{"id":5937,"date":"2023-01-31T08:26:32","date_gmt":"2023-01-31T08:26:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.betspertsgolf.com\/raw-forum\/?post_type=article&p=5937"},"modified":"2023-02-11T17:21:14","modified_gmt":"2023-02-11T17:21:14","slug":"2023-att-pebble-beach-pro-am-preview","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/api.betspertsgolf.com\/raw-forum\/article\/2023-att-pebble-beach-pro-am-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"2023 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The PGA Tour heads north up the Pacific Coast to the Monterey Bay Peninsula and features the iconic Pebble Beach course. Similar to The American Express a couple of weeks ago, golfers have to deal with another Pro-Am and multiple courses. The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is a full-field event spread out on three different properties to allow for a 156-player field including amateurs. Players will be paired with celebrities, current and former athletes, and high-level business executives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Golfers will rotate through Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course and Monterey Peninsula Country Club (Shore Course), with a Saturday cut-line and the top-60 and ties finishing at Pebble Beach on Sunday. With all three courses exposed along the Pacific coast, weather can definitely change quickly here and influence the outcome of this tournament. The three courses share other similarities as well. Each is among the shortest courses on Tour at under 7,050 yards. Each has smaller than average greens with Pebble Beach’s coming in at the most minuscule on Tour at an average of only 3,500 square feet. And finally, each course has the same 2″ or less rough length along with Poa annua greens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Pebble Beach is the crown jewel course of this tournament. The way the jagged coastline meets the cliffs is beyond words. It truly is the greatest meeting of land and sea in American golf. Said Jack Nicklaus, “If I had only one more round to play, I would choose to play at Pebble Beach. I loved this course from the first time I saw it. It\u2019s possibly the best in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having hosted this event since 1947, past winners are a historical “who’s who” of golf including Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Billy Casper, Ken Venturi, Johnny Miller, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Davis Love III, Vijay Singh, and Tiger Woods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A second-shot course if there ever was one, players will be provided with a challenging test of patience, pitching wedges, and Poa putting. For those that played last week at Torrey Pines, the emphasis shifts from distance and long-iron play to short-iron precision on equally difficult greens. Since 2010, winning scores have averaged 18-under par with last year’s champion, Tom Hoge, finishing at 19-under. The area has received over 20″ of rain to date which will allow for much softer greens and better scoring conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar to The American Express, with the amateurs in mind, despite the tiny greens, it is a resort-style setup with the greens running slow and the rough non-penal. Any Strokes Gained data comes only from the two rounds played at Pebble Beach each year and will form a majority of any statistical data this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Field<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Between the more lucrative Saudi International event overseas, its place on the schedule before two elevated events, and Tour golfers not wanting any part of six-hour rounds with amateurs, most high-ranked players skip this event. This year is no different, which, once again, means a very weak field at Pebble Beach. Only five of the top-30 players and 15 of the top-75 will be in attendance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, and Jordan Spieth are the only players in the field inside of the top-15 in the OWGR. Along with defending champion Tom Hoge, other notables in the field include Seamus Power, Kevin Kisner, Scott Stallings, Maverick McNealy, Andrew Putnam, Keith Mitchell, and Justin Rose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pebble Beach Course History<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Pebble Beach Golf Links was built by Jack Neville and Douglas Grant during the golden age of golf course architecture in 1919. When it opened for play on February 22nd, it measured slightly over 6,000 yards. \u201cThe big idea was to get as many holes as possible along the bay,\u201d Neville said. \u201cNature had intended it to be nothing else but a golf links.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The San Francisco Chronicle said the course was opened \u201csomewhat prematurely.\u201d At a time when golf balls cost more than the greens fee, the course was deemed too difficult. The California Golf Association, however, did not believe the course suitable to host even the state amateur. Improvements were continually made over the next decade, culminating with a renovation to prepare Pebble Beach to host the 1929 U.S. Amateur, which was the first of the United States Golf Association\u2019s major championships to be held west of the Mississippi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neville’s and Grant’s routing definitely provided the framework for today’s course, but H. Chandler Egan is most responsible for how the course plays today. In 1928, he extensively revised the layout by replacing 16 of the 18 greens and completely reconfigured the bunkering on the course bringing much more strategy into play. Other architects who have helped to renovate the course in different ways include Alistair MacKenzie, Robert Hunter, Arnold Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus (who created the new 5th hole in 1998).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pebble Beach National Pro-Am was originally called the Bing Crosby Pro-Am, and it has been held at Pebble Beach Golf Lins every year since 1947. For most years, the event has had a trio of courses in play for the week. Along with Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Monterey Peninsula – Cypress Point and Poppy Hills have also been utilized in years past. Along with all of the legendary golfers who have walked its fairways, it has hosted six U.S. Opens and one PGA Championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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