Pebble Beach Golf Links is a public
golf course
A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...
located in
Pebble Beach, California
Pebble Beach is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community on the Monterey Peninsula in Monterey County, California, Monterey County, California, United States. The small coastal residential community of mostly single-family homes is also ...
, U.S.
Opened in 1919, it is regarded as one of the most beautiful courses in the world. It hugs the rugged coastline and has wide open views of
Carmel Bay, opening to the Pacific Ocean on the south side of the
Monterey Peninsula
The Monterey Peninsula anchors the northern portion on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California and comprises the cities of Monterey, California, Monterey, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, Carmel, and Pacific Grove, California, P ...
. In 2001, it became the first public course to be selected as the No. 1 Golf Course in America by ''
Golf Digest
''Golf Digest'' is a monthly golf magazine published by Warner Bros. Discovery through its TNT Sports unit. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's competitive golf. The magazine started by John F. ...
''. Greens fees are among the highest in the world, at $675 per round in 2025. Caddies are not required, but start at $150 per bag. Carts are allowed (cart-path only) on Pebble Beach Golf Links and are $60 per rider.
Three of the courses in the coastal community of Pebble Beach, including Pebble Beach Golf Links, belong to the
Pebble Beach Company, which also operates three hotels and a spa at the resort. The other courses are The Links at Spanish Bay, and
Spyglass Hill Golf Course
Spyglass Hill Golf Course is a golf course on the west coast of the United States, located on the Monterey Peninsula in California. The course is part of the Pebble Beach Company, which also owns the Pebble Beach Golf Links, The Links at Spani ...
.
The
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...
and
PGA Tour Champions
PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, open to golfers age 50 and over, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour.
History and format
The Senior PGA Championship, f ...
play annual events at Pebble Beach: the
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held annually at Pebble Beach, California, near Carmel. The tournament is usually held during the month of February on two different courses, currently Pebble Beach ...
and the
First Tee Open
The PURE Insurance Championship is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour Champions. It is sponsored by the PURE Insurance company and normally held in August/September in Monterey, California at the Pebble Beach Golf Links and Del Monte Golf Course, ...
. It has hosted seven
men's major championships: six
U.S. Opens and a
PGA Championship
The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...
. It also hosted the 1988 Nabisco Championship, now known as the
Tour Championship
The Tour Championship (stylized as the TOUR Championship) is a golf tournament that is part of the PGA Tour. It has historically been one of the final events of the PGA Tour season; prior to 2007, its field consisted exclusively of the top 30 ...
, the season-ending event on the PGA Tour. It hosted its first women's major championship, the
2023 U.S. Women's Open on July 6, 2023. World-renowned, the course is included in many golf video games, such as the ''
Links'' series and the ''
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...
'' series.
History
The course began as part of the complex of the
Hotel del Monte
The Hotel Del Monte was a large resort hotel in Monterey, California, from its opening in 1880 until 1942. It was one of the finest luxury hotels in North America. During World War II, it closed and the building was leased to the United States ...
, a resort hotel in
Monterey, California
Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, California, Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a popu ...
, built by
Charles Crocker
Charles Crocker (September 16, 1822 – August 14, 1888) was an American railroad executive who was one of the founders of the Central Pacific Railroad, which constructed the westernmost portion of the first transcontinental railroad, and took ...
, one of California's
Big Four railroad barons, through
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...
's property division,
Pacific Improvement Company
The Pacific Improvement Company (PIC) was a large holding company in California and an affiliate of the Southern Pacific Railroad. It was formed in 1878, by the Big Four (Central Pacific Railroad), Big Four, who were influential businessmen, phi ...
.
The hotel first opened on June 10, 1880.
The famous
17-Mile Drive
17-Mile Drive is a scenic road through Pebble Beach and Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula in California, much of which hugs the Pacific coastline and passes famous golf courses, mansions and scenic attractions, including the Lone Cypre ...
was originally designed as a local excursion route for visitors to the Del Monte to take in the historic sights of Monterey and
Pacific Grove and the scenery of what would become Pebble Beach.
