“Crosby weather” strikes again at AT&T Pro-Am

After several years of pretty reasonable weather at the AT&T Pro-Am (years which encompassed a period of historic drought in California, by the way…) classic “Crosby weather” returned with a vengeance on the first day of the 2017 tournament.

“Crosby weather” is the blustery, rainy (and once, in 1962, snowy) smörgåsbord of conditions which the Monterey Peninsula may experience in the period from January to mid-February when the Crosby Pro-Am (now the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am) has been played over the years.

PGA Tour officials, no strangers to weather-related issues at their events, moved all of Thursday’s tee times up an hour in anticipation of the heavy weather that was predicted to arrive around midday, and while it was not a complete solution, the earlier start allowed all but half a dozen players to complete at least twelve holes, and 72 players, a little less than half the field, actually completed first round play.

Play was stopped at 1:34 PM local time due to unplayable conditions. Wind gusts up to 35 mph were recorded by PGA Tour weather officials, but water puddling on the greens – more so at Pebble than the other two courses in the rota – was the reason that play was called. Conditions were less severe at Spyglass Hill and MPCC-Shore, but calling play at one course means calling play at all three in order to keep rounds at all courses synchronized.

Play was officially cancelled for the day at 2:39 PM, when Tour officials announced that players with first-round play to complete would be back in position at 7:30 AM Friday, with second-round play commencing one hour later than originally scheduled, at 9:00 AM.

All three co-leaders, tied at 4-under, completed play Wednesday: Rick Lamb – a Web.com Tour grad in his first year on the PGA Tour; Seung-Yul Noh, a Korean player with one win, in 2014, to his credit in eight years on Tour; and Joel Dahmen, who is in his second year on the PGA Tour. Among the better-known players who also get to sleep in a bit Friday morning are World #1 Jason Day, of Australia; 2018 U.S. Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk, and World #6 Jordan Spieth.

Clovis, CA’s Bryson DeChambeau strokes a putt on the 2nd hole of Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s Shore Course using the face-forward, arm-lock putting style that he has recently adopted.

Players with Northern California associations had mixed results to show for Wednesday’s truncated play. San Jose State grad Mark Hubbard turned in a 3-under scorecard at Pebble Beach, while Sacramento’s Nick Watney is 3-under through 13 holes at the tournament’s namesake course. Ricky Barnes, of Stockton, completed his round on Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s (MPCC) Shore Course in par; Spencer Levin, of Sacramento, is +2 through 16 at Spyglass Hills, while Fresno-area natives Bryson DeChambeau and Kevin Chappell are +2 through 11 and +3 through 15, respectively, at MPCC, and Alameda’s James Hahn is +4 through 17 on the Shore Course.