About a month ago, I received a call from a business partner about an event down at Pebble Beach. It was last minute, but I received the necessary approvals from colleagues and Grace.
I spent two nights at the Lodge at Pebble Beach (nice). In the morning, I went down to breakfast, sat down next to our hosts and Vijay Singh comes to sit down. These guys know each other well (they must play a lot of work golf), so there is a lot of fun banter.
Afterwards, Vijay held a golf clinic with Laird Small, who teaches at Pebble Beach. They both provided many helpful tips. Later on the range, Vijay came over and because we hadn’t really introduced ourselves at breakfast, he just said, “how’s my man doing?” Under a little pressure, I dribble the next shot out there and said, “that’s not it.” He said, “no, it’s not.” He did end up giving me some constructive instruction, but none that I was prepared to use on the course.
My takeaways were:
- I need a wider stance
- I need a bigger turn
- He likes my clubs better than my swing
I should note that I’ve never paid Pebble Beach before. Like most golfers, it was absolutely on the bucket list. However, I’ve told myself I need to improve a little (a lot) before I play there. Plus, I felt I needed something to which to look forward. However, serendipty dictated that the time was now.
I was in the last group with several very nice guys and two helpful caddies. As I was in just about every bunker on the course, I kept my caddie busy raking. Everyone played a couple holes with Vijay and we finally caught up with him on the par-3 17th. The group all hit pretty good tee shots (mostly short right into a stiff wind). Vijay hit his long left. He kicked it off the green rather than attepmt a 60 foot put and hit a flop instead, landing it perfectly on the downslope of the green, leaving his ball hole high (wow). I chipped on and 3-putt (typical).
18 at Pebble Beach is an experience in and of itself. Hallowed ground. I managed to hit my ball in the fairway on the right. Inexplicably, my 2nd ended up on the left rough, just barely in play and out of the trap and water. Phew. Inexplicably, my next shot ended up wet. The rest of the hole went about as well and involved a tree, some sand, and a few putts. There’s no complaining at Pebble Beach. It was an experience of a lifetime.
The next day, half the group played at Spyglass and my group played at Spanish Bay. It was a gloriously sunny and calm day. My play was not much better, but enjoyed myself nonetheless. This was the best boondoggle ever and I was so grateful.
