AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
06 Feb 2003 - 09 Feb 2003Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach, California
I am sure there are some fans out there who are interested and curious about our decision to lay-up on the final hole. We had 210 yards to the hole, but the ball was on a good downhill lie. I am sure it was quite difficult to see the contour of the lie on TV, but it was there! There was a severe slope on the right side of the fairway and it was where our ball ended up. Mike probably could have taken enough club to get the ball over the water, but it would have ended up on the back of the green. Then it would have been nearly impossible to make a birdie. In the end it didn’t up being a tough decision, but it was the smartest, as the commentators eventually realized.
This week we are here in beautiful Northern California at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am with playing partner Wayne Gretzky! What an exciting event for both Mike and I. Growing up in Canada Gretzky was obviously one of our biggest heroes, so to be playing with him is amazing. We played a practice round with ’99 yesterday at Spyglass, one of the three courses this tournament is played on. Today we have a 9 o’clock tee-time (Coast time) at Pebble Beach.
This tournament has a format different then most other tour events. Each professional is paired up with one amateur for all three rounds and play three different courses. Mike will keep his own score, but Gretz has the choice of using his own ball or Mike’s. With a handicap of 12, I am sure there will be times where Wayne helps us out. A team best ball score will also be kept. There is a crown for the winning professional as well as the winning pro-am team at the AT&T Pebble Beach invitational, so we will see what we can do this week!
The three courses here are Poppy Hills, SpyGlass Hill, and Pebble Beach Golf Links. The courses are playing much different this week than any other time I have been here. In the past the courses have been very wet, but the weather has been so good lately that the courses are playing a lot firmer. The ball is actually rolling and bouncing rather than landing and plugging. This is the first time I have seen the courses in this condition so it will play a little bit shorter but they will be much more difficult on the greens!
Poppy Hills is the easiest course and probably the least exciting. There are five par fives, four of which are reachable in two. It is an inland course and has lots of mounds in the fairways and undulating greens. Spyglass Hill is a beautiful course and may be the most difficult because it is long and very demanding. Pebble Beach, well, the name speaks for itself. The one thing about Pebble is that when there’s no wind it isn’t that hard at all. But, because it is on the ocean the wind usually blows making it one of most difficult courses on tour. Conditions will play a very important part. The key to the week is playing the greens, as they are firm and fast.
This has already been an amazing week coming off of the win at the Bob Hope, being in beautiful Pebble Beach. It will only get better as the event begins.
