Brennans Caddy Report-ATT Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am has always been one of my favorite events because Mike is partnered with George Roberts. We also play with Craig Barlow and his amateur partner, as the tournament is played in foursomes for the first three days of the event. It is one of the only events that is played in foursomes, and what makes it even better is that you play with the same people for the first three days. In other pro-am events, groups rotate each day, so you can't form the same kind of relationships with other golfers as you can at this event.

It turned out to be a great week with perfect weather and a decent showing for Mike, who had to grind hard all week. He wasn't playing his best golf but he fought hard all week, finishing with a 3 under par on Sunday which moved him up to T14. It was unfortunate that our team shot -16 for the first three rounds, as we missed the team cut by one stroke, meaning George wasn't around to play with us on Sunday. Overall it was a great week and a good building block to move forward with in the next two weeks.
 
This week's event is definitely one of Mike's favorites, and for a good reason as he won here in 2003 and 2004. Although the event was renamed from the Nissan Open to the National Trust Open, not much has changed as Riviera is still the host course. Situated in a very exclusive area known as Pacific Palisades, the course is only about 20 minutes north of the LAX airport. Most of the players and caddies stay in Santa Monica where there is more to do as far as restaurants and hotels, and because of the busy traffic it is important to avoid the 405. The past few days by the beach in Santa Monica have been incredible, with 80 degree temperatures and not a gust of wind. I apologize to those experiencing the cold winter temperatures up North, but it is an amazing experience to walk down the boardwalk through Venice Beach.
 
Back to the golf tourney, Riviera is probably in the best condition I have ever seen it. I was expecting a much softer course and long rough with all the rain the area was getting, but the course is just the opposite. There isn't much rough and the greens are hard, which will make for some tough scoring. The fairway conditions are great and quite firm. I think we are going to see higher than average winning scores here if we get any wind this week. With the slopes of the greens and the speed they have this year, it is going to be tough to hit the ball close to the hole. It is also going to be mandatory to hit the ball on the correct side of the hole to allow for some good uphill putts.
 
I am expecting some good things in the next few weeks as Mike likes this course and there are a lot of good memories and good shots to draw on from the past. He has also played quite a bit recently, so his game is in scoring mode (and by that I mean his short game is in good shape). I am excited for these weeks to come and look forward to writing my report next week with plenty of great stuff to talk about!

Thanks for reading!