Watching the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last week with the glamour shots of Stillwater Cove, the par-3 seventh green perched along the water’s edge and, of course, the famous 18th hole was another reminder of how magnificently beautiful Pebble Beach is.
No matter how often you go there, you still find yourself staring at the cliffs and the coastline and the sheer majesty of the place.
Last week also reminded me of how in one week I had offers to play both Cypress Point and Pebble Beach the Monday after Graeme McDowell won the 2010 U.S. Open there, and I turned down both chances.
I don’t say this as some badge of honor. I wanted to play both that week but in one case work intruded and in the other case, well, I’ll explain.
The Cypress Point invitation came unexpectedly when I accompanied a couple of writers who were doing an interview there. I went along for the ride and to be on the property again. Upon arriving, I ran into a friend who is a member and he needed a fourth that day.
Jack Nicklaus calls the approach shot into the par-4 eighth … his favorite second shot in golf. I agree and I also call it my favorite fourth shot, too.
They were minutes from teeing off, the day was beautiful and there’s no better place to be than at Cypress Point with a tee time. Unfortunately, I had two stories to write from the U.S. Open for The Charlotte Observer that day and since I was on the newspaper’s dime, duty called.
I’m still not sure I made the right decision.
As for Pebble Beach, I was selected to play the Monday after the U.S. Open, one of the fortunate few picked from the media lottery to tee it up. A friend from The Augusta Chronicle, John Boyette, was there for the first time and he didn’t get picked to play.
He thought it might be his only visit to Pebble Beach (I’ve played it more than once) and, whether I was hit by a wave of generosity or poor judgment, I gave Boyette my tee time – with one caveat.
I would walk the 18 holes with him and hit a tee shot at No. 7, the second shot at No. 8 and the tee shot at No. 18. You may know that Jack Nicklaus calls the approach shot into the par-4 eighth – from atop a cliff across the water to a tiny green below – his favorite second shot in golf. I agree and I also call it my favorite fourth shot, too.
I still have a video of Boyette playing the short seventh that day, his shoulders slumping slightly after his tee shot he thought was true sailed into a bunker behind the green.
Boyette no doubt would like a do-over on that tee shot.
For me, I don’t need a do-over.
But if the opportunity to play Cypress Point and Pebble Beach comes around again, I’m going to take them.
E-MAIL RON
Ron Green Jr.