Goodbye, Shinnecock; Hello, Pebble Beach

The last putt dropped in the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills about 30 minutes before I started typing this story, and it had been a day. Wyndham Clark, the 2024 U.S. Open champion at Los Angeles Country Club, notched up a wire-to-wire win last Sunday that nevertheless provided plenty of drama in the final round.

I’ll admit, I was nodding off on my sofa mid-round on Saturday, but Sunday’s final round kept me interested. And while Clark is not my favorite player on the circuit, he opened the tournament with a blistering six-under 64 and gutted out a win despite carding a three-over 73 in the final. Chasing down a six-shot lead going into the final round is a tall order, and neither World #1 Scottie Scheffler nor (eventual) repeat U.S. Open runner-up Sam Burns – who turned in a challenging 3-under 67 (after heartbreaking missed birdie putts on 17 and 18) – were ultimately able to take Clark down.

But enough about history; I’m here to talk about the future, and the future of the U.S. Open (at least in 2027) is Pebble Beach.

The ninth hole at Pebble Beach affords the golfer a sweeping view along Carmel Beach. (Image by author)

I am an unrepentant aficionado of Pebble Beach Golf Links. As a kid in nearby Salinas, I grew up watching the Crosby Clambake on TV despite the fact that I didn’t play golf, and didn’t even know anyone who did until I was 13 or 14 years old. I was privileged to cover the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in person eleven years in a row, as well as the Champions Tour event that has been held at Pebble under different names, with different title sponsors; and I had a seat in the media center there for the 2019 U.S. Open.

My first thought on the Open returning to Pebble Beach after its turn at Shinnecock is relief; relief that we will once again be seeing the best in the world playing for the prize at a course that doesn’t look like a desolate moonscape, especially after four days of tournament galleries flattening dead-straw pathways between the fairways; that we will be seeing the U.S. Open played at a course with trees; a course with scenery.

The California coast from the Monterey Peninsula southward to Morro Bay is a majestic sweep of crashing waves washing rocky beaches that lie at the feet of the rugged slopes of the Coast Range mountains, and Carmel Bay – where the Pebble Beach property hugs the coastline – is arguably the jewel of the region.

Of course scenery isn’t the only story – despite the jibes of naysayers who say the inland holes are pedestrian and uninteresting, and that only the ocean holes have anything to offer (1), Pebble Beach is so revered by the USGA that in 2022 it was selected as the third “anchor site” for the U.S. Open, joining Pine Valley and Oakmont in that honor.

Pebble Beach has the distinction of being the first public course to host the U.S. Open (in 1972), when it further cemented its place in U.S. Open history with Jack Nicklaus’ famous off-the-flagstick 1-iron at the par-3 17th hole. Ten years later Tom Watson produced another memorable moment at the 17th hole when, lying 4-under after a bogey at 16, and with Jack Nicklaus already in the clubhouse at 4-under, he chipped in from deep rough left of the green at 17 and followed it up with another birdie at 18 to nip the Golden Bear for the win.

Perhaps most notable of all U.S Opens at Pebble Beach was the 2000 tournament, the fourth of Pebble’s eventual six (to date), when 24-year-old Tiger Woods, at the height of his powers, dominated the field, winning by an unheard-of fifteen strokes.

With its pedigree of six U.S. Opens (with four more to come in the next twenty years), five U.S. Amateurs, and other championships (PGA Championship – 1977; U.S. Women’s Amateur – 1948; and U.S. Women’s Open – 2023, with three more to come), Pebble Beach Golf Links is deserving of its place as a star in the firmament of championship golf, and golf fans the world over should be excited for every opportunity to see the best and brightest contend across this storied landscape.

1 (Most of then have never played the course, or in some cases, I’ll wager, even set foot on the property.)

“Tin Cup” is the best golf movie ever made, and I will brook no argument

The eve of the 2026 United States Open, is, I think, a good time to talk about a movie that I consider to be the best golf movie ever made: the 1996 film Tin Cup. Directed by Ron Shelton, starring Kevin Costner and Rene Russo, co-starring Cheech Marin and Don Johnson, with a host of delightful supporting actors, and featuring cameo appearances by pro golfers as well as broadcasters and journalists of the era.

Having been somewhat absent from the game for a while now – I haven’t played or written about it since late March – I wanted to get into the mood for golf as I prepare to immerse myself in the coverage of my favorite golf championship, the U.S. Open. With that goal in mind, I went to the “Golf” section of my movie collection and pulled out my blu-ray copy of Tin Cup.

Tin Cup is an obvious choice for this exercise, of course, because its hero’s journey storyline involves the title character’s pursuit of a spot in the field at the U.S. Open, coming to a climax during the final round of a fictional U.S. Open – but it earns the #1 spot in my list all-time favorite golf movies for a variety of reasons:

1) Writing – Tin Cup has snappy dialog, and an underdog storyline that hits all the right notes without descending into cliché: Former college golf star Roy “Tin Cup” McAvoy (Kevin Costner) languishes at a run-down driving range on the outskirts of the small West Texas town of Salome, while his rival from college golf days, David Simms (Don Johnson) lives the high life playing the PGA tour. When Simms’s girlfriend, psychologist Dr. Molly Griswold (Rene Russo), signs up for lessons at the driving range, McAvoy is smitten with her.

The undercurrent of envy at his former rival’s success, both in life and in love, is softened by Roy’s determination to become a better man, a successful man, in order to be worthy of the woman he has fallen in love with, and his road to redemption is the pursuit of the highest goal in American golf – the U.S. Open Championship.

2) Cast – Kevin Costner, Rene Russo, Cheech Marin, and Don Johnson are the big names in this production, but the supporting cast features actors whom most people will recognize, if perhaps not be able to put names to. Rex Linn, Dennis Burkley, Lou Myers, Linda Hart, Richard Lineback and Mickey Jones – among other – are veteran character actors who flesh out the roster in this film as more than just background faces, and their talents are invaluable contributions to the film’s success.

