EXCLUSIVE: Round One at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

Pat Hamill

Eight-handicap Pat Hamill—the founder and CEO of Oakwood Homes and founder of the Colorado Open Golf Foundation and The First Tee of Green Valley Ranch—is playing in his seventh AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am this week. Each day he will share insights with Contributing Editor Ted Johnson about playing the most prominent pro-am tournament in America—if not the world.

[Editor’s Note: Pat Hamill’s scheduled tee time was 9:39 a.m. Thursday at Monterey Peninsula Country Club, but he and pro Matt Every didn’t get off until around noon due to heavy rains that left puddles on the greens, causing delays on all three courses. Pat and Matt finished minus-6, commendable for the conditions, but walked off the course at 5:35 p.m., a long, long day.]

There was a lot of puddling on the greens, but it wasn’t too bad on MPCC. The rain suit held up. It was perfect. A Gore-tex rainsuit is required equipment in this tournament.

Matt had a pretty tough day. He was kinda off and finished even-par. Normally, he strikes it pretty well, but we finished 6-under. I made a natural birdie-4 on No. 6 for a net-3. [Note: a long, slight dogleg right with a vicious two-tiered green.] I birdied No. 5, the short dogleg right [Net-3, not a stroke hole for Pat].

But I had to grind today. It was not my best swing. I also picked up a couple of times because Matt was going to be better than I could offer, so I picked up for pace of play. I also parred No. 18 for a net-3.

It was a long day. I am definitely more tired, that’s for sure. But I have plans. My friend Christina is in the Tap Room and I’ll meet her later for dinner. My favorite place to eat is either The Bench or The Tap Room. The Bench replaced Club XIX a couple of years ago. The Tap Room is legendary—an old fashioned pub paneled walls covered with pictures of Pebble Beach lore.

The Bolognese is great, the short ribs are unbelievable. And you can't beat their classics: artichoke soup and the half-pound burgers.

My caddie Charlie [Soule, teaching pro at Green Valley Golf Academy] is doing his first turn as caddie in the AT&T pro-am. A couple of times I’d be on the green and he pulled out the putter and handed me the putter cover, not the putter. He’s just too used to playing. He’s a pro and one of the best players in the state, so it must hard for him.

Friday is Pebble Beach, and the focus is just to have fun and enjoy it—to play Pebble Beach and have a good time and savor every moment. You want to step back and take it all in. You don’t want to over-focus on the moment. Just want to have fun.

MORE FROM THE AT&T PEBBLE BEACH NATIONAL PRO-AM

Round 2

Round 3

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