When you break from the golf and take a stroll to discover views like this . . . well, you're in a true wonderland.
Jan 29, 2025

Missing Pebble Beach's iconic pro-am, but so thankful for great memories

Never once has a visit to Monterey Peninsula been taken for granted. Never. It is the most breathtaking intersection of sun, wind, rain, surf, warmth, and rawness, where magical vistas of nature stand sternly and proudly through it all.

The fact that golf, which is my passion, is front and center always at this majestic destination point – and especially annually with the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am – is reason aplenty to glue myself to this weekend’s TV coverage of the PGA Tour stop.

Not being in attendance for the first time in years at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am is owed to the inevitable passage of time; being blessed with technology that will bring the competition into my living room is why a flood of great memories will be ignited.

That many of those memories will include days of pelting rain still elicit smiles. Like in 2014 when Graeme McDowell laughed as he and his playing partner, his dad Kenny, got a cart ride in from the third green at Spyglass during a ferocious rain. When asked what was so funny, the man who had won the 2010 U.S. Open here at Pebble Beach, nodded to the conditions and said to two golf writers, “You two, walking in the rain.”

Touche.

But it’s not like howling wind doesn’t unlock scintillating memories, also, because the time Bill Belichick and his all-world quarterback, Tom Brady, walked up the big hill toward Pebble’s sixth green and got approached by a rules official led to a priceless moment. Play had been suspended because golf balls were oscillating down on No. 5 green and coach seemed wildly amused. After all, he and his fellow amateur had competed in blizzards, deep freezes, and monsoon-like conditions.

“Did you hear that, Tom? It’s too windy,” said Belichick.

The professionals in the pairing, James Driscoll and Ricky Barnes, doubled over in laughter.

Marvelous theater, this annual AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am as the moments of joy outnumber the small pockets of unpleasantness by more than the distance you need to cover 17 Mile Drive. Others, of course, would offer dissenting opinions, but so be it. For years, three courses were in the rotation and getting from the media room at Pebble Beach to Cypress to Spyglass or Poppy or Monterey Peninsula – depending on the time period – was not easy and moans and groans could be heard all day from some in the press corps who don’t like to be inconvenienced.

Sigh.

The appreciation level should be massive at the AT&T – for the wondrous views that can enthrall and for public relations officials and volunteers who perform brilliantly in trying conditions, always with smiles and warmth.

Consider the uniqueness of this PGA Tour model, as it travels like a circus from town to town and depends upon tournament directors to assemble a small city for one week. Volunteers are beyond important, they are the lifeblood, and those who give of themselves to drive media types through the Monterey Peninsula forest so they can watch golf or speak to golfers and/or celebrities hold a special place in my heart.

It's no small task, this challenge to please media folks, but it is done with admirable success throughout the PGA Tour circus trail, especially on the edge of the Pacific to this tournament that is exceedingly rich in history.

And while other tournaments – especially the majors – can boast of great historical lineage, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am provides chapters upon chapters that give it its own wing in the Library of PGA Tour History.

You better believe that this is a visit that never gets overlooked when covering the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. It never gets old.

Much of it is owed to weather factors that are part of a unique locale.

A lot of it belongs to Hall of Fame players from Sam Snead to Jack Nicklaus to Johnny Miller to Tom Watson to Phil Mickelson and Mark O’Meara who never hid their absolute love of Pebble Beach.

Then there’s the fact that such elite courses that could stand by themselves (Cypress Point, Monterey Peninsula, Spyglass Hill, and Poppy Hills) have always been proud to be in the rota at this most famous of pro-ams.

But what deepens the rich flavor of this tournament that so many still refer to as “the Crosby Clambake” or simply "the Crosby" is the long line of amateurs who have brought a certain charm and verve to the proceedings. Some of the amateurs who have left fingerprints on the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am have ranged from a Catholic priest, Father John Durkin, who had the great Tony Lema serve as his altar boy during morning Mass, to Eddie Lowery, who captured the team title in 1955 alongside his great friend Byron Nelson.

Ah, but it’s the long list of celebrities who have not only put this tournament on the map but have immeasurably enriched the PGA Tour that leave the grandest slices of history here. Try as he did, Bing Crosby never did win the pro-am title at the tournament that was his pride and joy. He did, however, make the cut, which is something Jack Lemmon could never do in 25 tries at “the Crosby."

What Lemmon did do was be the focal point to arguably the greatest photo in AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am history. Insisting on trying to play a shot the hung up on the edge of the cliff at Cypress Point, Lemmon asked Clint Eastwood to hold his belt. But more help was required so Peter Jacobsen, Lemmon’s partner, held onto Eastwood, Greg Norman, Eastwood’s partner, grabbed onto Jacobsen, and caddie Pete Bender held onto Norman.

By itself, that photo is iconic and pretty much encapsulates what is at the heart of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. But the punch line is pure entertainment – Lemmon pitched back onto the fairway then shanked his next shot over the cliff.

But beyond the PGA Tour greats who have won this tournament and the powerhouse tandems who have prevailed in the team competition (a personal nod to the ’87 duo of Fred Couples and George Brett), it is the quality corps of volunteers and the relentless spirit of fans who must really work at getting onto the Monterey Peninsula and down to Pebble Beach who are owed so much thanks and deserve great respect.

As for a future visit to the AT&T, that can be almost guaranteed. After all, where else can you walk over iconic golf courses, then take a break from watching wonderful golf to go walking along an even more wonderful route in 17 Mile Drive.

Always, the view of the rocks and the ferocious surf made it tough to return to the golf, but return we did. And always, when a return to the media room at Pebble Beach was required, it was accomplished with great care thanks to volunteers who are so much a part of this great show.