The course was designed by champion golfers Jack Neville and Douglas Grant and opened on February 22, 1919. Neville also designed the back nine at
Pacific Grove Municipal Golf Course on the other side of the Monterey Peninsula. His objective was to place as many of the holes as possible along the rocky and beautiful Monterey coast line. This was accomplished using a "figure 8" layout.
The course was extensively revised in 1928 by H. Chandler Egan. Other architects who have worked on the course include
Alistair MacKenzie and Robert Hunter (1927) and Jack Nicklaus (creation of the new fifth hole, 1998).
On February 27, 1919,
Samuel Finley Brown Morse formed the Del Monte Properties Company, and acquired the extensive holdings of the Pacific Improvement Company, which included the
Del Monte Forest
Del Monte Forest (''Del Monte'', Spanish for "of the mountain") is a census-designated place (CDP) in Monterey County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a total population of 4,204, down from 4,514 at the 2010 census. ...
, the Del Monte Lodge and the Hotel Del Monte.
After World War II, the Hotel del Monte building and surrounding grounds were acquired by the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
to its
Naval Postgraduate School
Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a Naval command with a graduate university mission, operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California.
The NPS mission is to provide "defense-focused graduate education, including clas ...
and the building was renamed Herrmann Hall. The Golf Course Histories website has an aerial comparison of the changes to the course, notably the 17th hole, from 1938 to 2014.
The course was bought by a consortium of Japanese investors during the upswing of foreign investments in American properties in the early 1990s. The sale, however, generated controversy when it was discovered that one of the investors had alleged ties to organized crime in Japan. It was then bought by another group of Japanese investors before being sold to the Pebble Beach Co. several years later.
Tournaments
The first Pebble Beach Championship for Women was played February 9–12, 1923, with
Marion Hollins
Marion B. Hollins (December 3, 1892 – August 27, 1944) was an American amateur golfer. She is known as an athlete and as a golf course developer, one of the only known female golf course developers in history. She won the 1921 U.S. Women's Ama ...
as champion over Doreen Kavanaugh. Pebble Beach hosted the first
California Women's Amateur Championship
California Women's Amateur Championship is a golf championship held in California for the state's top women amateur golfers. It has been held since 1967 with the inaugural tournament held at Pebble Beach Golf Links.
History
The California Wo ...
in 1967 as well as subsequent tournaments until it was moved to Quail Lodge & Golf Club in
Carmel Valley in 1987.
The first professional tournament at Pebble Beach was the Monterey Peninsula Open in 1926, which had a $5,000 purse.
"Lighthorse" Harry Cooper of Texas won with a 72-hole score of 293 (+5). In 1929, Pebble hosted its first major—the
U.S. Amateur
The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...
. A
match play
Match play is a scoring system for golf in which a player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents; as opposed to stroke play, in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 h ...
event, it was won by
Jimmy Johnston
James Harle Johnston (December 10, 1889 – February 14, 1967) was a Major League Baseball player from 1911 to 1926. He played mostly with the Brooklyn Robins of the National League. His brother Doc Johnston was also a major league player.
Car ...
of Minnesota, while
Bobby Jones tied for medalist honors in the stroke play qualifier, but lost his first-round match to
Johnny Goodman
John George Goodman (December 28, 1909 – August 8, 1970) was the last amateur golfer to win the U.S. Open, in 1933, and also won the U.S. Amateur in 1937.
Early life
Born to Lithuanian immigrants in South Omaha, Nebraska, Goodman was orp ...
.
In 1947, Pebble Beach began its run as one of the host courses for the
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...
National Pro-Am tournament, sometimes known as the "Clam Bake", and now the
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held annually at Pebble Beach, California, near Carmel. The tournament is usually held during the month of February on two different courses, currently Pebble Beach ...
. The tournament is held annually, usually in February, and is an unusual four-round tournament. The final round on Sunday is played at Pebble Beach, but the first three rounds of pro-am play are contested in
round-robin format at Pebble Beach and
Spyglass Hill Golf Course
Spyglass Hill Golf Course is a golf course on the west coast of the United States, located on the Monterey Peninsula in California. The course is part of the Pebble Beach Company, which also owns the Pebble Beach Golf Links, The Links at Spani ...