3) Performances – Kevin Costner shines in the role of Roy McAvoy, a man who has lingered for years in the shadow of his more successful rival, David Simms. McAvoy’s skill on the golf course is underlaid by a deep-seated lack of self-confidence, which he hides behind a bravado public front. He has a high standard when it comes to doing a difficult thing well, which is a key point in the storyline, in contrast to his rival David Simms’s shallow success that has been achieved by doing well enough, but never taking the bold stroke that would raise him to higher heights(1).

Don Johnson is suitable smarmy as David Simms, the flashy, successful, high-living counterpoint to Roy McAvoy’s down-at-heels driving-range pro. Johnson does a great job portraying Simms’s ruthless guile, in contrast to the naiveté that sometimes peeks through with McAvoy (see the scene featuring the 7-iron bet after the U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying tournament), as well as his safely cautious approach to golf, which though successful in terms of fame and fortune, displays a certain lack of guts.

Rene Russo, as Dr. Molly Griswold, is delightful as Roy McAvoy’s (at first unattainable) love interest, and muse. Taken on by McAvoy as a guide and counselor to help him overcome the “inner demons” that have prevented him from realizing his potential as a golfer, Russo guides the character through her own journey as she comes to see David Simms for the shallow and unlikable man that he is, and cleaves to the imperfect but striving and growing Roy McAvoy.

Cheech Marin is Romeo Posar, a character who is something of a Sancho Panza to McAvoy’s underachieving Don Quixote. The comedian and veteran actor is a mainstay in the film as the long-suffering business partner, supporter, and caddy of the capricious “Tin Cup” McAvoy. The qualities that Marin brings to the role are as important to the story as any performance in the film.

In the supporting cast, Linda Hart plays Roy’s ex-girlfriend Doreen, a former stripper who owns a strip club in town. She is an earthy (and down-to-earth) counterpoint to Rene Russo’s somewhat flighty Dr. Molly Griswold. The scenes during the U.S. Open when these two very different women bond over their connection with Roy McAvoy are pure gold.

Roy’s backup crew of malingering golf bums are well played by veteran character actors Rex Linn, Dennis Burkley, Lou Myers, Richard Lineback, and Mickey Jones, among others. They are a motley crew, characters of the sort that any longtime muni golfer will recognize from weekends and summer evenings at the course.

4) Setting – A large part of the appeal of this movie for me is the setting. Though I have visited Texas only briefly, I have a family connection to the state, and more to the point, the beginning of my involvement with the game of golf was spurred by reading the classic Dan Jenkins golf novel Dead Solid Perfect. The storyline of Tin Cup is reminiscent of Jenkins’s golf novels, and the motley bunch that hang out at Roy McAvoy’s driving range in the movie would be right at home in Dan’s story The Glory Game, in the collection The Dogged Victims of Inexorable Fate.

With the many champions and famous names in the world of golf that have hailed from Texas; names such as Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Harvey Penick, Ben Crenshaw, and Tom Kite; the state seems like a natural setting for a story that explores the highs and lows, and deep and shallow aspects of the game.

5) Extras – By “extras” I don’t mean just the nameless folks who inhabit the background in various scenes in a movie. A large part of the fun of this film, at least for golfers of a certain age (the movie is 30 years old, after all) is spotting the bevy of pro golfers, golf journalists and broadcasters, and even TV production folks who show up onscreen.

• Craig “The Walrus” Stadler is David Simms’s playing partner in the charity tournament early in the film, and a very young Phil Mickelson is also in the foursome. Peter Jacobsen, Corey Pavin, Lee Janzen, Steve Elkington, Johnny Miller, and Fred Couples – among others – appear in the scenes depicting the U.S. Open.

• Jim Nantz and Ken Venturi play themselves as the 18th-tower announcers calling the U.S. Open; Ben Wright and Brian Hammond appear as color commentators at the U.S. Open and Simms’s charity event, respectively.

• Peter Kostis is the on-course commentator at the charity tournament, and Gary McCord is doing the same in the U.S. Open segment.

• Well-known sports commentator Jimmy Roberts shows up as a reporter querying Roy McAvoy in the press center after the first round of the U.S. Open, and real-life (then-)CBS producer Frank Chirkinian and director Lance Barrow appear in the production trailer as disbelieving witnesses to McAvoy’s 18th-hole meltdown.

The Lowdown

I have heard golfers complain about various golf movies for years, usually nitpicking the swings of the actors portraying the golfers, or sometimes the equipment being used by the actors (2). I am no swing analyst myself; to my eye Costner and Johnson did alright in their portrayals of pro golfers – and an exactingly correct golf swing can only carry a movie so far. The 2015 movie The Squeeze was lauded by some notable names at the time for the purity and correctness of the golf swing of the lead actor, Jeremy Sumpter – who was indeed a talented low-handicap golfer.

The fact that those names, which included Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, and Phil Mickelson, were all financial backers of the film, did not escape me at the time; the fact that the movie suffered from a hackneyed storyline and terrible performances did escape them. I haven’t found any information on budget and takings for this schlock-fest, but I do know that it failed miserably at the box office.

Look, I love Caddyshack, and I have enjoyed many other very well-made golf movies such as The Greatest Game Ever Played, Tommy’s Honour, and The Legend of Bagger Vance. Caddyshack is a class-comedy that is played out in a golf setting; The Legend of Bagger Vance is a metaphorical fantasy centered on golf as a restorative for a soul injured by the horrors of war. In contrast, The Greatest Game Ever Played and Tommy’s Honour are historical dramas about important people and events in golf’s past – as such they are more about golf than the previous two (especially Caddyshack).

