In this mornings SF Chronicle, a tidbit about the saltwater storm damage to the 18th green. With the lack of substantial rain in the Monterey Peninsula area the past month, the article also notes that the courses are playing "dry and firm"
Pebble Beach -- Imagine Sunday's final pairing at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, a twosome striding up the famed 18th fairway at Pebble Beach, deciding the next champion on . . . a temporary green?
It didn't get that bad, but a pre-Christmas storm at Pebble Beach produced waves of sea water crashing over the retaining wall at 18, drowning the famous green in salt water.
Salt water is not good. The rush over the wall, in effect, killed the green.
What ensued was six weeks of emergency work, and the green was closed until Monday's practice rounds. Daily-fee players played a temporary green on 18 for the past month-and-a-half, while maintenance crews did all they could to resuscitate the dead green, some saying the damage was as significant as any seen to the site.
Tents were propped over the green every night, then removed in the day time for the healing balm of sunshine. Even on Monday, the right half of the green was roped off, the better to save the best parts of the green for tournament pin placements.
Vijay Singh finished his practice round on Monday and said there's not much the players can do except to play the green as is.
"It'll be all right," Singh said. "Everybody has to play it. If I was the only one who had to play it, I'd be worried."