A rookie golf watcher ponders the evolution of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Katie Rodriguez here, chuckling, as I think back at the fun I admittedly had at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament last weekend, despite being pelted with rain, and despite knowing absolutely nothing about golf.

It was my first foray into watching golf; I really can’t remember a time when I gave my full attention to the game on TV. And before last weekend, I had never been to a golf tournament in person. 

Golf, I quickly learned, is a simple game to catch on to, in terms of understanding the way that it’s played. And even a newcomer like myself can see the difference in skill and talent that a player brings to the course.

Watching the pros eagle a hole (2-under par), as sideways rain swirled around them, was impressive. And I appreciate the fact that in this sport, you can walk around freely. If it were a sunny day, roaming the cliffs in Pebble Beach to the backdrop of the sea is a gorgeous way to spend watching a sport.

A thought I had while watching—my glasses foggy and my clothes drenched—was: I wonder how this particular event came to be slated for a notoriously fickle time of year? 

My colleague Dave Faries wrote an opinion piece that touches on this, titled “The world’s top golfers should take on Pebble Beach, but something is lost.”

He speaks to the evolution of the Pebble Beach tournament, considering it as a course that, while perhaps not the toughest, deserves more recognition for a variety of reasons. He also addresses the cost-benefit of hosting celebrities at events like this, such as Bill Murray, a Pro-Am regular in the past, and the idea of rearranging the tour schedule—imagining a scenario where the Pebble Beach Pro-Am is moved to the summer months.

I found it a fascinating tidbit on the history and differing schools of thought about the current format, even as a rookie golf watcher like myself. Give it a read.