Pebble Beach Rated America's Top Golf Resort

For the third time in the past four years, in what is considered one of the most prestigious and definitive rankings in golf, Golf Digest magazine has named Pebble Beach Resorts "Best Golf Resort in North America".

The ranking of Pebble Beach Resorts, which includes The Lodge at Pebble Beach, The Inn at Spanish Bay and Casa Palmero, appears in the magazine's biannual feature, "The 75 Best Golf Resorts in North America," published in the October 2009 issue.

The ratings are based on the scores of Golf Digest's 900+plus course ranking panelists who traveled unannounced to hundreds of U.S., Canadian, Mexican and Caribbean golf resorts. The reviewers cited the resort's upcoming fifth hosting of the U.S. Open Championship in June 2010, as well as the work done on Pebble Beach Golf Links, under the direction of Arnold Palmer, to strengthen and lengthen the legendary course to 7,014 yards.

In addition to its resorts, Pebble Beach Company also operates Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course, The Links at Spanish Bay and Del Monte Golf Course.

Its other properties include the scenic 17-Mile Drive and The Spa at Pebble Beach, and it annually hosts premier events such as the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, the Callaway Golf Pebble Beach Invitational and the Walmart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach.

Meanwhile, for the first time ever Augusta National has topped Golf Digest's biennial ranking of America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses for the first time ever. The famed home of the Masters each April, Augusta moved from No. 3 in 2007 to No 1 for 2009

Golf Digest's more than 900 evaluation panelists don't rate courses or resorts on a 1-2-3 basis but rather they are asked to them to evaluate and score each on a scale of 1 (Unacceptable) to 10 (Absolutely Perfect) on seven evaluation categories: Shot Values, Design Variety, Resistance to Scoring, Memorability, Aesthetics, Conditioning and Ambiance.