Memories of the always unpredictable AT
&
amp;T
It’s the place where sea meets land
– a land situated on a peninsula that’s home to the grandest
stage golf has ever known: Pebble Beach.
This week the AT
&
amp;T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am gets underway on the Monterey
Peninsula to the thrill of golf fans and fans of celebrities
everywhere, who come not only to see the flawless golf shots of the
pros, but to see the sideways shots of the numerous stars in the
tournament. And for those reasons the AT
&
amp;T
– even though it’s not one of golf’s four Majors – is one of the
best tournaments the PGA Tour has to offer.
Memories of the always unpredictable AT&T
It’s the place where sea meets land – a land situated on a peninsula that’s home to the grandest stage golf has ever known: Pebble Beach.
This week the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am gets underway on the Monterey Peninsula to the thrill of golf fans and fans of celebrities everywhere, who come not only to see the flawless golf shots of the pros, but to see the sideways shots of the numerous stars in the tournament. And for those reasons the AT&T – even though it’s not one of golf’s four Majors – is one of the best tournaments the PGA Tour has to offer.
There’s the picturesque scenery, the storied courses, which also includes Spyglass Hill and Poppy Hills, and the unpredictable weather. Will it be 70 and sunny or 40 and raining?
My first memories of Pebble Beach were watching it as a teenager on TV from some 3,000 miles away in Massachusetts. Watching the pros play back then in balmy winter weather while I sat in my living room at home with the snow barreling down outside was a big factor in jumpstarting my move to California.
I remember seeing Bob Hope, Clint Eastwood, Hale Irwin, Tom Watson and all the other PGA Tour stars of the era. I remember every year there was also some drunk-looking guy named Phil Harris, who CBS would invite into the tower on the 18th each year to talk about his love affair with the tournament and his memories of Bing Crosby. He always sounded like it was about midnight on New Year’s Eve.
Of course the tournament was the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am back then. I can still hear the theme song: “Straight Down the Middle” sung by Bing himself that would lead the telecast. I just had to move, and did as soon as I finished high school.
In 1984, I became a spectator for the first time. That was the year of my most surreal moment of the tournament – seeing my hero Jack Nicklaus for the first time in person at Cypress Point. He was paired that year with former President Gerald Ford. It was Nicklaus, Ford and a whole bunch of secret service guys just watching the gallery. I remember running three holes ahead of everyone for a prime spot so I could watch the Golden Bear tee off when he arrived. Prior to this, I had never seen Nicklaus in person since he never competed in the Pleasant Valley Open – the lone PGA Tour stop in New England at the time.
I remember that same year I went with a college buddy and we decided to get there at 4:30 a.m., about three hours before the tournament people even showed up! Talk about psychos. I remember driving to Cypress Point in the pitch dark and parking right next to the head pro’s preferred space while everyone else was being shuttled in.
The only problem was that around 11 a.m. it started to warm up and when we went back to the car to put our coats inside, an official from the PGA Tour asked us if we were caddies. How else could you get such a prime parking space? We replied, “Yes.” Then the guy said can I see your passes? Knowing that we were caught the reply was, “Ahhh, where do we park?”
Another year a friend of mine walked up to Bill Murray who was in a bar at The Lodge after the tournament. I guess the old Media Pass worked well that year. Anyway, as the story goes he walked up to the star of Caddy Shack to say hello and the drunken actor tossed his drink on him. Words were exchanged and Murray demanded that security kick my friend out! And they did.
Another year (Our columnist Kate Woods will love this.) I had my picture taken with former Vice President Dan Quayle on the driving range.
Speaking of the driving range, another year in the 1990s the two Sutherland brothers were hitting balls – David and Kevin. A friend of mine who I played junior college golf played with them at Fresno State. Now they were both on the PGA Tour. They reached the apex of the sport. We didn’t, but it was cool when they asked us to come inside the ropes at the driving range so that we could better watch their swings and critique them. Here we were giving swing tips to guys on the PGA Tour. Later that same year, that same friend shot a 75 on media day for the 1992 U.S. Open – in U.S. Open conditions! Brent Musberger was so impressed that he took notes from him on how to play the storied course that he used in the booth that year.
One year some friends and I followed Nicklaus after his round as he walked towards The Lodge. As Nicklaus signed autographs for what seemed like 30 minutes, we continued to follow him. Eventually it was just us and Nicklaus-the greatest golfer to ever pick up a club. He kindly posed for a picture. The following year the U.S. Open was at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. I’ll never forget the look on Nicklaus’ face when my friend presented Jack the photo to sign from the previous year at Pebble Beach. It was like how the hell do you have this picture?
Another year my mother was so excited that I could get her inside the ropes with a press pass that I gave her a camera and we sat along the 17th hole in a driving rain to get pictures of Brett Ogle marching to victory. There’s also the year Tiger won for the tournament for the first time. Or the year my friend somehow ended up with a CBS microphone … I think he wound up using it to interview some people at the Hog’s Breath later that night … Another year I watched the final few groups come in standing around the 18th green with Clint Eastwood right next to me. It made my day.
Press pass or no press pass the AT&T tournament has given me some fond memories. I wonder what it will give me this week?
