Pebble Beach Golf Links, 17-Mile Drive, Pebble Beach

www.pebblebeach.com/golf

Apparently if it’s good enough for the best golfers and celebrities in the world, it’s good enough for Monterey County. But don’t believe it’s beauty alone that earns this perch atop the 500 holes in the best county for golf in all of God’s Kingdom. It’s the balance of brutality that comes with it – those massive sandtraps, unforgiving winds, naughty cypresses and distracting water hazard will wound the same heart they seduce.