• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Archives
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Carmel Magazine

The Lifestyle Magazine of the Central Coast

  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food & Wine
  • Music
  • Golf
  • Cars
  • Subscribe to Carmel Magazine!

Changing Course

February 1, 2010 by Alan Shipnuck

The stars are aligned for 2010 to be one of the best AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Ams in recent memory. Among the factors that have led to so much excitement in the sea air: a new course, a better spot on the calendar, and the impending U.S.Open at Pebble.

The Pro-Am will always be one of the most glamorous stops on the PGATour because of the Pebble Beach mystique and Hollywood-inspired amateurs, but in recent years many top pros have not shown up. One reason has been that the European PGA Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic occupied the same slot on the golf calendar, and top international players couldn’t resist playing there because of the bloated appearance fees, which are not allowed on the U.S. PGA Tour.

In 2010, the Dubai will be played the week before the Pro-Am, eliminating the conflict. And with Desert Classic sponsors having run out of money in the economic downturn, most of the top globetrotting players are expected to turn up at Pebble to scout a course that four months later will host the U.S.Open. This is imperative for touring pros who haven’t visited Pebble in a while because virtually every hole has been tweaked to enhance the course’s myriad challenges. Among the most notable changes are new back tees on some of the toughest par-4s. The 9th hole can now play 40 yards longer, number 10 has been stretched a whopping 50 yards and the 13th has grown by an additional 45 yards.

Pebble has always been the quintessential second-shot golf course: Generous off the tee, but its tiny,well-protected greens demand both precision and daring. Now tee shots have to be longer and much more accurate thanks to new fairway bunkering, most notably on the 3rd, 4th, 14th, 15th and 18th holes.

Pebble’s most dramatic change has occurred on the gorgeous par-5 6th hole. Before, players could mindlessly bash away from the elevated tee. Now a new bunker complex has significantly pinched the left side of the fairway, forcing drives to be placed much closer to Stillwater Cove. The removal of trees, shrubs and shaggy rough on the edge of the cliffs means that errant drives can easily careen into the ocean.

For all the improvement, Pebble still retains its essential charm and character. But the 2010 Pro-Am will have an entirely new feel thanks to the return of the Monterey Peninsula Country Club. From 1947 through 1965, MPCC’s Dunes Course was part of the rota of the Crosby Clambake, until it was replaced by Spyglass Hill. When Cypress Point ended its run as a host venue in 1990, Poppy Hills joined Pebble and Spyglass in the three course rotation. Poppy Hills was never fully embraced by the pros due to some quirky design elements and a glacial pace of play largely resulting from five par-5s. Adding MPCC’s retrofitted Shore Course has created much excitement among the Pro-Am competitors.

When the idea was first floated last fall, 2006 champ Arron Oberholser said, “I think it would be absolutely phenomenal. Can you imagine having the Shore Course, Spyglass and Pebble? It would be epic.” Indeed, it should be.

Another little wrinkle that’s new for 2010 is a reduction in the size of the Pro-Am’s field, from 180 pros to 156. (24 corresponding amateurs have also been jettisoned.) This will result in an improved pace of play and less wear-and-tear on the soft greens, the latter being a factor that has often been cited to explain the absence of some top pros, including Tiger Woods.

Golf’s biggest name was planning his first return to the Pro-Am since 2002 until his life was left in shambles following a late-night car crash the day after Thanksgiving. Woods subsequently announced an indefinite leave from competitive golf.When he will return, and if he can recapture his old form, are golf’s most pressing questions. It is virtually certain Tiger won’t be back for the AT&T, and in the absence of the world’s number one player, Phil Mickelson will be looking to assert his dominion. The three-time champ at Pebble (’98, ’05, ’07) will come to the AT&T seeking not only another trophy but also the chance to establish himself as the early U.S. Open favorite.

Our national championship is the tournament Mickelson most wants to win, but as he once observed, “I love the Open, it just doesn’t love me.” That’s a nod to five career runner-up finishes, including heartbreaks on the final holes in 1999, 2004, 2006 and last year, when he was trying to win one for his wife Amy, who was battling breast cancer. With Amy’s condition improving, Mickelson can begin 2010 with a clearer mind and a revitalized putting stroke, thanks to his work late last year with Champions tour oracle Dave Stockton. Phil may need a U.S. Open, but right now golf needs him even more, to supply a new plotline and provide some inspiration to dispirited golf fans. Pebble is the ideal place for both.

Filed Under: Winter 2010 Tagged With: Golf

Primary Sidebar

CURRENT & PAST EDITIONS HERE

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

GUIDETOCARMEL

READ THE GUIDE HERE

Tags

Cars Food & Wine Golf Lifestyle Music Travel

ForAdvertisers

  • ► Publisher’s Note
  • ► Mission Statement
  • ► Ad Rates
  • ► Ad Specs
  • ► Editorial Calendar
  • ► Advertise in Carmel Magazine
  • ► Media Contact
  • ► Full Media Kit

Secondary Sidebar

Archives

  • December 2022
  • September 2022
  • June 2022
  • March 2022
  • December 2021
  • September 2021
  • June 2021
  • March 2021
  • December 2020
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • February 2020
  • November 2019
  • August 2019
  • May 2019
  • February 2019
  • November 2018
  • August 2018
  • May 2018
  • February 2018
  • November 2017
  • August 2017
  • May 2017
  • February 2017
  • November 2016
  • August 2016
  • May 2016
  • February 2016
  • November 2015
  • August 2015
  • May 2015
  • January 2015
  • November 2014
  • August 2014
  • May 2014
  • February 2014
  • November 2013
  • August 2013
  • May 2013
  • February 2013
  • November 2012
  • August 2012
  • May 2012
  • February 2012
  • November 2011
  • August 2011
  • May 2011
  • February 2011
  • November 2010
  • August 2010
  • May 2010
  • February 2010
  • November 2009
  • August 2009
  • May 2009
  • February 2009
  • November 2008
  • August 2008
  • February 2008
  • November 2007
  • August 2007
  • May 2007
  • February 2007
  • November 2006

Footer

Carmel Magazine is the quarterly lifestyle magazine for Carmel and the Monterey Peninsula, featuring the notable people and places, arts, food and wine, destinations, styles and events of Carmel and the Peninsula.

Address:
126 Clocktower Place, Suite 103
Carmel, CA 93923

Phone: (831) 625-9922
Fax: (831) 626-3613

Recent Posts

  • Cocktails for the Centuries
  • Inside Esalen
  • Journey to the Big Screen
  • Golfing in Paradise
  • A Cliffside Home Built for Generations

Search

Tags

Cars Food & Wine Golf Lifestyle Music Travel

Copyright © 2023 Carmel Magazine · Carmel, California · Designed by BEAR★PRESS