Pebble Beach
The weather started the week like home, cold and damp
but there was some sunshine to brighten things up a
little by the end. The week is famous for being cold
and Titleist came prepared, giving new waterproof
jackets to their players, I also collected my new bag,
which I had been waiting to be logoed. While I was on
the van I had my clubs regripped, Golf Pride have a
new range of colours so I opted for the sky blue ones.
My caddy Ron was stuck at home with the flu so Lisa
had to carry a pencil bag for my practice rounds at
Poppy Hills and Spyglass. We walked Pebble Beach on
Tuesday morning as there was a frost delay and the
course got jammed up with lots of players. I have
seen many courses since I began playing golf as a boy,
but this is my favourite course with spectacular views
as nine of the holes are along the Pacific Ocean and
you can see the ocean from most of the other holes.
Pebble has really small greens and is a course where
you could birdie the first six holes but could also be
five over as the margin of error is so fine.
John my accountant and friend arrived on Wednesday, he
has come over to see the courses at Pebble Beach as he
loves golf and wanted to watch me play, it is nice to
have him here and inform me of my statistics, after
all is he is good with numbers! Ron was fit and well
for Thursday and I was pleased to have him on my bag
for the tournament.
The AT&T at Pebble Beach is steeped in history, it is
the same format as the Dunhill in Europe, each
professional partners an amateur for the week. We
play three courses, Pebble Beach, Poppy Hills and
Spyglass Hill, before a cut where the top 60 Pro's and
top 25 teams play Pebble again on Sunday. My amateur
partner for the week was Dan Hansford and we played
alongside Jason Dufner and his amateur Vaughn
Kezirian. Neither teams qualified for the final round
on Sunday but I thoroughly enjoyed my time in their
company. It was nice to see both Dan and Vaughn's
families come out and support them all week. They
weren't the only ones with home support, I had John
and also Cindy and Neil two golfers from Newcastle who
were over on their holiday.
I played well all week from tee to green but struggled
on the bumpy greens, you forget that its only the
beginning of February and the weather is not to
dissimilar to the UK so the courses aren't going to be
perfect.
Sunday was an early start, we took the scenic route
back to LA stopping to see elephant seals, waterfalls
and stunning views. I am back here for the Monday
qualifying for the Northern Trust Open, which will be
at Riviera CC, it is one of the courses that I would
like to play and I hope I get the opportunity.
Qualifying tomorrow is at the Eisenhower course at
Industry Hills golf club.
If I don't get one of the places for the Northern
Trust Open tomorrow then I will go to Florida for a
few days to practice and do some laundry before I fly
to the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico.
Update
I shot 68, four under par at Industry Hills on
Monday but that wasn't low enough to qualify for the
Northern Trust Open