Reigning Golf Nut of the Year Dave Wells Reminisces about AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

Golf Nuts – Following is an article reigning Golf Nut of the Year Dave Wells (#2803) wrote for a local newspaper in his hometown of Memphis a while back. He was fortunate to earn a spot in the 1990 Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Here are a few of his fond memories of that event… –Head Nut

SPECIAL TIMES AT THE AT&T PEBBLE BEACH PRO-AM

                                    By Dave Wells

As the PGA Tour is now underway, I wanted to share some personal experiences at a special golfing place on the map, the Monterey Peninsula in California. Whether you watch it on TV, attend it as a spectator, or have the opportunity to play in this golf event, it is so very special. Words cannot express the true feeling of teeing it up on Hole #1 at Pebble Beach Golf Links.

I was fortunate enough to earn a spot in the 1990 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am where I was paired with Neal Lancaster who was a rookie on the PGA Tour that year, and the other two players in our foursome were Robert Meyer, a Golf Pro from California and amateur Louis ‘Chip’ Weil, the publisher of TIME Magazine.

Before the tournament actually starts on Thursday, each amateur can play three practice rounds at the Pebble Beach, Cypress Point, and Spyglass golf courses. I played Pebble Beach on Monday and was joined by the Waterford Crystal CEO from Ireland and a practice round Wednesday at Spyglass with golf pro John Inman, currently on the Champions Tour, and his memorable comment to me was….”Spyglass is the toughest of the three courses….most pros don’t like it; I don’t even know why I’m practicing here.” Interesting comment….but he was really more concerned on how he was going to identify his amateur partner, that would be ‘Robin’ of Batman & Robin fame.

My Tuesday practice round was the most eventful of the practice rounds….at Cypress Point set up by RJ Harper, the Pebble Beach Golf Director….I searched out RJ as he was originally from Memphis and played football at Rhodes. After introducing myself, he called the Head Pro at Cypress Point (Jim Langley), and I was to contact him upon my arrival at Cypress Point on Tuesday morning.

The Cypress Point Pro sent me to the first tee, and I was to play with a golfer named Jeff Hart. I introduced myself and asked Jeff what he did for a living thinking he was another amateur golfer, and he immediately answered, “I am on the PGA Tour”…. so that started it out with a slight embarassment on my part. Jeff is now on the Champions Tour, and I saw him a few years back at the FEDEX ST. JUDE, and we both laughed about it.

Then Jeff said, “Lead us off Dave”….. as I addressed the ball, a voice behind me said, “May I join you please?”, and Jeff and I both looked up, and there was Sandy Lyle, so now excitement was in the air as we were a threesome. I readdressed the ball, and of course, another voice said, “Can I be the 4th in your group?”…so Tom Kite joined us and away we went.

No gallery except my wife, Nancy, and the four of us plus our caddies start down the first hole at Cypress Point after hitting our tee shots over the road in front of the # 1 tee. A light rain began on # 4, but everyone kept playing, and Nancy pulls a COPPERTONE umbrella out of my golf bag….and Tom Kite starts laughing and says, “I don’t think I’ve seen a COPPERTONE Umbrella on a golf course.”….and much laughter became a part of this fun round.

Then, we got to the 7th tee, a short Par 3 up on a hillside, and everybody was selecting their iron for the shot when Sandy Lyle’s caddy from England came over to me with tears in his eyes and I thought, what has happened….and then he looks at me and says,  “I hear you’re from Memphis, Dave…you know that Elvis Presley never came to England.”…..I didn’t know what to say….he was very upset, so I just said, “I’m sorry.”…so memories of Elvis also joined us at Cypress Point.

Our foursome got to # 8, a dogleg to the right, and the tee shot has a very small landing area between a very large sandtrap and the rough….so I hit my tee shot…didn’t know if it was in the sand or not…and Tom Kite quickly says,  “Dave, your tee shot is either dead or dead perfect.”…thankfully, it was OK.

As my caddy and I were walking down # 9 fairway, my caddy waved to a caddy friend on another hole, and Jack Lemmon waved back….funny, funny.

As we approached the famous Par 3 #16 at Cypress Point, we had a short wait until the group on the green finished putting. Sandy Lyle was looking out at the ocean and the gray skies as the rain had now become a steady drizzle, and I asked Sandy, ” Does this remind you of Scotland?”….and Sandy’s response, ” It’s never this nice in Scotland.”….and he was serious. What a practice round to remember at Cypress Point.

Now, it was tournament time…Time to tee it up Thursday, and on the practice putting green prior to our 9:00 A.M. starting time, I was practicing my putting alongside Gary Morton (Lucille Ball’s husband) when one of my practice putts found the hole from 20 feet out, and a nearby celebrity golfer, Huey Lewis, said loudly, “Will you teach me to putt?” And my quick response was , “If you teach me to sing,” followed by much laughter from everybody on and around the practice green as the day started with fun times.

Our group’s starting hole was # 10 at Pebble Beach Golf Links on a beautiful sunny day….in those days the amateurs and pros hit from the same tee in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and Neal Lancaster and I did finish the three rounds at 9-under par, but did not make the cut for the 4th round…the cut was -13, but it sure was loads of excitement and fun at a scenic place you can see this week on TV. The three-course rotation is now Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course, and the Monterey Peninsula Country Club.

This PGA Tour stop is certainly a special event which Bing Crosby and his friends started back in 1937 combining golf professionals with amateur golfers including celebrities from all over the world. A few of the celebrities I had the pleasure of meeting and being around in 1990 were Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery, Jack Lemmon, Julius ‘Dr. J.’ Erving, James Garner, and Robert Wagner….quite an experience.

“If I had only one more round to play, I would choose to play it at Pebble Beach. I’ve loved the course from the first time I saw it. It’s possibly the best in the world.” – Jack Nicklaus

–Dave “Iron Byron” Wells (#2803)

Thanks for sharing the memories and stories, #2803. It had to be a golf nut’s dream week!

The Head Nut

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