.
Scorecard
Nabisco Championship
U.S. Opens
Pebble Beach has hosted the U.S. Open six times:
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
,
1982
Events
January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...
,
1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
,
2000
2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year.
Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
,
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
, and
2019
This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year.
Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
and is scheduled a seventh time in 2027.
1972
The U.S. Open was first held at Pebble Beach in
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
, won by
Jack Nicklaus
Jack William Nicklaus (; born January 21, 1940), nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is an American retired professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greate ...
, who captured his 11th
major
Major most commonly refers to:
* Major (rank), a military rank
* Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits
* People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames
* Major and minor in musi ...
title (of an eventual 18) as a professional. It was a historically important win, as Nicklaus tied
Bobby Jones with 13 major titles; a lifelong amateur, Jones' major titles were in the U.S. Open,
British Open
The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...
,
U.S. Amateur
The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...
, and
British Amateur
The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...
. Nicklaus won the U.S. Amateur twice, in 1959 (
Broadmoor,
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
) and 1961 (Pebble Beach).
Nicklaus secured the victory in 1972 with one of the most famous golf shots of all time. He arrived at the 17th tee facing deteriorating weather and a brisk wind on the challenging par-3 hole. Nicklaus hit a 1-
iron
Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...
that bounced once and struck the flagstick; it came to rest next to the cup for a tap-in
birdie.
Two months earlier, Nicklaus had won the
Masters to become the first in a dozen years (
Arnold Palmer
Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Since embarking on a professional career in ...
in
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events January
* Janu ...
) to win golf's first two major titles of the season. At the
British Open
The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...
in July, Nicklaus shot a final round 66 to finish second, one stroke behind
Lee Trevino
Lee Buck Trevino (born December 1, 1939) is an American retired professional golfer who is regarded as one of the greatest players in golf history. He was inducted to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1981. Trevino won six major championships and ...
, ending his
Grand Slam
Grand Slam or Grand slam may refer to:
Games and sports
* Grand slam, winning category terminology originating in contract bridge and other whist card games
Athletics
* Grand Slam Track, professional track and field league
Auto racing
* ...
run in
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
. (Palmer also missed a third straight major by a stroke at the
1960 British Open.) Through 2017, only one golfer has won the Masters, U.S. Open, and British Open in the same calendar year:
Ben Hogan
William Ben Hogan (August 13, 1912 – July 25, 1997) was an American professional golfer who is generally considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He is notable for his profound influence on golf swing theory, hi ...
in
1953
Events
January
* January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma.
* January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo.
* January 14
** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...
.
Nicklaus also won the Crosby events on either side of this Open, in 1972 and 1973, and previously in 1967.
1982
Nicklaus was also a key player in
1982
Events
January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...
at Pebble Beach. On the front nine on Sunday, Nicklaus made five straight birdies on holes 3 through 7 and finished ahead of the last group tied for the lead. As was the case in 1972, the 17th hole was again the site of one golf's most memorable shots. In the last group, future Hall Of Famer
Tom Watson hit his tee shot on the par-3 17th just a few feet off the green, into heavy rough which had been grown very tall and thick, typical of USGA Open playing conditions. His succeeding pitch was from above the hole; he needed to strike the ball firmly to get the ball out of the rough, but such an aggressive attack would likely leave a long comeback putt to save par, unless hit perfectly. In a live television interview immediately after Watson's errant tee shot, and given the difficulty of Watson's upcoming pitch shot Nicklaus appeared confident that he would soon be in the outright lead.
Watson was apparently equally confident. He and his caddy
Bruce Edwards strategized on the shot, and Edwards encouraged him to get the ball close. Watson replied, "Close, hell, I'm going to sink it." The pitch came out perfectly, landed softly and rolled into the cup. Watson ran onto the green jubilantly and gestured back at Edwards saying "I told you so". He then birdied the challenging par-5 18th hole for a two-shot victory margin in his only U.S. Open win. Watson had previously won twice at Pebble Beach, in the Crosby events of 1977 and 1978.
