The late Bing Crosby's idea of a tournament featuring pros competing side-by-side with amateurs landed Crosby in the World Golf Hall of Fame. Known today as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, this year's event will tee off February 12-15 at Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill.
Born Harry Lillis Crosby in 1904 in Tacoma, Wash., Bing Crosby first took up the game at 12 as a caddie, dropped it and started again in 1930 with some fellow cast members in Hollywood during the filming of “The King of Jazz.”
While Crosby in most circles will always be remembered as a singer and movie star, he would probably wish he was also remembered as a solid golfer (he had a 2 Handicap Index) who competed in both the British and U.S. Amateur championships and was a five-time club champion at Lakeside Golf Club in Hollywood.
Crosby originally conceived his tournament in 1937 as a friendly little pro-am for his fellow members at Lakeside and any stray touring pros who could use some pocket change. The first edition of the Clambake was played at Rancho Santa Fe Country Club in northern San Diego County, where Crosby was also member.
He would even toss in $3,000 of his own money for the purse, which led inaugural champion Sam Snead to ask if he might get his $700 in cash instead of a check. Not surprisingly, the event was a success, setting a precedent that has continued for nearly a century now.
As per what is known as ‘Crosby Weather’, the first Clambake was played in such a deluge an on-course bridge was washed out. “One thing about Crosby weather, there’s lots of it,” the host once said.
Relocating to the Monterey Peninsula after World War II only made it worse. In 1962, snow postponed the event for a day, and 34 years later rain wiped it out altogether.
Still, moving up north was the best thing that ever happened to the Clambake. Rotating among Pebble Beach Golf Links, the Cypress Point Club and Spyglass Hill, the tournament had courses equal to the star power of the field. The NCGA’s Poppy Hills was even part of the show, acting as co-host from 1991-2009.
Crosby died in 1977 of a heart attack while on a golf course in Madrid, having just played 18 holes with Spanish professional Manuel Pinero.
Though it no longer carries his name, the Pebble Beach Pro-Am will always be Crosby’s tournament. As he once said, “If I were asked what single thing has given me the most gratification in my long and sometimes pedestrian career, I think I would have to say it is this tournament.”
