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First Century, P.B.: The ultimate Pebble Beach Golf Links 100-year timeline
June 10, 2019
1919: Del Monte Properties Company (DMP) is formed; Pebble Beach Golf Links opens.
1922: 18th hole lengthened to a par 5.
1923: Fatality on PBGL when a plane crashes on the sixth fairway as Gloria Swanson is filming Bluebeard’s 8th Wife.
1924: Monterey Peninsula Country Club (MPCC) opens.
1925: DMP sells 150 acres for $150K for creation of Cypress Point Club.
1926: MPCC Dunes Course opens, with Alister MacKenzie and Robert Hunter finishing it after the death of original architect Seth Raynor in January; the Monterey Open, a pro event, is held on PBGL and won by Harry Cooper.
1928: Cypress Point Club opens.
1929: The 33rd United States Amateur is played at PBGL. It’s the first USGA championship competed west of St. Louis.
1930: Aviation icon Charles Lindbergh and his new bride Anne Morrow visit PB and experiment with gliders.
1931: Actress Irene Dunn aces the seventh at PBGL during a practice round for the Del Monte Championship for Women.
1932: DMP builds nine-hole Pacific Grove Municipal Golf Course and sells it to the city.
1934: The Tap Room opens at Hotel Del Monte and the Monkeyshines Room opens at The Lodge; California lifts ban on liquor by the glass for hotels and restaurants.
1938: Charlie Chaplin spends most of the year on the Monterey Peninsula working on the script for The Great Dictator.
1940: 44th U.S. Women’s Amateur played at PBGL.
1944: Cypress Point Club member Bing Crosby buys a 2.5-acre lot on PBGL’s 13th hole and builds a home there after the war.
1945: Salvador Dali enters his “Atomic Era” and does 10 paintings at PB.
1946: Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour film My Favorite Brunette at PB.
1947: 47th U.S. Am played at PBGL; Bing Crosby brings his pro-am event to PB’s three courses.
1948: The Tap Room replaces the Monkeyshines Room at The Lodge.
1950: The fledgling LPGA plays the Weathervane Tournament, won by Babe Zaharias, at PBGL; Pebble Beach Road Races begin on the roads of PB; the Concours d’Elegance, an PB automotive charity event, is born.
1951: Weathervane returns to PBGL; Patty Berg wins.
1956: Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson play what is later known as “The Match” against Ken Venturi and Harvie Ward at Cypress Point Club.
1958: Crosby Pro-Am expands from 54 holes to 72 holes and the purse from $15K to $50K; televised for the first time.
1960: MPCC Shore Course opens.
1961: 61st U.S. Amateur played at PBGL.
1963: Jack Nicklaus defeats Sam Snead at PBGL on Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf.
1966: Spyglass Hill Golf Course opens
1970: Dabney Coleman wins 2nd Annual Clint Eastwood Tennis Tournament at PB.
1972: 72nd U.S. Open played at PBGL.
1974: Johnny Miller wins the Crosby Pro-Am by four strokes.
1977: 59th PGA Championship played at PBGL; DMP reorganized as Pebble Beach Corporation (PBC).
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1978: 20th Century Fox acquires PBC; Del Monte Lodge renamed The Lodge at Pebble Beach.
1981: 28th Walker Cup Match played at CPC.
1982: 82nd U.S. Open played at PBGL.
1986: AT&T becomes title sponsor of PGA Tour Pro-Am that had been the Crosby since 1947; Poppy Hills Golf Course opens.
1987: The Inn and Links at Spanish Bay opens.
1988: Curtis Strange wins the Nabisco Championships at PBGL to become the first golfer with more than $1 million in lifetime prize money.
1990: Japanese business tycoon Minoru Isutani acquires PBC.
1991: Poppy Hills replaces CPC in the AT&T PB Pro-Am.
1992: 92nd U.S. Open played at PBGL.
1993: Donald Trump aces the 12th hole at Spyglass Hill during the AT&T PB Pro-Am.
1995: Jack Nicklaus defeats Tom Watson at PBGL on an episode of Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf.
1996: A rainout cancels the AT&T PB Pro-Am without a winner, for the only time; PBC buys former Jenkins property above Stillwater Cove to build a new fifth hole on the coastline.
1997: PBC replaces seawall on PBGL’s 17th and 18th holes and recovers 18th tee lost in ’83 storm.
1998: New fifth hole, designed by Jack Nicklaus, debuts; storm postpones the final round of the AT&T Pro-Am for six months; in August, Phil Mickelson records the win.
1999: 99th U.S. Amateur played at PBGL; ownership group led by Peter Ueberroth and Richard Ferris acquires PBGL.
2000: 100th U.S. Open played at PBGL.
2001: The landmark Monterey Pine situated front right of the 18th green is removed due to safety concerns.
2002: A treeless 18th green for the AT&T Pro-Am opens up the hole too much; an 85- foot Cypress tree is set in place; Caddy Services, Inc. takes on management of the caddie pro- gram at Pebble Beach Resorts.
2004: Champions Tour First Tee Open, now the PURE Insurance Championship, played for first time; a redesign of MPCC Shore Course opens.
2005: Hale Irwin wins First Tee Open, becoming first player to win at PB on the PGA Tour (1984) and Champions Tour.
2006: California Amateur played at PBGL for last time; first time was in 1920.
2007: Phil Mickelson wins the AT&T PB Pro-Am for third time.
2009: In just his second PB appearance, Dustin Johnson wins a rain-shortened AT&T PB Pro-Am.
2010: 110th U.S. Open played at PBGL.
2011: Comedian and avid golfer Bill Murray, with new pro partner D.A. Points, wins the AT&T PB Pro-Am team competition.
2017: USGA awards PBGL the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open and 2027 U.S. Open.
2018: 118th U.S. Amateur played at PBGL.
2019: Phil Mickelson ties Mark O’Meara’s record with five victories in the AT&T PB Pro-Am; PBGL hosts the U.S. Open for the sixth time.
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