We remember the moment and the man. But what about the club itself?
On the afternoon of June 20, 1982, Tom Watson stood beside the 17th green at Pebble Beach, tied for the U.S. Open lead, his ball nestled in the rough, some 16 feet from the pin. What happened next — a clipped sand wedge that checked, hopped and dropped for birdie — became part of sporting lore.
More than four decades later, that very club — a 56-degree Wilson Dyna Power wedge that Watson adopted after ’81 U.S. Open champion David Graham abandoned it — has found a new and fitting home, displayed behind glass at the freshly reopened Tap Room at Pebble Beach, one of the game’s most famous watering holes.
The renovation, completed this fall, is less a reinvention than a respectful refresh of a venue that first opened in 1949. Deep-green walls and leather booths still define the look, just as post-round conversations still infuse the atmosphere. The updates come in the details, including a new bar (the original cherry wood bar was removed during the redo and repurposed into custom putters) and a private dining space called the Champions Room, where a trove of golf memorabilia hangs on the walls — anchored by Watson’s wedge and rounded out by rare photos, scorecards and other keepsakes from Pebble’s century-plus life.
The menu stays true to form, with smartly executed steakhouse standbys, and a bar program built on bourbons and craft beers.
The booze is top shelf. The sand wedge hangs closer to eye level, meant for looking, not for touching. Of course, it also serves as a conversation piece. Before Watson hit the shot, his caddie, Bruce Edwards, told him to get it close.
“Get it close?” Watson replied. “Hell, I’m going to make it.”
Watson mostly was talking to himself, he conceded later. But that’s golf. As much as the shots we strike, it’s about the stories we tell — to ourselves, to our friends and to anyone else who’ll listen — after rounds we aren’t likely to forget.
3 Things I’m Thinking
The wedge’s whereabouts: I’m curious about Watson’s wedge. How long did he keep it in his bag after his big U.S. Open win? Did he wield it on his way to any senior tour titles? Where did it go when he was done with it? But Watson’s team did not get back to us before this dispatch went to print. For now, all I can relay for certain is that before turning up at Pebble Beach, the wedge had a home at another big-name resort: It was on display at the Greenbrier in West Virginia, which isn’t shy on memorabilia of its own, much of it related to local hero Sam Snead.
Bad parenting, good golf: The last time I played Pelican Hill Golf Club in Newport Beach, Calif., my daughter, Scarlett, had just been born. How I managed to sneak out for a round with an infant child at home, I don’t recall. But I do remember that my wife wasn’t happy. Fortunately, she’s had a while to get over it, as that shameless demonstration of parental neglect took place more than 20 years ago. I haven’t set foot on Pelican Hill since. But soon I’ll have good reason to make it back. For the first time in, yep, 20 years, both Tom Fazio courses at Pelican Hill — the North and South — are going through a refresh. Brian Curley is handling the work, which has just begun and will unfold in nine-hole phases, ensuring that 27 holes remain open throughout the project. The upgrades, which will focus on bunker restoration, tee alignment and tweaks to green surrounds, are expected to be completed by late 2026. That gives me plenty of time to think of a good excuse to tell my wife.