During the following winter, a storm eroded portions of the 17th green and 18th tee box into the Pacific Ocean. Though rebuilt, the exact spot where Watson struck his historic
chip shot no longer exists.
1992
The
1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
championship was one of the most difficult ever played at Pebble Beach, with clear skies and brisk winds on the weekend. Only two players finished under par: champion
Tom Kite
Thomas Oliver Kite Jr. (born December 9, 1949) is an American professional golfer and golf course architect. He won the U.S. Open in 1992 and spent 175 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking between 1989 and 1994.
Early life a ...
at 285 (-3) and runner-up
Jeff Sluman
Jeffrey George Sluman (born September 11, 1957) is an American professional golfer who has won numerous professional golf tournaments including six PGA Tour victories.
Early life and amateur career
Sluman was born and reared in Rochester, New Yo ...
at 287 (-1).
Gil Morgan
Gilmer Bryan Morgan II, OD (born September 25, 1946) is an American professional golfer.
Early life
Morgan was born in Wewoka, Oklahoma. He graduated from East Central State College in Ada, Oklahoma in 1968.
Professional career
In 1972, ...
was 12 under par early in the third round, but later fell back. Kite was one of the best players on tour in the 1980s, with 19 top tens in majors prior to 1992. Perhaps the best player of his era without a major, he finally won at Pebble Beach at age 42.
This championship was also notable as the last par-72 course in the U.S. Open, with no converted par 5's, until 2017, when
Erin Hills
Erin Hills is a golf course in the north central United States, located in Erin, Wisconsin, in Washington County, northwest of Milwaukee. The course officially opened in 2006. It hosted the 117th U.S. Open in 2017. The announcement was made ...
, which was built in 1998, played as a par-72. It also marked
Phil Mickelson
Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970) is an American professional golfer who currently plays in the LIV Golf League. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six Men's major golf championships, major championships: three Masters ...
's first major as a professional.
2000
Perhaps looking for a special place to host in
2000
2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year.
Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
, the
USGA
The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...
decided that Pebble Beach should host the first U.S. Open of the millennium and the 100th edition of the tournament. In some respects, this Open was even tougher than the 1992 contest, with only one player finishing under par – champion
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...
. Woods scored 65-69-71-67 to tie a U.S. Open record with 272, and set a U.S. Open record by finishing 12 under par, reaching Morgan's mark during his final round but recording no bogeys during the final round to finish 15 shots ahead of joint runners-up
Miguel Ángel Jiménez
Miguel Ángel Jiménez Rodríguez (born 5 January 1964) is a Spanish professional golfer. He has won 21 times on the European Tour, holds the records for the most starts on the European Tour and being the first player over 50 to win on the Euro ...
and
Ernie Els
Theodore Ernest Els (; born 17 October 1969) is a South African professional golfer. A former , he is nicknamed "the Big Easy" due to his physical stature along with his fluid golf swing. Among his more than 70 career victories are four major ...
– the largest margin of victory ever in a major championship, surpassing the 13-shot record margin set by
Old Tom Morris
Thomas Mitchell Morris (16 June 1821 – 24 May 1908), otherwise known as Old Tom Morris, and The Grand Old Man of Golf, was a Scottish golfer. He was born in St Andrews, Fife, the "home of golf" and location of the St Andrews Links, and died ...
at the
1862 Open Championship at
Prestwick
Prestwick () is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, and the small vi ...
.
Woods' first U.S. Open championship and third career major was also the start of his
non-calendar year "Tiger Slam" as he also won the following three majors to hold all four major titles simultaneously (in order, the
2000 Open Championship
The 2000 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 129th Open Championship, held from 20 to 23 July at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland. Tiger Woods, 24, won his first Open Championship and fourth major title, eight ...
at the
Old Course at St Andrews
The Old Course at St Andrews, also known as the Old Lady or the Grand Old Lady, is considered the oldest golf course in the world. It is a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, and is held in trust by the St Andrews Links ...