But Tin Cup, is a more human, more relatable story about the love of the game, the fun and frustrations of the game, and the striving for, if not perfection, at least the improvement that we seek in playing the game of golf. The movies mentioned above, and others, all have something to offer (3), but none of them can touch Tin Cup for story, humor, setting, nuance (real PGA Tour golfers!) – and especially appropriateness as we await the opening shots of the 126th U.S. Open.

1 –  (This aspect of the story has echoes in the real world of professional golf, where more than one player on the PGA Tour has become a multi-millionaire without a win on Tour to their credit. Case in point: Bud Cauley, whose recent win at the RBC Canadian Open bumped him off of the list of players who have won $10 million or more without ever having won a tournament.)

2 –  (Years ago I saw a post on social media by a person who said that The Greatest Game Ever Played was ruined for him because the clubs that they were shown using were of a style that was a decade too new for the time (1913) in which the events occurred. That is what I call picking the flyshit out of the pepper.)

3 –  (Except for The Squeeze – it’s awful..)

USGA announces selection of Pebble Beach as third U.S. Open anchor site

At a media event staged in the Terrace Lounge at the famed Lodge at Pebble Beach, with a spectacular view of Pebble’s 18th green and Carmel Bay as a backdrop, representatives of the United States Golf Association (USGA) and the Pebble Beach Company announced that the world-renowned Monterey Peninsula property would join Oakmont and Pine Valley as the third anchor site in the USGA’s U.S. Open tournament schedule. Banners on either side of the stage listed the upcoming USGA championships that are on the slate for Pebble Beach: the U.S. Women’s Open in 2023, 2035, 2040, and 2048; the U.S. Open in 2027, 2032, 2037, and 2044; and a first – back-to-back Senior Open and Senior Women’s Opens in 2030 (at neighboring Spyglass Hill.)

The U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open trophies were on display against the backdrop of Carmel Bay and the 18th hole at Pebble Beach for the announcement of an historic partnership between the USGA and the Pebble Beach Company. (Photo by the author)

On a low stage flanked by photos of Pebble’s past USGA champions—from Woods, Nicklaus, and Watson to Robert H. “Skee” Riegel (1947 U.S. Amateur champion) and Grace Lenczyk (1948 Women’s Amateur champion), USGA President Stu Francis offered opening remarks, and Gary Woodland, who claimed victory at the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, joined the conversation by remote video. USGA Chief Championships Officer John Bodenhamer and Pebble Beach Resorts CEO David Stivers then spoke about the new partnership between the USGA and the Pebble Beach Company and what it means for the USGA championships, Pebble Beach and vicinity, and golf in general.

Bodenhamer, who played college golf and came close to final qualifying for the 1982 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, spoke about the importance of the venue to a USGA champion, referring back to remarks made earlier by moderator Beth Major, of the USGA, and Stu Francis, recalling how USGA Executive Committee member Nick Price, a three-time major championship winner himself (1992 PGA Championship, and 1994 Open Championship and PGA Championship) has said that it’s important where players win their U.S. Open, whether men or women.

Gary Woodland had also touched on this, telling the audience via video link “…when you’re a kid and you’re hitting that (winning) putt you’re dreaming of doing it at Pebble Beach. It’s the most iconic golf course we have in America.”

Both John Bodenhamer and David Stivers touched on the importance of this new relationship between the USGA and the Pebble Beach Company, citing three strategic initiatives that they see as stemming from the partnership:

First – attracting and nurturing the next generation of leaders at the USGA and Pebble Beach through investments in local programs.

Second – environmental stewardship, by partnering with the USGA’s Greens Section to advance research into water conservation and other measures to help make golf a more sustainable activity. (All of the Pebble Beach Company’s courses, plus the NCGA’s home course—Poppy Hills—which is just up the road from Pebble, are irrigated with reclaimed water.)

Third – (and this is perhaps less tangible than the first two) incentivizing young people to take up the game of golf by showcasing the possibility of someday competing in a major championship at a memorable and (not to belabor an already overused word) iconic venue.

Perhaps the most important aspect of this new relationship is the new level of parity between U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open venues, as evidenced by the scheduling of four women’s Opens and four men’s Opens at Pebble Beach over the coming 25 years. This is part of the growing level of support of the women’s game across the board, as sponsors, fans, and the media increasingly recognize the quality and entertainment value of women’s golf.

Touching on the benefits of this new long-term relationship, John Bodenhamer stated that it “…allows us continuously improve, put our stake in the ground, partner with Pebble Beach, think strategically differently than we ever have to make things better for players, fans, viewers, what you see.”

Thinking perhaps of the long-term familiarity with the venue that may arise from the partnership, Bodenhamer expressed surprise that “…some of you in the media haven’t coined a special term to describe Pebble Beach. You think about 8, 9, 10, it’s a pretty amazing place—maybe someone will come up with ‘Pebble's Peril’. ”

While I might suggest that John not quit his day job for a spot in the ranks of the golf media, I would also like to point out that one of the greatest writers to wield an Olivetti in a tournament media center, the late Dan Jenkins, has already laid a clever nickname on that trinity of cliffside golf holes, christening it “Abalone Corner” (with a nod to Augusta National’s “Amen Corner” – the 11th, 12th, and 13th holes.)

Personally, I don’t think that unfamiliarity with the course—which boasts some of the most scenic and notable golf holes ever broadcast to the television and computer screens of tens of millions of viewers across the world—is an issue. I can’t imagine that even a casual golf fan would fail to recognize holes like #7, the 106-yard par-3 perched on the tip of Arrowhead Point; or #17, the 200-odd-yard par-3 that yielded two of the greatest moments in U.S. Open history courtesy of Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson; or #18, undeniably the greatest and most memorable closing hole in major championship golf.

And the good, great, amazing news coming out of this new partnership between the USGA and the Pebble Beach Company is that we will have the opportunity to watch more major championship golf being played, more often, in the years to come, here on the shores of Carmel Bay.

