Brennans Caddy Report-ATT Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:14:54
The FBR Open last week was all that it was made out to be with some of the biggest crowds that I have ever witnessed in my years at the event. I have to say that half of the people there had no idea that a golf event was even going on, the largest crowds happen to be in the huge food court/beer garden that is nowhere near the golf course. With over 500,000 people attending this year, they are expecting the biggest crowd of all time next year as it's the same weekend as the Super Bowl! As far as the golf last week, Mike had a good Sunday and overall had a pretty solid week. He really stuck the ball nicely and made some good putts on Sunday. You can see that his confidence level is rising each week as he become more familiar with his new swing.
This week is the second of five in a row for us and it happens to be a place where Mike has had some great success, Pebble Beach. This event is a four day event played on three courses: Spyglass, Poppy Hills, and two days at Pebble. Each professional is paired up with an amateur for the first three days and then the top twenty amateurs get to play a Sunday which is a great thrill for them. We play every year with our good friend George Roberts, so that really makes the week that much more special. It adds a little variety to the event with the amateurs and keeps the atmosphere a little more laidback than most events.
The weather in the Monterrey area has been very dry over the last few months, so the courses are in the best shape I have seen them in my 8 years here. The weather forecast for the weekend doesn't look very good. I am not sure how the courses are going to hold up, but for Thursday we should at least see Pebble Beach in a somewhat dry condition! The course that suffers the most is Poppy Hills as it is in the trees and has the least amount of circulation, therefore it is always the wettest of the three. As of now it is pretty dry and for the first time the greens have some good speed. Maybe the weather will pass and we will see the courses play a little faster than we are used to!
We got to play two practice rounds this week, Pebble on Tuesday and Spyglass on Wednesday. It is always a good thing to play practice rounds out here as there are a lot of subtle little breaks on the greens. It is very important to place the ball in the correct position on the green, in order to make easier putts. Spyglass is a course that is only 6900 yards, but it is the longest course under 7,000 yards I have ever seen. At sea level, the ball doesn't really travel very far and with no roll the course just plays really, really, long. The key to Pebble and Spy is to try and keep the ball below the hole on the greens so that you have uphill putts. Downhill putts on greens can be very fast and tricky. Poppy Hills, on the other hand, is the easiest of the three because it has six par 4's, six par 5's, and six par 3's. It is the only course all year we play like that. With having that many par 5's, it is very important to play them well and try to make up some stokes on them. Five of the six are reachable in two shots, so it is possible to really shoot a low score at Poppy.
I have always been a big fan of this tourney for several reasons, but there is nothing like being on Pebble Beach on a beautiful day with the ocean running down the side of six or seven holes. It is just beautiful and very relaxing. The weather will dictate how the course will play. With sun and no wind Pebble is a pretty easy course, but with wind it can be very difficult.
I really look forward to Mike continuing his good play over the next month as we play four more events. I think he is very comfortable with his game and really starting to put things together. I know that he has had some great memories here and close calls, so I think it would be great if we could give this event another good run. Who knows maybe pull a victory out of it! It is definitely a place that everyone has to come see one time in their life if they get a chance.
Thanks for your support!
Brennan