, the
2000 PGA Championship
The 2000 PGA Championship was the 82nd PGA Championship, held August 17–20 at the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. It was the second time for the event at Valhalla, which hosted four years earlier in 1996. Tiger Woods won his second ...
at
Valhalla
In Norse mythology, Valhalla ( , ; , )Orchard (1997:171–172) is described as a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin. There were five possible realms the soul could travel to after death. The first was Fólkvang ...
and the
2001 Masters at
Augusta National
Augusta National Golf Club, sometimes referred to as Augusta National, Augusta, or the National, is a golf club in Augusta, Georgia, United States. It is known for hosting the annual Masters Tournament.
Founded by Bobby Jones and Clifford Rob ...
). It also made Woods the first to win the
U.S. Junior Amateur,
U.S. Amateur
The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...
and U.S. Open. This was also Jack Nicklaus' 44th consecutive and final U.S. Open, as well as the last for two-time champion
Curtis Strange
Curtis Northrup Strange (born January 30, 1955) is an American professional golfer and TV color commentator. He is the winner of consecutive U.S. Open titles and a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. He spe ...
.
On the eve of the tournament, the 18th hole also hosted a memorial for
Payne Stewart
William Payne Stewart (January 30, 1957 – October 25, 1999) was an American professional golfer who won 11 PGA Tour events, including three major championships, the last of which came just a few months before his death in an airplane acciden ...
, who had won
the previous year's tournament at
Pinehurst No. 2 but then died in a plane crash in October at the age of 42. Speakers included Stewart's widow Tracey and Payne's friend and fellow professional
Paul Azinger
Paul William Azinger (born January 6, 1960) is an American professional golfer and TV golf He won 12 times on the PGA Tour, including one major championship, the 1993 PGA Championship. He spent almost 300 weeks in the top-10 of the Official Wo ...
, while attendees included Stewart's caddy Mike Hicks and other professionals who then competed in the tournament such as Mickelson,
David Duval
David Robert Duval (born November 9, 1971) is an American professional golfer and former World No. 1 Golfer who competed on the PGA Tour and currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. Duval won 13 PGA Tour tournaments between 1997 and 2001; inc ...
,
Davis Love III
Davis Milton Love III (born April 13, 1964) is an American professional golfer who has won 21 events on the PGA Tour, including one major championship: the 1997 PGA Championship. He won the Players Championship in 1992 and 2003. He was in th ...
,
Tom Lehman
Thomas Edward Lehman (born March 7, 1959) is an American professional golfer. A former #1 ranked golfer, his tournament wins include one major title, the 1996 Open Championship; and he is the only golfer in history to have been awarded the Pla ...
,
Lee Janzen
Lee McLeod Janzen (born August 28, 1964) is an American professional golfer who is best known for winning the U.S. Open twice in 1993 and 1998. He currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions, and was an eight-time winner on the PGA Tour.
Earl ...
and
Sergio García
Sergio García Fernández (; born 9 January 1980) is a Spanish professional golfer. He turned professional in 1999 and played on the European Tour and PGA Tour prior to joining LIV Golf in 2022. García has won 36 international tournaments as ...
. The ceremony concluded with shots being hit into Stillwater Cove in a golf version of a
21-gun salute. García also wore Stewart's trademark navy
plus fours
Plus fours are breeches or trousers that extend four inches (10 cm) below the knee (and thus four inches longer than traditional Knickerbockers (clothing), knickerbockers, hence the name). Knickerbockers have been traditionally associated ...
during his opening round, while Nicklaus was given Stewart's defending champion spot in the traditional pairings alongside
Open Championship
The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...
winner
Paul Lawrie
Paul Stewart Lawrie (born 1 January 1969) is a Scottish professional golfer who is best known for winning The Open Championship in 1999. He was a vice-captain for the European Ryder Cup team in 2016.
Early career
Lawrie was born in Aberdeen a ...
and U.S. Amateur winner
David Gossett
David Spencer Gossett (born April 28, 1979) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Web.com Tour (formerly the Nationwide Tour).
