The mist that appears on the Monterey coast is an advection fog, formed when warm, moist air meets the cold ocean waters upwelling from the deep Monterey Submarine Canyon. In the summer months and early autumn, the coastline is bathed in a supernal mist which acts like a natural air conditioner. Pebble Beach holds onto the fog longer in forested and coastal areas, causing disruption to the Pebble Beach Golf Links: reduced visibility, altered ball distances as fog increases drag and delayed or cancelled tee times.

Exactly fifty years older than Pebble Beach, Alnmouth Village Golf Club, established in 1869, suffers the same problem, but much less often. The Northumberland land temperatures are rarely that warm, but on this late June day in 2026, for once, they were. There was even talk of closing the course until the sea fret disappeared but golfers kept teeing off regardless.

Exactly fifty years older than Pebble Beach, Alnmouth Village Golf Club, established in 1869, suffers the same problem, but much less often. The Northumberland land temperatures are rarely that warm, but on this late June day in 2026, for once, they were. There was even talk of closing the course until the sea fret disappeared but golfers kept teeing off regardless.

At the 6th, Alnmouth Village borders The Foxton’s 16th, a larger, full eighteen course and provides an opportunity for golfers to exchange greetings and retrieve stray drives from respective courses. I much prefer the shorter, true seaside links of the Village.

Alnmouth’s first five play flat along traditional links land, bordering the North Sea, with superbly maintained greens. At the 6th you are faced with a steep incline at odds with everything that has preceded. It is a challenging blind drive with a narrow window for success – a fraction too far left or right and there is deep rough. Too long and you are in rough again, if not out of bounds on the Foxton course. The fairway climbs yet more to an elevated green. It is the only hole I dislike, having never played it successfully. When I finally play it well, it will be elevated to a much loved and spectacular challenge. That day has not yet arrived. The reward for this climb, comes at the 7th tee, a glorious elevated drive some fifty feet above the fairway.

And therein lies the problem with the sea fret. Driving off the 7th tee in a mist, there is no way of knowing where your ball has gone, no idea what or who it might have struck. In addition, a beach car park access road dissects the 2nd and 8th fairways providing the added challenge of transient motor vehicles and pedestrians. This may all sound negative, but do not be deterred – Alnmouth Village Golf Club is a delight, as it has been for over 150 years.