After a long 2010 season of golf coaching, I took a few weeks out from the Academy and headed over to North America. During my time in the United States I had the opportunity to play some of the best golf courses in California!
Half Moon Bay, Spyglass Hill, Links at Spanish Bay and Carmel Valley Ranch were fantastic but the highlight was playing the famous Pebble Beach, venue for the recent 2010 US Open Championship and home of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Since starting golf as a kid, I've watched many telecasts of tournaments played at Pebble Beach...from Tom Watson's 1982 US Open triumph, through to the 100th US Open won in historic fashion by Tiger Woods in the year 2000, not to mention Graeme McDowell's 2010 US Open victory. It was therefore quite a surreal experience teeing it up at Pebble.
We were very fortunate with the weather on the Monterey Peninsula....pretty cold but the rain held off which was great. Even better was the scarse number of golfers out playing that day. No group directly in front or behind us all day....brilliant!
My caddie Todd told me on the 1st tee "You need to make your score here at Pebble through the first 6 holes". So with Todd's local knowledge and advice, I proceeded to hit every fairway and 5 greens in regulation through the first 6, but struggled to hole-out. After reaching the par 5 6th hole in two, I barely missed my eagle attempt then carelessly let the next one slip by the edge for a 3-putt par...the grainy greens had gotten the better of me!
Standing on the 7th tee, looking down at one of the most famous holes in golf (pic below), with it's postage stamp green, the pin cut over the front-righthand trap and the wind howling off the ocean from the right....one can finally begin to appreciate how a 109yd downhill par 3 can actually be intimidating!
With a wedge in hand, I hit a 3/4 knock-down shot (pic below) that bounced just through the green into the heavy rough. I played a delicate chip to 2ft and was pleased to tap in for my par on this signature hole.
The next stretch of par 4's along the ocean were both picturesque and brutally tough in the prevailing winds, but none more breathtaking and no shot more daunting than the approach to the 8th green. Jack Nicklaus has named this his favourite approach shot in golf...and I can see why! (pics below)
At 505yds and 495yd respectively...the 9th and 10th holes played along the ocean into a strong headwind and were two of the toughest back-to-back par 4's I've ever played. Making 4 on both these holes was a bonus. The course finally gives you a break on No.11....just a drive and a wedge, but the green is incredibly narrow. You really can't appreciate how small the greens are at Pebble until you've played it. Holes 12 through to 15 weren't any different....all small undulating greens, so well protected by deep greenside bunkers that short-siding yourself almost guaranteed a dropped shot.
The last three holes at Pebble were brilliant...16's a great par 4 then comes the 208yd par 3 17th which plays back toward the ocean, and for us, it also played into a stiff offshore breeze. The pin was cut about 15ft right of the ridge that runs through the centre of the green...at which point the green is barely five paces deep (see pic from behind green below)....a near impossible target with gusty winds and a 3-iron in hand!
Looking down the fairway from the 18th tee was a great sight....knowing how many legends of the game have stood on that tee box on a sunday afternoon with the lead in a US Open or AT&T National was pretty cool. (see pics below)
It felt great to flush a drive straight down the middle on 18, leaving myself the perfect angle to attack the green in two. However my caddie Todd suggested that I should lay it up in front of the greenside bunker with a hybrid and pitch it on from there. With 248yds to the green and a huge ego in hand I reached into the bag, pulled out my 3-wood and confidently told my caddie "I didn't travel half way across the world to lay up!" So with the pin tucked over on the left side of the green I tried to draw it in but overcooked it, got a bad bounce off the edge of the greenside bunker and ended up in the ocean! Not satisfied with the outcome and in true "Tin Cup" fashion, I dropped another down in the fairway and proceeded to play my 4th shot with a 3-wood from 248yds yet again, only this time I fortunately made no mistake....landing it in the apron just off the front edge of the green. I got it up and down for a bogey and signed off for a round of 76.
Although I paid the price for my aggressive play down the last, it was awesome to play Pebble Beach with one of my best mates and my wonderful wife....certainly a day to remember.