If You Can’t Play Golf, Read About It – A Recommended-Reading List of Golf-Related Books

In this time of shelter-in-place and social distancing, with people turning to indoor pursuits as their chosen outdoor pursuits are, largely, curtailed for the duration of the health emergency, “Top 10” lists of movies to TV shows to watch, or books to read, are flourishing. Since I publish two blogs, one on golf and another on books, what is more appropriate than for me to publish a golf-book reading list of my own? Here then, in no particular order, is my personal rundown of golf books that I have found to be especially rewarding to read, with a brief description of each.

Let’s start with the man who started it all for me, Dan Jenkins:

Dead Solid Perfect, by Dan Jenkins
This is the book that was my introduction to Dan Jenkins’ work, and to golf writing in general. Dead Solid Perfect was recommended to me by the father of a girl I was dating, years ago, with this caveat, “Don’t read it anywhere where laughing out loud will bother other people.” I went out and bought a copy, and read it straight through over a weekend. It lived up to its billing.

A bit raunchy in parts (though not a patch on Jenkins’ big football-based bestseller, Semi-Tough), and far from politically correct at any time, DSP relates the adventures of Fort Worth-based pro golfer Kenny Lee Puckett—growing up in Fort Worth, pursuing life and love on the pro golf circuit, and making a run at the U.S. Open title. (If the name sounds familiar, Semi-Tough’s pro football player protagonist Billy Clyde Puckett is Kenny Lee’s nephew.)

DSP is the genre-defining grandaddy of all golf novels; no golf-reading list can be considered complete if it does not include this book.

More by Dan Jenkins:

NOVELS
The Money-Whipped Steer-Job Three-Jack Give-Up Artist: Winner by two lengths for the “longest title in my bookcase” prize, this book is kind of Dead Solid Perfect, Pt II. Published in 2001, just shy of 40 years after the publication of Dead Solid Perfect, Jenkins revisits familiar territory with another Fort Worth-based pro golfer, Bobby Joe Grooves, who is on a quest for a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup squad.

Slim and None: Bobby Joe Grooves is back in this 2005 sequel, with a new girl friend, and a new quest—a major championship title and membership in an exclusive club: major winners aged 44 and over.

The Franchise Babe: Jenkins switches gears in this 2008 novel—instead of a pro golfer from Fort Worth, his protagonist is a golf writer from Fort Worth who has jumped the fence from the PGA Tour to cover an up-and-coming young LPGA star. Predictable, maybe; but also funny in Dan’s resolutely non-PC manner. Look for a cameo appearance by a thinly disguised Ron Sirak, a good friend of Dan’s who has worked the LPGA beat for years.

NON-FICTION
The Dogged Victims of Inexorable Fate: The classic, must-read collection of golf essays, some real, some fictional. Dan’s second book, written in 1970, contains the single best comic essay on golf ever written, “The Glory Game”.

Fairways and Greens: This 1994 collection of Dan’s writing is divided into two sections: essays on the (then) current-day game, and a “nostalgia” section, heavy on the Hogan (of course!) Also contains a reprint of “The Glory Game” re-titled as “The Glory Game at Goat Hills”.

Unplayable Lies: Another collection of essays, published in 2015. Half existing works that had appeared previously in Golf Digest or Golf World (in some cases slightly updated or reworked for the book), the other half new work, written specifically for this book.

Jenkins at the Majors: Another collection of Dan’s work, 94 of the brilliant, written-on-deadline pieces on golf’s majors, written for the Fort Worth Press, Dallas Times Herald, Sports Illustrated, and Golf Digest that he turned in during his career as a newspaperman and magazine writer—during which he covered 232 majors—arranged chronologically and chosen for the historical significance of the particular event.

Mr Hogan, The Man I Knew, by Kris Tschetter
This 2010 volume by LPGA player Kris Tschetter is unique in the Hogan bibliography, relating as it does how South Dakota-native Tschetter became acquainted with Hogan while she was on the golf team at Texas Christian University in Forth Worth. She and her older brother, Mike, who also played golf for TCU, were gifted junior memberships at Shady Oaks Golf Club—Hogan’s golf hangout in his retirement years—by their parents. Hogan noticed Kris for her diligent practice sessions (one of his trademarks) and they became sometime practice partners. Kris and Mr Hogan remained close for the remainder of his life, and her stories of their time together and his surrogate-grandfather role in her life are heart-warming and genuine.

I haven’t conducted a formal count, but Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer have to be running neck-and-neck in the number of books that have been written about them, Palmer because he was so open and charismatic, and Hogan because he was pretty much the opposite (or at least perceived that way), so this book is important for the depiction of a side of Ben Hogan that few knew existed.

For more on Ben Hogan, I recommend two fine (though very different) biographies, Hogan, by Curt Sampson, and Ben Hogan: An American Life, by James Dodson; also Grown at Glen Garden, by Jeff Miller, about Hogan, Byron Nelson and the Fort Worth golf course where they both grew into the game; and Miracle at Merion, by David Barrett, which relates the story of Hogan’s comeback from a near-fatal 1949 automobile collision, leading to the much-lauded 1950 U.S. Open victory at Merion Golf Club, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Men in Green, by Michael Bamberger

This 2015 book by (now-former) Sports Illustrated writer Bamberger is a delightful road trip around the United States to connect with some legends of the game of golf, both well-known and little-known/unknown. The names involved run the gamut from Arnold Palmer to Dolphus Hull. It is full of Bamberger’s wry observations and enlivened by his deep knowledge of and love for the game of golf. (The talks he had with Arnold Palmer are themselves worth the price of the book.)

