"On Our Mind" Golf Blog by Brandon Underwood

(Pebble Beach, CA) Maybe my old ESPN colleague Chris Berman put it best when he told me, after making an 8 on the par-5 finishing hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links that "it sure beat shoveling snow in Bristol, Connecticut". But playing golf at Pebble Beach in February is so much more than shooting a snowman instead of making one. Berman talked, and everyone who plays in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am echoes of a special place, a nirvana if you will, of golf real estate.

You've seen the TV pictures, but if you've ever been to Pebble, you know that even HD pictures  don't do the place justice, not even close. The depth of the raw beauty, with the breezes and the smells and the touches are so much more than mere beauty shots can show. Obviously, this is something you need to experience.

How many of us can ante up the $475/round to play it? That's a question between you and your wallet (and maybe your spouse!), but I met a lot of marshalls at this week's tournament who have, for years, planned vacations around working at the tournament. They get four days to be around it all, at a far lower price (they don't get paid to marshall) and they seem to love just soaking in Pebble for a week. An even better idea might be to offer to marshall at the WalMart First Tee Open on the Champions Tour. Same course, but even less chance of the weather, Pebble weather, being a factor when Northern California gets its very best weather, around Labor Day.

Just a thought. And here's one more thing, the rest of the Monterrey Peninsula is even more amazing than just Pebble Beach. Kill a week out here? It would be easy to spend a lifetime. 

Among the pressing issues being discussed this week are, of course, the Super Bowl aftermath, the country’s political future and the greatness of Tiger Woods.

I would be remiss if I wrote that those magnanimous topics have escaped my subconscious, but I have made time to explore another current event – the impending start of the LPGA Tour golf season.