Ever since I covered Ashland’s Jason Allred in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in the winter of 2005, I’ve wanted to return to the Monterey, Calif., area. Four years ago, my golf clubs were in the trunk but didn’t see the light in seven days there. Don’t you hate it when work gets in the way? My wife, Cathy, and I made it back there last week with friends Dan and Diane. The guys played five rounds and the girls one.
It was an incredible week, and a big part of that was because of magnificent golf, made possible by a good friend with endless connections. The course lineup: Clint Eastwood’s place at Tehama; Carmel Valley Ranch Resort; Monterey Peninsula Country Club, which will be in the AT&T rotation next year, replacing Poppy Hills; and Pebble Beach. I thought I’d devote a little space them here in sort of a diary form over the next few days. If it feels like you’re sitting through someone’s less-than-riveting vacation slide show, feel free to shut ‘er down.
Today, it’ll be Tehama, our first round of golf a week ago Sunday. We had been informed that, because we were playing on the weekend about noon-ish, we might run into Eastwood in the grill. My wife and I joked that we should have watched Gran Torino before we went, but we hadn’t seen the work produced and directed by the legend. Sure enough, the day we played, we finished up and were in the grill when the bartender told us Eastwood was on the course. He and former Indy 500 champion Danny Sullivan were playing along with their wives and another couple.
The bartender got occasional reports as Eastwood finished, and we watched him come up 18 for a bit. His group and ours were the only ones in the grill afterward, but we didn’t impose. This was his place, and there’s a reason it’s very exclusive.
Eastwood built the course in mountainous terrain in Carmel. It’s on thousands of acres overlooking Carmel Bay, and only about half of the 90 home sites are in. Eastwood’s own home, a massion-ish structure that could well be mistaken for the lavish clubhouse, is in full view from said clubhouse and comes closer into view on the course. It will be completed some time next year. It’s said his is going up a little more quickly than other homes on the property, for good reason.
When we played, it seemed like we had the course to ourselves. There’s a lot of up and down and not much signage to clutter things, so we used a fore caddie, Arlo. It’s so hilly and tough to navigate, in fact, Eastwood has a rule that guests aren’t allowed anything stronger than soda pop if they aren’t accompanied by a member. His course, his rules, and we quickly saw why. Another person who said he’s known Eastwood since the actor’s Rawhide days, played the course soon after it was built about 10 years ago and was asked what he thought. The man said his neck hurt from looking up and down so much at the hilly contours.
“He gave me that ’make-my-day’ look,” said the friend, himself a colorful character who will come into play as we discuss Monterey Peninsula.
Tehama means “abundance of nature,” and it was evident. A buck and a couple doe relaxed under a greenside tree on one hole. Arlo recounted a conversation between a couple from Texas. She marveled at nearby deer and wondered why they weren’t as tame on their home course.
“Cuz,” drawled her husband, “in Texas we shoot ‘em.”
There wasn’t any particularly stellar play on our part, but it was an experience. The fairways were immaculate, the greens very fast. Fast greens, steep terrain? Scoring wasn’t easy. The tees we played were a bit over 6,200 yards but played about 400 yards longer, said Arlo. I shot 95 and was OK with it.
As for Gran Torino, we watched it when we got home and it made our day.
