SPRING 2009 NCGA Golf 55
Golf's Pit Crews: Set up next to the Pebble Beach driving range,
club manufacturers' trailers take care of players' needs. Services range from stan-
dard club maintenance such as changing grips (every three or four tournaments)
and checking lofts, to more complete jobs such as building a brand new driver or
wedge (players change wedges two-three times a year). E-mail and text messages
pour into the truck requesting adjustments and/or new equipment.
TaylorMade debuted a new truck in 2009, quickly creating "truck envy" amongst
the small community of equipment crews that travel the tour for its extra space and
third workstation. A player's lounge equipped with a Playstation 3 and Wii, as well
as a well-stocked clothing area for its contracted players are also available.
TaylorMade's truck travels 40 weeks a year, driven by class A certified truck driv-
er/club technicians. The trailer arrives at a tournament venue the Sunday before it
starts and by Wednesday afternoon, it's packed up heading to the next location.
The extra attention to the players pays off for the Carlsbad-based company--the
new R9 driver created a lot of buzz when Pat Perez asked for the club before the
Bob Hope Chrysler Classic and won his first tournament using it.
"We spoil the players," says Paul Lowegering, TaylorMade PGA Tour Relations
manager. "In our industry, we're taking care of the best athletes in the world."
putting challenge kept the overall
scoring average hovering just
over par.
Three of Poppy's par 5s (nos.
4, 9 and 12) finished in the top ten
of most difficult par 5s for 2008
on the PGA Tour, and no. 4 once
again averaged over par in 2009.
Interestingly, the first eight holes at
Poppy Hill all produced above par
averages, with the back 9 averag-
ing almost 3/4 of a stroke under
par leading to an 18-hole scoring
average of 71.93.
NCGA members had the op-
portunity to play Poppy Hills in
PGA Tour conditions Sunday dur-
ing the tournament at a members-
only outing run by the Association.
A house next to Pebble Beach's
18th hole is asking $30,000 for
the week to rent during next
year's AT&T. The same house,
which includes two guest cot-
tages, is asking $500,000 for the
2010 U.S. Open week. . . David
Toms paid full price for a pair of
DryJoys from the Poppy Hills
Pro Shop to wear during a prac-
tice round--he must have known
that the shop was just named a
"Top-100
Best Golf
Shop" by
GolfWorld
. . .Poppy
Hills' Super-
intendent
Manny Sou-
sa managed
to keep
the greens
running at
10 on the
Stimpmeter
despite 2.92 inches of rainfall
in the week leading up to and
during the tournament. . .Titleist
Performance Institute co-founder
Dave Philips was spotted help-
ing Padraig Harrington on the
driving range, in what turned out
to be a two-hour practice session
working on the "stalk drill". . .
Oops! The Monterey Herald
mistakenly printed the 2007
first-round pairings instead of
the 2009 starting times the night
before the championship kicked-
off. . .George Lopez redefined
the term crowd favorite when he
bought a round of Patron tequila
AT&TBehindtheScenes
shots for all 120 Poppy Hills res-
taurant patrons on Friday night
. . .PGA Tour commissioner Tim
Finchem missed the cut by three
strokes with pro-partner Davis
Love III. The head honcho's sen-
timent after the tournament, "I'm
not very good". . .Phil Mickelson
birdied the last hole at Pebble to
make the cut on the dot, while
Pro-Am partner Charles Schwab
carried his weight, helping the
duo earn a 17-under team score
. . ."Too cold," was Ken Griffey
Jr.'s response to fans at Poppy
Hills begging the baseball star
to sign with the Giants. . .Vijay
Singh's return to the Monterey
Peninsula was an uncomfortable
walk in the park. The former
AT&T champion missed the cut
and was visibly limping because
of a recent knee surgery. . .
Former World Cup Champion
Brandi Chastain was greeted by
the Robert Louis Stevenson girls
soccer team on the 18th green
at Spyglass. . .Peyton Manning
perhaps had the best digs for the
week, bunking at the exclusive
Cypress Point Club. . .Pebble
Beach maintenance workers
hustled to clear a 40-ft Monterey
pine that toppled on the third
fairway during Sunday's storm,
which included winds up to 55
mph . . .Women take note--
Justin Timberlake was overheard
singing "You Don't Have to be
Rich to be My Girl" while warm-
ing up on the driving range at
Poppy Hills.
Padraig Harrington

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