More by Michael Bamberger: 

The Green Road Home: Bamberger’s first book, published in 1986, is about the six months he spent caddying in the PGA Tour the previous year, at the age of 24. Twenty-three tournaments, including the British Open and the PGA Championship. Caddying for a disparate array of players such as Al Geiberger, George Archer, Brad Faxon, and Steve Elkington. It is a great look at a bygone time in pro golf, and the beginning of the career of one of the best writers in the game of golf today.

To The Linksland: Six years after The Green Road Home, Bamberger and his adventurous and very understanding wife, Christine, left their office jobs—he a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, she a New York ad executive—to see the other side of golf: Scotland, the Continent, and the European Tour. It is an adventurous travelogue, and a journey to the heart and soul of the most soulful game in the world.

This Golfing Life: A stirring retrospective, published in 2005, looking back at twenty years in golf, from caddying in his twenties to reporting for the Philadelphia Inquirer, where he covered golf part-time, before moving on (and up) to Sports Illustrated.

Bud, Sweat, and Tees, by Alan Shipnuck

Former Sports Illustrated writer, now wielding a pen for Golf.com, my fellow Salinas, California native Shipnuck can always be counted on to find a quirky story among the goings-on in the world of professional golf. This book, which follows PGA Tour pro Rich Beem’s early career, from his 1999 rookie season to his early (and ultimate) peak as the 2002 PGA Championship winner, is a great example. It’s a crazy ride from Beem’s stint as a minimum wage cellphone salesman, to hooking into the wilder side of life on the PGA Tour accompanied by his equally hard-living caddie Steve Duplantis.

More by Alan Shipnuck:

Swinging From My Heels – Shipnuck collaborated with San Jose, California native Christina Kim on this inside look at the 2009 LPGA Tour. Kim, the youngest LPGA player in history to reach one million dollars in career earnings—back when a million bucks was still a lot of money—has never been one to pull a punch, and this no-holds-look at a season on the distaff Tour raised some eyebrows when it came out in 2010.

The Battle for Augusta National: Hootie, Martha, and the Masters of the Universe – The first book by Shipnuck explored the Hootie Johnson/Martha Burke controversy that affected the 2003 Masters golf tournament.

The Swinger—A collaboration with (then-)fellow SI scribe Michael Bamberger, this roman-á-clef novel is thinly-disguised run at the infamous trials and tribulations of Tiger Woods.

The Greatest Game Ever Played, by Mark Frost

The inspiring story of Francis Ouimet, the 21-year-old American amateur golfer who defeated two titans of golf, England’s Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, to take the 1913 U.S. Open title. The account of how Ouimet, accompanied by his 10-year-old caddie, Eddie Lowery, took down these two giants of the game in a nerve-wracking playoff at The Country Club, in Brookline, Massachusetts, is a sports story for the ages.

More by Mark Frost:

The Grand Slam: Bobby Jones, America, and the Story of Golf – No name in American golf resonates more strongly throughout the game than that of Bobby Jones. Frost delves deeply into the life of this American sporting icon in this well-received 2004 biography.

The Match: The Day the Game of Golf Changed Forever – Though I have always felt that the event doesn’t live up to the billing of the subtitle, this book about a private match at Cypress Point Golf Club in 1956 between two of the top professional golfers of the era, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead, and two top local amateurs, Ken Venturi and Harvie Ward, is an engrossing read, with plenty of infill back-story on the participants, as well as the instigators of this fabled confrontation, San Francisco auto dealer and amateur golf supporter Eddie Lowery (yes, that Eddie Lowery) and Oklahoma oil and cattle millionaire George Coleman.

A Course Called Ireland, by Tom Coyne

An eccentric golf-centric travelogue, in which Coyne, an associate professor of English at a small Midwestern college, explores his Irish heritage by walking around the perimeter of Ireland in sixteen weeks, playing every golf course that he comes across (60, eventually). He doesn’t miss many pubs along the way, either.

More from Tom Coyne:

A Course Called Scotland – Coyne’s fourth book, this 2018 volume is something of a followup to his 2009’s A Course Called Ireland. Also a golf-centric travelogue, this time around Coyne plays all of the links courses in Scotland (and a few notable ones in England and Wales) on his way to an attempt to qualify for the Open Championship at Bruntsfield Links in Edinburgh.

Paper Tiger – Coyne’s first “golf quest” book, this 2006 effort is about a year spent attempting to qualify for the PGA Tour. Funny and poignant by turns, it is an exploration of a secret desire harbored by many good-but-not-quite-good-enough recreational golfers.

A Gentleman’s Game – Coyne’s first book, and only novel, about a talented high school golfer and his clashes with his father, a self-made businessman who is envious of his son’s talent and the entry it gives the boy into the rarified social circles of the local country club.

Arnie, Seve, and a Fleck of Golf History, by Bill Fields

Subtitled Heroes, Underdogs, Courses, and Championships, this 2011 volume by Bill Fields, a former senior editor at Golf World magazine, a compendium of his columns from a 30-year golf-writing career, is a condensed master course in “How to write about golf”. The best golf writing isn’t about the score or who won, or what clubs they used—it’s about the people in the game, winners or also-rans, and their journeys to achievement. Fields is a master at identifying and illuminating the essence of the story he’s telling, with tremendous empathy for the people involved, and he has a poetic flair for a well-turned phrase that makes his prose a joy to read.

The Longest Shot—Jack Fleck, Ben Hogan, and Pro Golf’s Greatest Upset at the 1955 U.S. Open, by Neil Sagebiel
I had the pleasure of meeting author Neil Sagebiel at the 2012 U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. I was there covering the event for my then-media outlet, Examiner.com, and Neil was there for this book. The victory, in an 18-hole playoff, that unknown muni-course pro Jack Fleck scored over Ben Hogan, one of the brightest stars in golf’s firmament at the time, was truthfully one of the biggest upsets in golf history. Sagebiel delves deeply into the background of Fleck, who was something of a character, and a minor player of the sort who inhabited the fringes of the professional game in those days. It is a well-balanced look at a great moment in sports history, and the only one that I have read which does not approach the story from the standpoint of “Wouldn’t it have been better if Hogan had won?”

