Holes 8, 9, and 10 at Pebble Beach Golf Links are not only challenging but their beauty is off the charts. All three are perched on a cliff that overlooks the Pacific Ocean on the right and are extremely difficult.

The first six holes on Pebble Beach offer some opportunities to ease into the round and pick up the occasional birdie. No. 7 at only 107 yards is not that difficult if you can ignore the Pacific Ocean that borders the green on three sides.

No. 8

From the back tees No. 8 can stretch to 427 yards. The difficulty is finding the fairway with the tee shot. The Pacific Ocean is hard down the right side of the hole. It turns slightly right to left and the second shot must cross over a deep canyon. Winds off the ocean come into play and the green is severely sloped and angled away from the golfer left to right.

Long hitters must lay up with their tee shot to avoid the deep inlet and must face a middle-iron into the green.

Par here is a very good score, indeed. Every player in the field this week would take four pars and move on.

No. 9

No. 9 is the most difficult hole on the golf course. It is a 481 yard par-4 with the ocean running along the right side the entire length of the hole. Shots can also find the ocean if a player is too aggressive with his second shot. A deep bunker and depression protect the front of the green. The green itself slopes severely and is very difficult to putt.

Many players will just play to the front of the green and rely on their short game to eke out a par.

No. 10 

No. 10 is another long par-4 at 441 yards with the ocean bordering the right side. Bunkers along the left side of the fairway bring the cliffs over the ocean into play for the tee shot. The green is surrounded by bunkers with the ocean front and right. The second shot to this green is not for the faint of heart.

Once the field gets through this stretch there is still plenty of golf left to play and the views surrounding Pebble Beach can be distracting as well.

The player that can minimize the damage on these three holes will have birdie opportunities on the rest of the golf course and could finish high on the leader board.