Gossett was born in Phoenix, Arizona. His father introduced him to the game of golf ...
and asked for a moment of silence in Stewart's memory before his opening tee shot.
2010
Graeme McDowell
Graeme McDowell (born 30 July 1979) is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland. He has a total of eleven tournament victories on the European Tour, and four on the PGA Tour, including one major championship, the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble B ...
won in
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
by one stroke over
Grégory Havret
Grégory Havret (born 25 November 1976) is a French professional golfer.
Amateur career
Havret won the French Amateur Championship three years in a row from 1997 to 1999, and in 1999 he won the European Amateur. He also won a minor professional ...
.
Ernie Els
Theodore Ernest Els (; born 17 October 1969) is a South African professional golfer. A former , he is nicknamed "the Big Easy" due to his physical stature along with his fluid golf swing. Among his more than 70 career victories are four major ...
finished third, with Woods and
Phil Mickelson
Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970) is an American professional golfer who currently plays in the LIV Golf League. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six Men's major golf championships, major championships: three Masters ...
in a tie for fourth. McDowell, from
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
, became the first
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
an to win the U.S. Open in
forty years
''Forty Years'' or '' Veertig Jaren '' is a 1938 Dutch film directed by Edmond T. Gréville.
Cast
* Cees Laseur ... Rolf van Meerle
*Lily Bouwmeester ... Annetje Maasdonk
*Matthieu van Eysden ... Frans Maasdonk
* Ank van der Moer ... Eline ...
. In his last U.S. Open, 1982 champion Watson at age 60 became the second-oldest player to make a U.S. Open cut (after
Sam Snead
Samuel Jackson Snead (; May 27, 1912 – May 23, 2002) was an American professional golfer who was one of the top players in the world for the better part of four decades (having won PGA of America and Senior PGA Tour events over six decades) an ...
, age 61 in
1973
Events January
* January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...
), and finished tied for 29th.
2019
Gary Woodland
Gary Lynn Woodland (born May 21, 1984) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He won the U.S. Open in 2019, his first major championship and sixth professional victory. Following a successful college career, he turned pr ...
won in
2019
This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year.
Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
by three strokes over
Brooks Koepka
Brooks Koepka ( ; born May 3, 1990) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the LIV Golf League. He formerly played on the PGA Tour and has won five major championships, the PGA Championship three times (2018, 2019, 2023) and ...
. Woodland prevented Koepka from becoming the first golfer in over 100 years to win three consecutive U.S. Opens. In his final amateur tournament,
Viktor Hovland
Viktor Hovland (born 18 September 1997) is a Norwegian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and European Tour. He won the 2018 U.S. Amateur and reached number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking in 2019.
Hovland became the first Norw ...
finished tied for 12th. With a 4-under total of 280, Hovland broke Jack Nicklaus' U.S. Open scoring total for an amateur.
Nicklaus shot 282 over four rounds at
Cherry Hills Country Club
Cherry Hills Country Club is a private country club in the western United States, located in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, a suburb south of Denver.
Founded in 1922 and designed by William Flynn, the club features a championship 18-hole golf ...
in
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events January
* Janu ...
.
U.S. Women's Open
2023
Major tournaments hosted
^
Sudden-death playoff, won on third extra hole
* Par 72 for majors through 1992; par 71 for U.S. Open only since (2nd hole changed to par 4 in 2000; for the U.S. Women's Open, it is a par 5)
Controversy over further golf course development
There has been continuing controversy between recreational interests and environmental protection, related to a proposed new golf course development by the Pebble Beach Company. The new golf course proposal has existed in some form since the early 1990s; while the environmental protection issues center on the potential damage to
rare and
endangered species
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...
in this locale. The Pebble Beach Company agreed to leave 635 acres of forest area on the Pebble Beach property undeveloped.
References
External links
*
Golf Course Histories aerial comparison 1938 v 2014Golf Nation:overhead views of each hole
AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am:official site
*
*
{{Authority control
Golf clubs and courses in California
Sports venues in Monterey County, California
1919 establishments in California
Pebble Beach, California
Sports venues completed in 1919
Golf clubs and courses designed by Arnold Palmer