Brennans Caddy Report-ATT Pebble Beach Pro-Am

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:15:34

Last week was a little disappointing after how well Mike played at the Bob Hope Classic the week before. It proves just how hard the game of golf truly is. On a bright side, it was good to see rookie J.B. Holmes win and really engage with the crowd. The drive Holmes hit on 18 was incredibly long. He made the final hole look short and easy and completely took the water out of play, which is not the way they tournament organizers intended the hole to be played. I would not be surprised to see the 18th hole lengthened next year with another tee added.

If there was anything good that came out of missing the cut last week it was that I got to play Mirabel golf club in Scottsdale on Saturday and Cypress on Sunday which are two fantastic courses.

I mentioned in my report last week that we were heading to the Phoenix Coyotes game. Unfortunately, the Coyotes didn't play very well and ended up losing to the Canucks. Mike and Phoenix coach Wayne Gretzky are good friends and a bunch of us stopped by Gretz's office after the game to say hello. It appears the Coyotes are really building a good team in Phoenix, with a lot of young guys and a good solid foundation.

This week is a very special week for both of us as we get to play with our good friend George Roberts for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am event. George and Mike got paired together 5 years ago and since then George has been a great friend to both of us and is the one who takes us on our trip to Europe each year before the British Open. In this format we also play with another pro, Craig Barlow and his amateur partner Clint Johnstone. Craig and Mike are good buddies as well, and this is one of the few tournaments where we have a say with who we play with, and having good friends in the group for three rounds is great!

Mike has had a lot of success at this event finishing 4th, 3rd and 2nd in the last three years. Finishing off with a win would make that run all that much better. He has always enjoyed playing in this event and counts Pebble Beach as one of his favorite courses of all. As you may know this event is played on three of the Monterey Peninsula's premier golf courses: Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course and Poppy Hills Golf Course.

The key this year for us is that Mike will have to play Spyglass a bit better. We have struggled there in the past and lost some ground on this course. Mike has played well at the other two courses Poppy Hills and Pebble Beach, so with a good round at Spy it could go a long way. Spyglass is the hardest of the three courses when conditions are good like they will be this week. In fact, the weather so far this week has been 70 degrees with sun and no wind! You couldn't ask for better weather than we have had this week and it is suppose to stay like this which is great.

With the great weather the courses are really drying out and are in the best shape I have seen in all the years we have played here. I really look forward to having a good week and getting things rolling for the next two weeks. This week has been a springboard for Mike in the past for the Nissan Open and think that the next three weeks are a good time to get on a roll and set up the year for us!

Before I sign off I wanted to answer this question from Bob in Edmonton, Alberta, who asked what is the most pressing issue when dealing with the galleries. It's a good question, Bob, because I have heard often on TOUR that I act like a policeman when I deal with the galleries, because I try to make sure that they are being respectful and not moving when Mike is about to hit a shot. I don't mean to offend anyone but I often ask people to stop moving, especially if they are in Mike's line of vision while on the tee or lining up a putt.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the week!

Brennan Little

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