It’s Pebble Beach time! This means Carl Spackler and Tin Cup will tee off with the PGA’s best on one of America’s most serene courses.

Here are some thoughts on the tournament:

David Duval: Duval finished last year tied for runner-up with JB Holmes (one stroke behind winner Dustin Johnson) stirring up fan memories of his past playing abilities that led him to win the 2001 British Open. It would be great to see Davie back in form for the start of the 2011 season.

John Daly: John Daly is in the field this week (paired with Dallas Cowboy’s Tony Romo). Daly, struggling with his game, losing his tour card, and seeing his earnings shrink, will be toting a new golf bag that looks like something straight out Caddyshack. The bag sports a loud red pattern that matches the trousers he wears on the golf course and has a built-in flat screen television that will run ads – another needed money maker for Daly. All it’s lacking is the beer tap and clubs that shoot out of the bag.

Michael Bolton: India’s Arjun Atwal will be playing alongside singer Michael Bolton. Wednesday’s 3M Celebrity Challenge brought inspiration to everyone, but it was actor-comedian Anthony Anderson who felt Bolton’s presence the most. Anderson burst into song Wednesday (suddenly and loudly) on the 18th green – his timing seemed suspicious. “When a maaa-an loves a woo-man …” Anderson bellowed semi-melodically as Michael Bolton stood over a 5-foot putt worth $19,000 in charity money. Bolton stepped away from his ball with a cocked eyebrow, waited for the laughter to subside, then refocused and rolled the putt into the cup to win the biggest chunk of the cash in the match.

For the easy-listening fans out there, musician Kenny G is paired with South Korean K.J. Choi. G won the 2001 pro-am with Phil Mickelson in 2001.

Cell Phones: Cell phones will be allowed for the first time in years, provided they are put on silent and users aren’t yapping near the ropes or taking pictures, two big no-no’s (photos are allowed during practice rounds). A public service video from tournament chair Clint Eastwood will remind arriving fans of the new rule as they board shuttle. Paring sheets this year they are available as an app at the Android Market, iPhone App Store, or iTunes.

Business as Usual: As usual, Tiger Woods will skip the Pro-Am as he has done since 2002, playing this week in the Dubai Desert Classic (who wouldn’t choose 135 degree heat over the cool breezes of the California coast?)

Keith

Tony D’Annunzio: What do you got in here, rocks?

Al Czervik: Are you kiddin’? When I was your age, I would lug fifty pounds of ice up five, six flights of stairs!

Tony D’Annunzio: So what?

Al Czervik: So what?  [opens compartment in golf bag, revealing radio] So let’s dance!  [turns on Journey's "Any Way You Want It," ]

– Caddyshack 1980

I have personally witnessed a former co-worker of mine hit himself in the nose with ball twice in the same round. I laughed when a non-golfing friend showed up to a bachelor party golf outing with woods actually made of wood – then cried when he shot a 92. I’ve snuck onto a course in the middle of the night and played a round of drunk tiki-torch golf, only to realize that one in our group had passed out on the 6^th fairway- we realized he was missing after we finished hole 13. I can’t play a round without asking the ball “why he didn’t like his home?” My buddies still bring up my shot that broke the cart hub cap into a million pieces, the time my cart rolled into the lake, or that time the club flew out of my hands on the driving range and I saw in slow motion people dropping to the ground one by one in downtown Miami-style fashion as a five iron flew over their heads.

I have also been witness to an elderly gentleman suffering a heart attack on the second green of his neighborhood county club – a stone plaque now stands to remind everyone of his love of the game and that he left this world doing what he loved.

This is golf.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a scratch golfer with your name on a trophy in your home course clubhouse, or that twice a year player that can impress a military sniper and take out a person 300 yards on the parallel fairway, golf lives in every player. For some it’s the desire to improve their game, for others the simple joy of dreaming about teeing up at Torrey Pines with Phil while commuting to work each morning. Either way, our moments on the course (alone or with friends) keep the game of golf alive. Knocking out a winning score is great, but laughing over beers and reminiscing about the time three years ago you lost your footing shooting from a hazard and rolled down an embankment Chris Farley style is pure golf (how I wish this wasn’t based off actual events).

You can always brag about your lowest round or that almost hole-in-one that broke your heart, but when everything comes full circle, it’s the fun and embarrassments that you experience on the course that keeps your love of golf endeavoring on. No matter how good or bad you shoot during a round, it never gets old to ask your friend if he wants anything from the cart girl as he’s going to the bathroom in the woods off the fairway.

Keith

Couple of interesting stories in the world of golf today.

First, Brendon Todd made a hole-in-one on the 147 yard 17th hole at the Jennings Mill Country Club course.  Now one hole-in-one, while exciting, is not historical.  But Todd made Nationwide Tour history with today’s hole-in-one since it was the same hole on which he aced the day before.  Two holes-in-one on the same hole on consecutive days.  Most folks go their whole life without 1 whole in one, much less within 24 hours.

The second story is a bit more somber.  Bill Murray, of Caddyshack fame, hooked a tee shot so badly in a Pro-Am event on Friday that he hit a woman in her front yard.  The woman was knocked down and had to go to the hospital.  Murray was on the 9th tee at the TPC Tampa Bay when he struck the lady.  Ironically, the woman and her husband were coming out of their house to make their way over to the course to see if they could catch a glimpse of Murray.  Normally, I’d be worried that karma would find a way to pay Bill back, but he’s already set to receive total consciousness on his death bed.  So, he’s got that going for him.