Monterey Bay Area Attractions, Golf Events

AT&T PRO-AM GOLF TOURNAMENT

Feb. 5-11, 2007, the legendary Pebble Beach Golf Links hosts the AT&T Pro- Am Golf Tournament. For more than 55 years, some of the world’s best golfers have been joined by celebrities for this semi-serious charity event. More than 32,000 spectators line the fairways to enjoy a week of golf and laughs. The tournament funds the AT&T Pebble Beach Charities, the giving arm of the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, which has raised and distributed more than $54 million for community youth development and educational programs.

CALLAWAY GOLF PEBBLE BEACH INVITATIONAL

Founded in 1972, this tournament places pros from the PGA, the LPGA, the Champions, and Nationwide tours in head-to-head competition for the same purse. It also matches teams of four amateurs with a different pro each day. The innovative tee-placement system — based on the average length of shots in each tour — makes for an unusual and interesting event, which unfolds on Del Monte Golf Course, Spyglass Hill Golf Course, and Pebble Beach Golf Links. The fairways are not roped off, so the gallery can walk directly behind the players and feel a part of the action. And it’s a bargain for golf fans: It is free! Practice rounds will be Nov. 15-16. The tournament runs Nov. 17-18.

THE FIRST TEE OPEN AT PEBBLE BEACH

Pebble Beach Golf Links and Del Monte Golf Course host the Wal-Mart First Tee Open on Labor Day weekend. Created in 1997 by the World Golf Foundation, the event raises money for The First Tee, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to influence the lives of youngsters from all backgrounds by providing facilities and programs that impart the inherent values of the game of golf and to show participants how these values relate to other aspects of their lives. Scheduled for Aug. 31-Sept. 2, the event promises excitement and celebrities, as 78 Champions Tour pros team up with 78 juniors from across the United States. Each foursome comprises of one pro, one junior, and two amateurs. Last year, Lee Trevino, Hale Irwin, and Craig “the Walrus” Stadler, and at the last minute, golf’s biggest goofball, Bill Murray, joined the event. NBC provides national television coverage.