In 1945 a young artillery corporal named Mike Napolitano had returned from frontline duty in the European theater and was about to be transferred to Fort Ord in California, where he would be retrained and shipped to the Pacific to continue in the war effort against Japan. But America’s nuclear lapse in consciousness abruptly brought Japan to its knees, precluding the need for U.S. soldiers to work their way to the Far East. If the Enola Gay hadn’t taken off, maybe Cpl. Napolitano would have landed in Seaside, where, like countless others before and after, he would have fallen in love with this magical confluence of land, sea and air and raised his family on these golden shores– and I probably would have grown up playing the legendarily long Bayonet and Black Horse for short money.

Instead, I must pony up modern-day pro shop prices like everyone else when I want to revel in what has become a reincarnated instant classic duo of courses on a Peninsula full of classic courses. This week, with the final phase of a multi-year, $13-million renovation just completed, local duffers got their first look at the new nine-hole stretches at each of the two courses. Fortunately for the military types, they still get a discount, albeit only Monday through Thursday, according to Ret. Lt. Col. Lee Early. “On weekends and holidays, even if we want to walk, they are charging us a cart fee,” he says. “Their ultimate goal is to squeeze us out altogether.”

A different change has earned the attention of Early’s buddy, Tom Ballard, another retired military golf nut who has been playing these two courses since they were only one: all the new bunkers, including the particularly distinctive serrated-edged style of Black Horse’s sand traps.

“They need 70 more rakes on the front nine at Bayonet,” he said after a recent round. Sounds like a man who needs some work on his sand game. But that’s the whole point: This is the Monterey Peninsula, baby, and golf is what we do. The days of Fort Ord and 40,000 GIs are over. Those 40,000 rounds of ammunition have been replaced by 40,000 rounds of golf.

I think Gen. Robert McClure would be damn proud. He’s the golf-thinking military genius who, while running Fort Ord, enlisted the aid of his friend Robert “Boots” Widener, plus a young soldier named Ken Venturi and laid out 18 holes of golf that he named after Bayonet Division, a nickname for the 7th Infantry Light Fighter Division. The general was a bona fide golf fanatic, but not without the discipline and integrity reserved for fighting men. He built a beast of a layout, a veritable forced march– 7,000 yards in length, hilly and tough.

In 1962, when faced with the prospect of the adjacent land being designated for military housing, McClure grabbed course superintendent Merle Russill and in less than two hours came up with the basic design for nine more holes. The next year, McClure gave way to General Edwin Carnes who, presciently, decided to add nine more. Black Horse, named for the 11th Calvary Regiment at the Presidio, was born.

Fast-forward to today. Gene Bates, whose nearest claim to fame around here comes at Freddie Couples’ San Juan Oaks in San Juan Bautista, has resculpted, reseeded, redesigned and reengineered the old Bayonet and Black Horse while remaining true to the integrity of the original intent and remembering why this property is so prized to begin with. Bates removed every possible impediment to the sweeping vistas of Monterey Bay and the surrounding areas. Players who have been here before will be shocked by the almost continual panoramic views. Newbies will be blown away.

Remember the awful holes here and there that, after a round, made you feel like you had just gone through your first week of basic training? Forgotten with one round on this golf complex, where Dick Fitzgerald, managing director, said, “We wanted to make sure all the holes were laid out so you could see what to expect.”

What you don’t expect is how incredibly beautiful the lines of this redesign are. From sweeping S-shaped fairways to the stark white, jigsaw-piece bunkers to undulating greens and geometrically precise tee boxes, these two distinctly different courses have jumped right into the foreground of Monterey Peninsula golfing scenery.

By replacing this area’s typical Kikuyu and Poa Annua grasses with a special variety called Jacklin T1 Bentgrass, Bates and his team have also been able to create some of the truest rolling greens in this area. Their scope and shape are incredibly interesting.

As a result, what was once a punishing struggle across often goofy tracks has become a difficult, fair test of golfing skill, tough enough to test the strongest game, yet honest enough to leave you feeling satisfied, if slightly sore. Like a good day of military training.

As with most real estate these days, the timeline on the proposed luxury Fairmont resort hotel, timeshare condos and residences around the courses has slowed. The golf, however, is the best it has ever been and open for play right now.

Were the two good generals to somehow roll up the long driveway for a day of golf on their old recreational stomping grounds, I believe they’d leave here understanding their important role in transforming society from arms-bearing back to club-wielding, an evolutionary step in the right direction.

BAYONET AND BLACK HORSE GOLF COURSES  1 McClure Way, Seaside. $115 weekdays; $160 weekends and holidays. 899-PAR1, www.bayonetblackhorse.com