the natural beauty of the Monarch Beach location, so we moved to the Scottish tradition of virtually letting the course lay itself out, following the coastline of Salt Creek,” Jones recalled in 1985 when discussing his completed project.

Jones, of course, was being modest. It certainly wasn’t as easy as Jones made it sound and it took a lot longer to finish the course and, especially, to construct the two iconic oceanfront holes for which Monarch is still best-known today — the only two holes on the ocean side of Pacific Coast Highway. That would be No. 3, the course’s signature par-4 featuring a fairway running along the coast, and No. 4, a par-3 with an ocean backdrop from the tee box.

“One of our greatest challenges in designing Monarch Beach was to locate at least part of the golf course directly along the Pacific Ocean,” Jones explained on his website. “Through innovative design and diligent coordination with the California Coastal Commission, the Department of Transportation and other agencies, we were able to reroute Pacific Coast Highway temporarily to create and permanently access two oceanside holes.”

A STORY IN ITSELF

According to a 1983 Los Angeles Times story (“Tunnel Will Provide the Missing Links”), contractors built a 200-foot tunnel under PCH, at a cost of $600,000 ($1.9 million in 2024 dollars) in which all four lanes of PCH were rerouted and then an open trench was dug so that huge curved, corrugated metal sheets could form the tunnel.

At the time, project developers estimated that the first nine holes (today’s back nine) would open in August 1983 and that all 18 holes, including the two above the beach, would be finished within 10 months. It turns out, the second nine didn’t open until late 1984, in time for a major charity event hosted that December by LPGA professional Amy Alcott benefiting the Special Olympics. (Since that first fundraising endeavor, more than $500 million has been raised in events held at the award-winning golf property, according to Monarch’s General Manager Eric Lohman, PGA).

When the course finally opened as an 18-hole facility — the L.A. Times called it “the only oceanfront course between San Diego and Pebble Beach” — the course name had been changed to The Links at Monarch Beach, before ultimately becoming Monarch Beach Golf Links (MBGL).

Now, 40 years later, the course is the centerpiece of a golf resort and a gleaming amenity for the recently rebranded Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach Resort & Club, a 400-room, five-diamond hotel purchased by Ohana Real Estate investors in 2019. (The resort was built along the first fairway in 2001.)

Over the years, the course has been updated, improved and modernized, most recently in 2021, when the renovation included “fairway rejuvenation” on several holes — rototilling, grading and laying new sod — repairing irrigation and drainage, removing trees to enhance oceanview corridors, removing and replacing turf with a native floral palette, adding new sand to all of the bunkers and improving the preexisting landscaping.

“This was just another step in our efforts to be current, sustainable and relevant to the SoCal luxury golf landscape and to provide the best experience to our valued patrons, resort guests, members and cardholders,” Lohman said of the significant renovation investment by ownership.

As a direct result, the course is in routinely spectacular shape and has become a “modern classic,” to go along with what Lohman calls Monarch Beach Golf Links’ distinctively “casual, cool, coastal vibe.”

COOL VIBE

“I think the number one thing that separates us from everyone else is that we’re not like anyone else,” added Lohman, who is finishing his two-year term as the 41st president of the Southern California PGA. “We are a little unique, as we’re a fun resort with a great spa and a beach club. We generally try to create a culture and cool vibe where people are a little more relaxed, a little more comfortable, have a little more fun.”

Lohman continued: “I’m big on breaking down some of the stigmas and mantras that exist (about golf decorum). We’re not sticklers on dress codes and we enjoy people who listen to music and dress casually. This is Orange County. We think people should have a good time.”

Adding to that vibe, MBGL offers fun amenities such as PHAT Scooters and Golfboards to transport your clubs if you’d like to forgo the usual GPS-programmed golf carts, which, of course, are equipped with speakers and have Bluetooth technology to play your favorite music. It’s also safe to say that Monarch is the only golf facility around where you can hire a “Waterman forecaddie,” who not only can offer advice on how to play each hole but can tell you about the local surf breaks.

“A majority of them live here and are surfers, so they understand the surf culture and surfing in Orange County,” Lohman said. Ever hear of a public course with its own house band? Monarch also has that: the Common Kings, an OC-based reggae band with members who love to play golf.

The golf experience ramps up, too, when you travel through RTJ’s famous tunnel to get to the two oceanfront holes, where you are so close to the shimmering blue Pacific that you can hear the sounds of the crashing waves, and sometimes see the surfers catching waves below at Salt Creek Beach. No. 3 is the uphill, ocean-hugging signature hole that dares you to try to cut the corner and drive the green if you’re playing the middle tees from 278-295 yards. And when you reach the elevated, two-tiered green, you can look down and see the lapping surf a few feet below.

AS GOOD AS IT GETS

Lohman likes to point out that you can see the ocean from all 18 holes, prominently from half of them and the first five holes are collectively as good as it gets on any local course. The No. 1 fairway runs along the back of the palatial resort toward an elevated green; No. 2 is a 444-yard, dogleg-left par-4 that plays toward another elevated green, No. 3 is a mandatory photo-op; and Nos. 4 and 5 are challenging, picturesque par-3s.

The back nine features two angst-inducing par-3s (No. 13 and No. 15 over water), as well as the 400-yard dogleg-left 18th that plays into the ocean breeze and is guarded by a greenside water hazard.

Avid local golfers might remember that MBGL served as the host venue for the televised 2001 and 2002 Hyundai Team Matches,
a professional match-play event featuring four two-person teams from the PGA Tour (including World Golf Hall of Famers Tom Watson and Fred Couples), PGA Tour Champions and LPGA.

Though the course is considered short by modern-day standards — it measures 6,645 yards from the back tees — it is still challenging for skilled players because of small, undulating greens, prevailing ocean breezes, 94 strategically positioned bunkers, and water hazards that come into play on 10 holes. (Even the pros had trouble navigating the612-yard seventh hole, a dogleg-left
par-5 requiring two forced carries over brush-filled Aliso Creek.)

All in all, Monarch Beach Golf Links is a good walk (or ride) unspoiled. As its name implies, it may be fit for a king, but its fun vibe rules the day.