Golf News: The Best Golf Course Logos from Around the World

Monterey Peninsula Country Club

Yes, Pebble Beach and Cypress Point sandwich this place. Yes, they are both better courses by orders of magnitude. But I’ll say this about the Pebble Beach logo. It sucks. It just does. It’s comically unimpressive in evoking the majesty of “America’s Course”. It’s lazy and ordinary.

Cypress Point has a good, old-fashioned crest. I like that. But the logo is just a Cypress tree over goofy, 1950s script. There’s not much nobility, or anything terribly interesting, about it.

Monterey Peninsula does it right. I love how they’ve taken the dragon – a staple of UK royalty and fighting spirit – and transformed it into an “Americanized” sea-serpent. It’s a wonderful interpretation of the old English dragon with rounded wings and a fishtail. It feels both old and new.

There is also a perfect use of color with the deep blue-green of the serpent contrasted with the bright red of the flag, tongue (flames?), and “1925” in an Art Deco-inspired serif typeface at the bottom. I also love how the descender on “9” and “5” hang below the baseline. The golden wood color of the flagstick bisects the design and gives it structure and strength. It all makes for a gorgeous design that is unique and evocative of the location.

And notice there is no name on the logo, just the founding date? That’s a bold move, and I love that, too. It’s like saying, “You know who we are.” It saunters up to the line of pretentiousness but then you look at the logo and sheepishly agree, “Yeah, you guys are pretty cool.”

I’d rather play Pebble, Cypress, or Spyglass. But the Monterey Peninsula logo on a hat or shirt is the best-looking swag in the neighborhood.

Bravo.