A writer takes a stab at Pebble Beach
Most golfers have a bucket list of courses they want to play. Pebble Beach Golf Links in California is on most of those lists. It was on mine until August, when I got to tee it up on the Monterey Peninsula.
With the PGA Tour making its annual stop there this week, it seems like a good time to recount one man's battle with the beauty that hugs the Pacific coast.
There are a couple of ways to get on Pebble Beach. My wife and I stayed at The Lodge on the grounds of the club. How did we know this was going to be different? We flew to San Francisco, rented a car (a Ford Focus) and drove south to the hallowed grounds. When we checked in, we were parked behind a Jaguar, a Mercedes and a Bentley. Our parking spot in the Lodge lot was next to a Lamborghini. Yep, this would be different.
Situation: My tee time is 12:10 p.m. I show up a little early, get checked in, and go to the driving range -- which isn't really near the first tee -- to warm up for a few minutes. The first tee at Pebble Beach has the pro shop on one side, lodge rooms on the other. It's actually a pretty cramped space. But, always check out the group in front of you to see if they're good.
Result: Hmmm, three guys wearing Stanford University colors and a woman wearing a skirt with the Augusta National logo on it. Wait … yes it is. I'll be in the group playing behind former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Situation: Everyone I talked to beforehand said to take a caddie, walk the course, and soak in the beauty. So I do. The three women I was paired with take carts with a forecaddie.
Result: Different sets of tees and modes of transportation. I don't see much of them except on the greens and when we are waiting on tee boxes.
Situation: On the first tee, my caddie tells me he likes to club conservatively.
Result: I don't play that way, but decide he might know better than I do. Really bad decision.
Situation: I bogey the first hole and par the second. I'm in a greenside bunker in two on the third hole.
Result: Then it happens. Sand trap left to sand trap right to sand trap left to sand trap right to on the green. Three putts later, I exit the green writing a 9 on the scorecard. Dreams of a good round crushed.
Situation: On the par-5 sixth, my drive hits the fairway. I want to hit a 5-wood to the top of the hill and have a chip shot to the green. My caddie says to use a hybrid instead to make sure I hit the fairway and don't lose the shot off a cliff to the right into the Pacific Ocean.
Result: Yeah, you knew it. Watery grave and a double bogey.
Situation: On the famous downhill, 98-yard, par-3 seventh, Rice's group is just walking off the tee box as we arrive. So there will be a wait. It's a scenic area, so the caddie takes pictures. The eighth tee is immediately to the left of the seventh green, partially hidden by a sizable hill. They finish and walk off. The women tee off, then it's my turn to hit.
Result: I pull my tee shot left. For a mortifying moment, I think to myself that the only thing I'll remember about this round is that I hit Condy Rice with my tee shot. Turns out the women's tee is up on the hill, so she's safe. The other three in the group don't seem overly impressed with my control of a pitching wedge.
Situation: The eighth hole, besides being incredibly beautiful, is my best of the day. Blind tee shot up to the crest of a hill with the Pacific looming off a cliff along the right side. The caddie says to hit the drive over a large rock in the fairway at the top of the hill.
Result: I nail the drive over that rock. My caddie thinks it will be OK (I apparently hit it too well). We get to the top of hill and the ball is within a club length of where the fairway falls off a cliff. A sign reads: Danger. Steep Cliff. (You know, in case it wasn't horribly obvious.) From there, I hit a hybrid 180 yards to the green and two-putt for par. Take that, Beach.
Situation: I have to keep playing. Still have 11 holes to go.
Result: I, naturally, back up that par with a double on the ninth.
Situation: There's a 10-minute wait on the 10th tee. My group heads to the halfway house. When it's clear, my caddie heads down the fairway to the landing area while I use the facilities. When I come out, he's 200 yards down the fairway – with my driver still in the bag.
Result: A man in a cart at the halfway house notices and runs down the fairway to retrieve the club. Nice guy.
Situation: The back nine is largely uneventful, except for three doubles and a triple. One of the doubles comes at the par-3 17th.
Result: I hit my tee shot in the back left bunker, which led to a 5.
Situation: The 18th hole at Pebble Beach is arguably the most scenic in golf. I hit my best drive of the day, putting it perfectly between the big tree in the middle of the fairway and the Pacific. I'm so proud of that drive that I have my caddie take a photo as proof. And then, there's the rest of the hole.
Result: With all the room you could want to the right for the second shot, I hit a rescue that doesn't slice. Instead, it bounces once on the grass before cruelly diving into the bunker between the fairway and ocean. I chip out of the bunker, then over the green, then onto the green and two-putt for a 7.
Pretty sure I'll remember only the drive.