There’s some scrambling going on around the Monterey Peninsula and Pebble Beach Golf Links in particular as one of the game’s most iconic spots was ravaged by a violent storm over the weekend, unrooting trees, leveling hospitality structures and damaging scoreboards.
According to GolfChannel.com’s Randall Mell, Pebble Beach, the host of this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, was hit the hardest by the storm that carried 78 mph winds on Saturday.
“We got hit pretty hard,” Steve John, the Pro-Am’s CEO and tournament director, said. “The worst weather is behind us, I’m told, and, fortunately, nobody was hurt. The bottom line is everything is going to be rebuilt. We hope nobody’s going to notice anything happened by the time people arrive for the tournament.”
Courtesy of AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am CEO Steve John, here’s what was left of the upscale hospitality structure The View presented by Grey Goose after Saturday’s storm blew through: pic.twitter.com/fwYhBFPeA4
— Randall Mell (@RandallMellGC) February 3, 2019
Most notably affected by the storm was The View presented by Grey Goose, a 100-by-50 foot hospitality structure.
“It was absolutely leveled,” John said. “An eight-inch steel beam was bent 45°. It looked like a tornado came through, the way it hit that structure, but then left a concession tent standing that was just 50 feet away.”
Some trees and debris that littered Pebble Beach as well as the other two host courses, Spyglass Hill and Monterey Peninsula Country Club, was able to be cleared by the end of the weekend.
John reported that no one was injured by the storm and they hope to have the structures rebuilt and ready to go when the tournament gets underway on Thursday. However, conditions appear to have only slightly improved in the days since the storm originally hit as evidenced by this video shared by Rafa Cabrera Bello.
When it’s been raining a “little bit” but you’re at your favorite course and have a putt for birdie at the last! @attproam @PGATOUR #pebblebeach pic.twitter.com/ijSRCr0t1q
— Rafa Cabrera Bello (@RCabreraBello) February 4, 2019
The forecast for the tournament calls for overcast and rainy skies with highs only reaching the mid-50s.
