CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA, Calif. — David Sansing, a retiree from Dallas in a TaylorMade hat, was out for a stroll with his wife on Carmel Beach Wednesday morning when he noticed a bluff to his right. Sidestepping the PRIVATE PROPERTY signs, Sansing scaled the rugged slope to get a glimpse of the greatest meeting of land and sea: Pebble Beach Golf Links, which this week is playing host to the 119th U.S. Open Championship.

“This is different,” Sansing said with a laugh when he arrived near the summit of the cliff, upon which the 10th green sits. He motioned back down toward the beach. “They’ll probably make you watch from down there tomorrow.”

Among the many charms of Pebble Beach is that it’s actually accessible from a public beach. It’s a simple process: Park your car on Scenic Road, which abuts the white sands of Carmel Beach, walk north about a quarter of a mile and you’ll come across a grassy, rocky, sandy bluff with the top of a flagstick just barely visible atop it. That’s the southernmost point of Pebble Beach, the green on the bruising 495-yard par-4 10th hole.