Also from Neil Sagebiel:

Draw in the Dunes–The 1969 Ryder Cup and the Finish That Shocked the World. Just about any golf fan is aware of the finish of the 1969 Ryder Cup, when Jack Nicklaus conceded a putt to Britain’s Tony Jacklin – a concession that resulted in the first tie in the history of the competition (while allowing the U.S. squad, as defending champions, to keep the cup.) The reactions at the time ranged the gamut, from U.S. Captain Sam Snead’s self-righteous indignation to frank relief on the part of many on the GBI squad. In this book Neil brought a significant moment in golf history to life, combining the results of exhaustive research and extensive interviews with his prodigious storytelling talent to paint a complete, and very satisfying portrait of a complex series of events. 

The Story of Golf in Fifty Holes, by Tony Dear
Tony Dear, a British golf writer living in the Seattle area, explores the history of golf in unique fashion in this 2015 book, ticking off fifty significant events in the history of the game, in chronological order, by looking at the golf holes where they happened. I have met and played golf with Tony on a couple of occasions, and found him to be a knowledgeable and erudite scholar of the game, qualities which this book puts on display superbly. I think that any golf fan with an interest in the history of the game will find this book to be very interesting (though I do hope that Tony will revise his selection for #50 if he ever publishes an updated edition.)

Pebble Beach and the Forgotten Men, by Jerry Stewart

We have all heard the story of Phil Mickelson’s maternal grandfather, Al Santos, a poor kid growing up in Monterey, California, son of a Portuguese fisherman, who at age 13 became one of the first caddies at the newly opened Pebble Beach Golf Links. Well, in this 2005 book by Jerry Stewart, then a sportswriter for the Monterey County Herald (and now Communications Manager for the Northern California Golf Association) you will read some great stories about, and told by, many of the other caddies – a colorful bunch, to be sure – that have paced the fairways and greens of Pebble Beach over the years.

Jerry is another local guy, born and raised in Salinas like myself, and a good friend whom I first met in the media center for the Champions Tour’s First Tee Championship tournament at Pebble Beach. In Pebble Beach and the Forgotten Men he has put together a great collection of the kind of stories that are usually heard over libations in the Men’s Grill after a round of golf. It’s a fun read for anyone who has been fascinated by the long history of one of America’s greatest golf courses, and a lot cheaper than buying a round of drinks for the bar.

Golf in the Bay Area: the future’s so bright, we gotta wear shades

In golf as well in other matters, I am an unabashed, unashamed Bay Area/Monterey Peninsula chauvinist. The weather and the geography of the region create an environment for the game that is virtually unequaled anywhere else in the world—as a result, we enjoy the privilege of a disproportionate number of world-class events to enjoy when we are not playing golf ourselves, and that includes the game’s majors.

The highly successful 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach refreshed the region’s reputation as a premium site for golf’s biggest events, and the lineup of big-time tournaments that is coming to Northern California in the next few years illustrates the confidence that the game’s governing bodies have in our area as a golf destination.

Big events return as early as next year, when the 2020 PGA Championship comes to TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. Arguably one of the finest municipal courses in the country, the across-the-lake neighbor to the famed Olympic Club is no stranger to big events, having hosted the Schwab Cup Championship in 2013 and the 2009 Presidents Cup.

And speaking of the Olympic Club, the 5-time U.S. Open venue will host its first U.S. Women’s Open in 2021; two years later the USGA’s ultimate distaff championship will makes its first appearance at Pebble Beach Golf Links.

The year 2025 will see two big-time amateur events in the region. The U.S. Amateur will return to the Olympic Club after an 18-year hiatus, and maybe even more exciting, the Walker Cup—probably the premier men’s amateur event in the world, pitting the best amateur men in the U.S against a team of amateur standouts from Great Britain and Ireland—will be played at Cypress Point, the legendary Monterey Peninsula venue that was once part of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am rota. The opportunity to walk those hallowed Alister-Mackenzie-designed fairways is not to be missed.

The major-event calendar comes full-circle in 2027, when the U.S. Open returns to Pebble Beach, marking the Del Monte Forest venue’s seventh time hosting the national championship. Pebble will then be tied with Baltusrol Golf Club, in New Jersey, for second place in host-club status, behind Pennsylvania’s Oakmont Country Club, which will host its record-breaking tenth U.S. Open in 2025.

And finally, as far into the future as the crystal ball can see, in 2028—when I will need a hovercraft-style floating chair to get me around the course—the PGA Championship will return to the Bay Area, alighting across Lake Merced at the Olympic Club for the first time.

Rickie Fowler one back at Pebble Beach

Rickie Fowler, the current “best player without a major”, has started a buzz going with an opening round 66 in the 119th U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

The former OSU Cowboy shared the first-round lead with SoCal’s Xander Schauffele, 2010 Open Championship winner Louis Oosthuizen and Aaron Wise, a PGA Tour rookie this year, at least until Englishman Justin Rose did them all one better, pouring in a 10-foot birdie putt on 18 to finish with a 6-under 65.

Fowler, a popular player with the fans and his fellow PGA Tour players alike, is perceived as something of an underperformer. Coming out on tour in 2009 after a strong amateur and college golf career, he didn’t win a PGA Tour event until 2012, when he defeated Rory McIlroy and D.A. Points in a playoff. Fowler has won four more times on tour since the win at the Wells Fargo, for a total of five professional victories.

In 2018 he carded Top 5 finishes in all four majors, adding fuel to the fire for his “Best Player Without A Major” title.

Pebble is special—in more ways than one

Pebble Beach Golf Links occupies a special place in the world of golf, a position that is based on the physical beauty of its location, the design of the course, and its historical significance in the game.

