Sorry, Bill Murray: PGA Tour eliminates pro-am portion of Pebble Beach stop
The PGA Tour’s traditional early-spring stopover in the Monterey Peninsula for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am remains on the calendar but with one major change: No celebrity amateurs.
The Tour announced on Thursday that the traditional multi-day pro-am format will go by the wayside this year. It’s another measure forced by COVID-19. Last month, the tournament announced it would be played without spectators, like so many other Tour events since mid-summer.
As the tournament celebrates its 75th anniversary, a field of 156 professionals will compete on only two of the courses traditionally used – Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course – as scheduled Feb. 11-14. Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s Shore Course was dropped from the event for this year along with the amateurs.
“We are incredibly grateful for the commitment of our title sponsor AT&T, corporate partners, PGA Tour, Pebble Beach Company, Monterey Peninsula Country Club and volunteer community,” said Steve John, Tournament Director and Monterey Peninsula Foundation CEO. “While we will truly miss watching the actors, musicians, athletes and other amateur participants that make this event so special, we are pleased to continue on with the professional competition, enabling the Foundation to support nonprofits in Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz Counties. Our charitable giving will target basic needs like food insecurity, educational inequities and health inequities brought on by the pandemic.”
A Wednesday-morning pro-am is still planned for tournament week which will help support the event’s charitable-giving component. Since 1947, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am has generated more than $176 million for charities in Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz Counties.
“This was a very difficult decision, but the right one given the recent surge in COVID-19 cases,” said Bill Perocchi, Chief Executive Officer of Pebble Beach Company. “Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have put the health and safety of our guests, employees and community first. We know this will create challenges for many local charities this year, but we are confident that the incredible giving associated with this event will continue well into the future. We appreciate the support from Monterey County and the State of California in helping to ensure a safe and successful professional tournament, as well as from our partners at AT&T, the PGA Tour and the Monterey Peninsula Foundation.”
The tournament plans to return to the traditional pro-am format – conducted over three courses – in 2022.
