Day 21 2/04/99

Thanks to Fremont Bank's ( http://www.fremontbank.com/ ) generosity and hospitality, I was once again invited back to attend the 1999 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. This was my third time attending as a guest of Fremont Bank. This was also one of the best ones that I attended--it did not get rained out :-). Read on to find out whose autograph I got--a hint: for most of the day I was walking the back 9 of Spyglass Hill watching Tiger Woods, Kevin Costner, Mark O'Meara, and Ken Griffey, Jr.

This is actually a picture of  a water bottle. "Refreshing Service. Naturally. Fremont Bank." This is just a small example about what a classy operation Fremont Bank is. They did a great job in hosting this event. Great food, great drinks, and great company. No, I did not try out one of the cigars :-)

Click here for a large view of the Spyglass Hill golf course layout.

Who is this? Not Michael Bolton, Not Clint Eastwood--they were in the group before. This is Glenn Campbell, who is playing with Alice Cooper.

Phil Mickelson is the defending champion from the 1998 pro-am. He shot a par 72 today.

This is the 12th hole at Spyglass Hill. It's an elevated tee. It's 178 yards from the back tee where Tiger and Mark hit from, and it's 145 yards from the middle tee where Kevin and Ken hit from. I watched all four drove their balls. Where are the balls? No, Tiger's ball did not end up in the hole. In fact, see that tree on the right hand side? His ball ended up beside the tree trunk. He chipped onto the green and then made a nice putt to save par. Ken Griffey, Jr. hit a beautiful shot--in fact landed on the green closest to the hole than all other three--but on the wrong side of the green--the audience groaned as the ball reluctantly rolled to its watery grave! Thus one more ball was sacrificed to the golf god. :-) (Really hate to say it, but Ken did the same thing on the par 3 15th that is also guarded by a water hazard.)

Here was Tiger lining up for a delicate putt.

Oh no. Mark O'Meara blocked my shot of Tiger. Actually, Mark is an excellent player, having won the 1998 Masters and British Open and won 4 Pebble Beach Pro-Am previously! He shot a 1-under 71 today.

Wait a minute, this is not Tiger. This is not Michael Jordan either...Because Michael is not playing, Ken Griffey, Jr. is the amateur playing partner for Mark. Ken actually played pretty well--he hit some balls really nicely. It's too bad that he did not bring his snorkeling gear to dive for his balls in the water hazards :-)

By the way, see the reporter holding the channel 11 microphone? He actually interviewed me for 10 seconds. I'm sure my interview is on the cutting floor. I said something lame like "Yeah, I'm from Fremont, and my favorite player is Tiger. Oh sure, it's fun to watch Kevin also." Like I said, lame-vale.

So did I get an autograph of Tiger Woods? Are you kidding? Look at the crowd and reporters mobbing him. It's hopeless.

Click on these images for a larger view. Why are there so many pictures of Kevin here? Am I a fan of his? Do I like "Dances with Wolves?" Does Theresa like this handsome actor? I actually did this for Liza's mother!

 
What, you want your hat back? Just kidding."

So after 30 minutes of standing and waiting around behind the 18th green's score tent, I got Kevin Costner's autograph for Theresa!