History
Nothing accords a golf course a special position in the annals of the game like the USGA choosing it as the site for their premier championships—the United States Open and the U.S. Amateur. Pebble Beach Golf Links has hosted the Open six times now, which puts it behind only two other golf courses, both venerable East Coast layouts: Oakmont Country Club, in Pennsylvania (9); and Baltusrol, in New Jersey (7).

This plaque, in the rough on the left side of the 17th green at Pebble Beach Golf Links, commemorates Tom Watson’s historic chip shot in the final round of the 82nd U.S. Open.

Pebble holds the distinction of being the first public golf course (that is, open to play by the public) to host the U. S. Open, in 1972, when the course rewarded the USGA’s decision by producing a truly worthy winner—Jack Nicklaus—and an historic moment—Jack’s laser-beam 1-iron at the par-three 17th hole, a shot that rattled the stick for a kick-in birdie.

Ten years later Pebble’s second U.S. Open put up another worthy winner, Tom Watson, who finally racked up a win in the national championship after two Masters wins (1977, 1981) and three British Opens (1975, 1977, 1980); and another historic moment at the 17th hole—a chip-in birdie from lush Open rough next to the green, the shot that set up his victory over Jack Nicklaus—a shot so revered that it has been commemorated with a plaque.

In addition to the U.S. Open, the course has played host to the U.S. Amateur five times (1929, 1947, 1961, 1999, 2018), second only to six-time hosts Merion Golf Club and The Country Club (well known as the site of amateur Francis Ouimet’s thrilling 1913 U.S. Open victory over Harold Vardon and Ted Ray.) 

The event that really put Pebble on the map was Bing Crosby’s “Clambake” pro-am. Originally played at San Diego’s Rancho Santa Fe Golf Course beginning in 1937, the event was halted in 1942 by the onset of American involvement in World War II. When the event resumed in 1947 it was relocated to the Monterey Peninsula, playing on a trio of golf courses centered on Pebble Beach.

Showcasing the beauty of the Monterey Peninsula, with a star-studded list of Hollywood A-listers (Phil Harris, James Garner, and Jack Lemmon, to name a few) on the amateur roster, the Clambake was a PR bonanza for the region which continues to this day, in its current incarnation as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Design
Challenging despite its relative lack of length—7,075 yards as set up for the Open; 6,958 for the AT&T Pro-Am—Pebble Beach makes up for its lack of yardage in other ways. While it has its detractors (mostly those course architecture buffs who revere the provision of options off the tee), Pebble presents its challenge to golfers largely in its second and third shots, and putting.

Sloping fairways and uneven lies put a premium on second-shot performance at Pebble. For example: holes 9 and 10 slope significantly to the right, in the direction of the “Cliffs of Doom” overlooking Carmel Beach; at the 6th hole you’re faced with a looming three-story-high cliff face that separates you from the putting green.

The greens at Pebble demand approach-shot accuracy of the highest order. At an average area of 3,500 square feet they are the smallest on the PGA Tour, with an average depth of 26 paces, so precision shooting from the fairway (hopefully) is paramount.

Precision second shots and fearless putting are the key to success at Pebble Beach; it’s a shotmaker’s course that asks a lot of a player.

Beauty
For the casual golf fan, or folks who aren’t golf fans, in particular, but who show up or tune in during the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am to see their favorite celebrities tee it up, Pebble Beach is special for its location.

Whether or not Robert Louis Stevenson ever called Carmel Bay “…the most felicitous meeting of land and sea in creation…” (hint: he didn’t), it is a famously beautiful setting—blue Pacific waters lapping up against the rugged, rocky California coastline, all backdropped by the green and gold oak-bedecked hills of the Santa Lucia Range rising up behind.


The rocky cliffs that edge much of the golf course give way, going south, to the broad sandy crescent of Carmel Beach, and further south yet, past the village of Carmel-by-the-Sea and Carmel River Beach, to the rocky fastness of Point Lobos State Preserve (which Australian painter Francis McComas did call the “greatest meeting of land and water in the world”), visible from the southern reaches of the golf course.


The television coverage during the AT&T is rife with beauty shots of the scenery and the local marine wildlife—seals and sea lions, whales, dolphins, orcas and the occasional squadron of pelicans flying above the blue waters in echelon-right formation—and the ubiquitous “dogs frolicking in the surf on Carmel Beach” shots.

These images are a large part of the reason that the television coverage of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is so popular: while viewers in much of the country are shivering in sub-zero temperatures and/or digging out from the latest snowstorm, the Central California coast is, more often than not, enjoying sunshine and pleasant temperatures. (And when “Crosby weather” kicks in, with wind and rain and TV shots of umbrellas being flipped inside-out, the East Coast and Midwest audiences can gloat, just a little, at those Californians getting a taste of nasty weather.)

This combination of factors: the quality of the golf course, the almost overwhelming beauty of its location, and the history of the events associated with the venue give Pebble Beach Golf Links a unique position in the game of golf.

Before it gets real—Wednesday at the 119th U.S. Open

After record high temps, “June Gloom” returns to Pebble Beach

After several days of scorching temperatures in the Bay Area, including record high temperatures recorded at nearby Monterey, Wednesday at the 119th U.S Open, at Pebble Beach Golf Links, brought the cooling “June Gloom” fog.

An interesting difference between spectator routing at Pebble Beach for the U.S. Open vs the AT&T Pro-Am: access to both sides of the first and second holes. Wednesday practice rounds drew spectators despite the onset of “June gloom” weather.

As the golf media swarmed into town, and the more ardent golf fans braved distant parking and long bus rides to see their favorite players getting in some last practice holes before the flag drops on Thursday, the fog produced a diffuse, lambent glow to illuminate the Del Monte Forest. With the sun obscured by the marine-layer fog, the shadowless yet oddly glary light was accompanied by a chill breeze; both sunglasses and 1/4-zip sweatshirts were the order of the day.

