Throughout Northern California, from bustling cosmopolitan cities to quiet coastal communities, the Golden State has been gifted with an exceptionally diverse collection of communal golf courses layered with a rich frosting of history. Take a journey to experience the best golf the region has to offer while enjoying luxurious stays and elegant meals throughout. Experience the very best Northern California has to offer, and surround yourself with lush and scenic landscapes while attempting to launch a very small ball into the air for several hundred yards with the goal of putting it into a 4-inch hole.

Along the storied Monterey Peninsula, there are few golf thrills like teeing up for the first on Pebble Beach Golf Links, ranked No. 1 on Golf Digest’s “America’s 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses.” With nine holes edging the Pacific surf (#4-10, 17, 18), the Jack Neville/Douglas Grant design (1919), is often called the greatest meeting of land and sea in American golf and where golfers can feel the presence of the game’s legends to have competed in the annual AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and six U.S Open Championships. pebblebeach.com/golf/pebble-beach-golf-links/

The Casa Palmero is a small, ultra-luxury resort on the first tee of the Pebble Beach Golf Links. And yes, it’s very expensive. Fashioned after a European villa with every modern comfort and a staff to anticipate your every wish, it has 24 cottages and suites with amenities that include wood-burning fireplaces and soaking tubs that open to the main room. The Spa at Pebble Beach is right next door, offering “Post-Golf Therapy,” couples massage, and even acupuncture.

Along the Pacific Coast 30 minutes from San Francisco or Silicon Valley, two 18-hole courses create bookends to The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay. The Arnold Palmer/Francis Duane-designed 7,001-yard Old Course (1973) has a parkland feel with a premium on strategy over distance and a postcard 18th hole finish along the coastal bluff. The 6,854-yard links-style Ocean Course (1997) is an Arthur Hills’ crafted layout with wide open fairways and Big Blue views from nearly every hole. A sunset finish on either is complimented by Scottish bagpipes.

There’s usually a lunch line out the door at this casual waterfront seafood shack in Princeton-by-the-Sea. The coastal classics on the menu, including clam chowder, fish and chips, and a Dungeness Crab Sandwich, are best enjoyed at one of the outdoor tables overlooking Pilar Point Harbor and the beach.

Set atop an ocean bluff and looking every bit like the grand seaside lodges of the 19th century is the spectacular Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay. It’s a popular weekend retreat for the Bay Area well-to-do, who come for treatments at the resort’s 16,000-square-foot Spa and Fitness Center, then try to squeeze in 36 holes on two of the finest coastal golf courses in the state. After a day of treatments, it’s de rigueur to go for a walk along the coastal path at sunset and soak in the beautiful views.

Overlooking the gateway to San Francisco Bay, Presidio GC (1895) is the second oldest course west of the Mississippi. Before transitioning to a public course in 1995, play was restricted to military officers and the likes of Joe DiMaggio, Babe Ruth and Dwight Eisenhower. The deceivingly long 6,481-yard hilly layout within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area meanders around Eucalyptus and Monterey Pine trees and is a mission worth undertaking.

A Michelin star restaurant in a quiet corner of the city near the Presidio, Spruce has been an insider favorite since its opening in 2007. The restaurant boasts numerous awards for its wine selection and food offerings, but the burger is perhaps the most lauded of all. A mainstay on “best of” burger lists for decades and with good reason. Served on an English muffin bun, the patty is a blend of short rib, sirloin and brisket that's ground in-house every day. It is topped with pickled red onion and zucchini, tomato, and a caper remoulade that betrays the restaurant's Michelin-star status. Be sure to order the fries. Fried in duck fat, they may be the best you'll ever have. The $22 price tag seems intimidating, but is well-warranted. Hours are 11:30am to 2:30pm and 5pm to 10pm daily. Weekend brunch is 11am to 2:30pm.

To stay like a local takes on true authenticity at this historic Edwardian property in residential Pacific Heights, a.k.a. Billionaire’s Row. Old-fashioned tasseled keys and a gracious curved stairway speak to the elegance and hospitality of bygone days. Known for sophistication, meticulous attention to detail, and personal service, the complimentary breakfast and evening wine and cheese reception are welcome benefits. Forty-eight rooms including 16 suites. Small fitness center, no on-site restaurant.

This Scottish-style links course along the North Coast was completed in two phases with the front nine appearing in 1974 along the undulating landscape, followed by the back nine in 1995. The 6,649-yard layout is fairly unprotected from the ocean breezes and the fairways are bordered by native grasses and plants that sometimes serve as a magnet for wayward hit golf balls. Stay-and-play packages are available.

A collection of individual homes on the dramatic Sonoma Coast, Sea Ranch is an ideal getaway for groups in western Sonoma County. Family-sized houses — some of the charmingly named getaways include Seascape, Moondance and Breaker View — are designed and built with strict guidelines around environmental sustainability and stewardship for the land. Homes are set into the rugged landscape, spaced to ensure privacy and a low impact on the land. Set into 3,500 acres, individual homes are situated near the ocean’s edge while others are nestled in the rolling hills. All have ocean views. Family groups can often rent homes next to each other to maximize ease of community gatherings yet ensuring each party has their own space. Lodging is designed with reverence for the ruggedness of the California coast. Many homes are tucked into stands of trees or hedgerows and set back far enough from the ocean on what Sea Ranch calls ocean meadows, to allow natural processes to continue. Interior redwood walls and hot tubs are a feature of most homes with large windows to enjoy the wildlife.

The ethos of modern farmhouse pulls through from the comfortable, easy chair and fluffy pillows decor to the table. The seasonally-changing menu might feature ahi tuna paillard with green yuzu-kosho, red wine-braised short rib or mushroom risotto. Grilled octopus with Calabrian chili and fennel is a menu must.