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

Keeping my team in the hunt at Pebble

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 into playing the most prominent pro-am tournament in America—if not the world.

Feb. 7, Friday, Round Two
[Editor’s note: The top 25 pro-am teams advance to the final round on Sunday. On Friday night, there were 27 teams at minus-13 for 25 spots. Pat and pro Matt Every are at minus-10. Pat expects the cut to range from 18- to 20-under.]

I played really well Friday at Pebble. Matt didn’t have a good day. He finished 4-over 76, but we were minus-5 as a team.

Charlie, my caddie, must have hit the Bermuda Triangle the night before, because he disappeared. But after three hours of sleep looking as white as a ghost, he was at my room at 7:50 a.m. to pick up my clubs and did well. I helped my team with a strong nine shots.

We started on the back nine, which meant No. 10, a tough par-4 with heavy wind and rain. I bogeyed No. 15, parred the 16th and then birdied No. 17. Not many people birdied there. Then I made a natural par for a net-4 on the 18th. It was very tough. The conditions were miserable. The 18th was dead into a strong, heavy wind.

Then we made the turn to the front nine, which meant we would finish on the “bluff” holes—Nos. 6-9. On the par-5 sixth, the pro and am tees weren’t too far apart and I ripped a drive and was even with Matt. I had 180 yards to the top of the hill. I ripped a 5-wood and almost made it to the fairway. I had 140 to the green and I ripped a 6-iron and ended up a foot short of the green.

The par-3 seventh was playing 85 in actual yardage. I punched a 9-iron that ended pin-high off the green. I bladed a chip but made the 4-footer for par.

On No. 8, we tee off down by the pros – a blind tee shot. I rip a 4-wood 20 feet short of the cliffs, but on my approach (over Carmel Bay, the greatest second shot in golf) I left my clubface open and the ball ended up on the tall grass on the cliffs. I picked up.

On the par-4 ninth (450 yards for the amateurs), I drove, had 285 left, hit a 4-iron, then from 85 yards pitched on and two-putted.

The scoring average at Pebble Beach so far is 72.1, with Spyglass at 71 and Monterey Peninsula 69. Spyglass is playing easier because it’s more protected from the wind. We’ll have to shoot 6- to 8-under tomorrow. And the greens at Pebble Beach were soft and lumpy.

Tonight we’re going to the Pavilion to watch some of the celebrities—Kenny G, Kid Rock, Chet Walker—perform for the staff. That’s always fun.

And today I got a couple texts letting me know they saw me on TV. And I talked to Condoleeza Rice. I have known her because she did her undergrad work at Denver University. I was trying to get her to take my DU hat instead of her Stanford cap because I knew she’d get more TV time than me.

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

Round 1

Round 3

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