Like the AT&T Pro-Am, but “more”

If you are familiar with getting around Pebble Beach during the AT&T Pro-Am, you will have to re-learn some things when you come to the Open here. There are more, and different, walking routes—for example, you get to see the left side of the first and second holes, which is no-man’s land during the AT&T; and the walk past #3 tee to #16 and the holes beyond is simplified by the lack of vehicular traffic on the entrance road.

In fact, everything about the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach is “more”. More fans, more merchandise, more things to do besides watching golf. There were more fans on the grounds—on a Wednesday—than I have seen on some tournament days during the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and more media folks in the massive media center tent that occupies the site of the former driving range, just above the Peter Hay Par-Three Course .

There are more concession stands; more grandstands; more marshalls, security, and infrastructure.

More over-tanned guys in the latest golf apparel opining to their buddies about the quality of the golf holes here at Pebble Beach.

More unwilling (and less-willing) girlfriends/wives being dragged around the course by their golfing boyfriends/husbands, wearing more inappropriate footwear (those chunky wedges are going to be a problem, ma’am…) and complaining that there are no celebrities to watch, just golfers.

More families of footsore-but-happy children and frazzled moms taking dad out for a Father’s Day treat.

More event merch being worn by fans on the course (especially when the weather turns from sunny and 85 to cloudy and 61 from Tuesday to Wednesday.)

Tomorrow it gets real

For all the pre-event chatter in the golf media about Brooks and Tiger and Dustin and Jordan and their chances of winning, or whether or not the USGA course setup folks will “lose” the course if the weather stays or turns hot, if the Wednesday practice-day crowds are any indication, this Open will be a huge success—at least from a fan’s point of view.

People were taking the day off of work, in the middle of the week, to come to what is arguably the most beautiful, and undoubtedly the best-known, golf course in the United States to watch the best players in the game play practice rounds. That’s some golf love.

Today was a tuneup—tomorrow it gets real.

Golf Hall of Fame Class of 2019 Inducted in Carmel

Changes in the schedule and timing of the induction ceremony for the World Golf Hall of Fame in recent years has seen the ceremony moved away from the Hall’s facility in St. Augustine, Florida to be held at other notable venues in the world of golf.

This year, as the U.S. Open returned to Pebble Beach Golf Links for the sixth time, the Hall of Fame welcomed an auditorium full of golf’s luminaries to the Sunset Center, in nearby Carmel. Thirty-four Hall of Famers were in the audience on the Monday evening before the 119th U.S. Open—more than have ever been gathered in one room at the same time.

The 2019 Class of the World Golf Hall of Fame
(clockwise from top right: Retief Goosen, Dennis Walters,
Jan Stephenson, Billy Payne, and Peggy Kirk Bell)

Five new members were inducted into the Hall on Monday evening: two for their playing records—Retief Goosen and Jan Stephenson, and three in the Lifetime Achievement category—club pro, trick-shot artist, and disabled golf advocate, Dennis Walters; talented amateur golfer and early LPGA member Peggy Kirk Bell; and former Augusta National Golf Club chairman Billy Payne.

Dennis Walters, who was a 24-year-old assistant club pro when he was paralyzed from the waist down as the result of a golf-cart accident in 1974, has been supporting the growth of the game of golf for over 40 years through trick-shot performances and playing clinics. Walters is one of 11 honorary lifetime members of the PGA of America, was awarded the Ben Hogan Award for courage in 1978, and the 2018 recipient of the USGA’s Bob Jones Award.

Walters has done over 3,000 performance and traveled three million miles since he started doing playing clinics and trick shot shows.

Jan Stephenson has won golf tournaments on five continents – over 20 in all, and has transitioned from a champion golfer into a champion supporter of golf-related charities.

Stephenson earned LPGA Rookie of the Year honors in 1974, and went on to win 16 tournaments on the LPGA Tour, including three major championships—the 1981 du Maurier, 1982 LPGA Championship, and the 1983 U.S. Women’s Open. She became the face of the LPGA Tour in the 1977 when she was featured in an ad campaign, the brainchild of then-LPGA Commissioner Ray Volpe. The use of a somewhat racy outtake photo on the cover of Sport magazine vaulted her into the spotlight, promulgating an image which has followed her throughout her career.

Stephenson was a founder of the Women’s Senior Golf Tour, now the Legends Tour.

Peggy Kirk Bell was an outstanding amateur star, a charter member of the LPGA, and a member of the winning 1950 United States Curtis Cup team. She was a lifetime teacher who lived to spread the word about the game of golf, which she did with relish at her resort, Pine Needles Lodge, in North Carolina. An enthusiastic aviator, Bell once organized a tournament at Pine Needles which required players to hold a valid pilot’s license.

Retief Goosen is a two-time U.S. Open champion, in 2001 and 2004; Euro Tour Order of Merit winner in 2001 and 2002; and played on six consecutive President’s Cup teams, from 2000 to 2011.

Goosen survived being struck by lightning on the golf course as a 15-year-old, yet continued in the game. Transitioning from an amateur career in South Africa, he moved on to the Sunshine Tour, the Asian Tour, and the European Tour, where he eventually racked up 14 wins, before moving on to the PGA Tour. His seven wins on the PGA Tour include two U.S. Opens; the 2001 U.S. Open was his first PGA Tour victory.

Billy Payne was the chairman of the Augusta National Golf Club for 11 years, from 2006 to 2017. He was the driving force behind the effort to bring the 1996 Summer Olympic Games to Atlanta, Georgia. During his tenure, many changes were implemented at ANGC, including the induction of the club’s first two female members—former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Atlanta-based financier and business executive, Darla Moore—and the nationwide Drive, Chip, and Putt competition for children aged seven to 15.