From the archive: Glenn Frey at the 2002 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
By
Dennis Taylor, Monterey Herald
Posted: 01/18/16, 3:39 PM PST | Updated: on 01/18/2016
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Pebble Beach >> Neurologically speaking, Glenn Frey says there’s no comparison between rock ‘n’ roll and golf. Put him on a stage, in a sold-out stadium, with an open microphone, and 70,000 people awaiting his first sound, and he’s as cool as can be.
“The difference is, I know what’s going to happen in that situation,” Frey said. “Put a guitar in my hands and I’m going to shoot a 66. I make a whole lot of birdies when I’m onstage.
“This, on the other hand ... this is infinitely more difficult.”
Those who tried to compete this week with Frey at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am will argue that Frey , the former lead singer for the Eagles, can riff and scat with a golf club, too. For the third time since 1997, Frey and pro partner Craig Stadler made a run at the team championship. For the second time since ‘99, they settled for second place.
Not bad, considering Frey carries a 17 handicap, second highest in the field.
“A 17?” fellow rocker Alice Cooper wailed after Saturday’s round, during which Frey helped Stadler by seven strokes for a net-66 team score. “I play with Glenn , and he’s got the best short game out here. Either the 1 is wrong, or the 7 is wrong, but one of those numbers shouldn’t be there.”
Nonsense, says Frey .
“I’m a real 17. I’ll make six pars, six bogeys and six doubles out there,” he said. “Guys like me just sort of have to wait for the good holes. It’s not unlike songwriting: If you try too hard, you’re going to get all cramped up. Things have to just flow.”
Frey ‘s game was flowing throughout the first three days of competition, when he and Stadler combined for a net 192 — a whopping 24 strokes under par. Entering Sunday’s final round, only Brian Claar and Randall Mays (a 10 handicap) had done better at 27 under.
But Frey and Stadler, who teed off almost 2 hours earlier than the Claar-Mays team, had caught their rivals by the 11th hole, and they were just warming up.
On No. 11, Frey got up-and-down from the sand for a net birdie. On 12, Stadler rolled in a tricky four-footer for another bird. On 13, Stadler stuck his second shot two feet from the pin, and suddenly they were at minus-31 — leading the tournament by a stroke.
“I was scoreboard watching,” Frey admitted. “I had my eye on the board all day, watching to see where Claar and Mays were.”
After their three-hole charge, Frey ‘s game took a bit of a dive and Stadler couldn’t help. They recorded four consecutive pars, then picked up their final birdie when Stadler, hitting into the wind, reached the 18th green with a driver and a 3-wood, then two-putted.
“I think it’s really hard, especially for the amateurs, to stay focused for four days,” Frey said. “It’s not easy letting go of the bad shots, and accepting that you’re going to hit a few bad ones.”
Frey ‘s focus went south down the stretch. He found the sand on 14, 15 and 17, hit a bad third shot on 16, and skulled a 40-yarder on his second shot on 18, a swing that earned him a hug from his pro.
“ Glenn hung in there. He held my butt up today, that’s for sure,” Stadler said. “He doesn’t hit the ball far enough for this course, especially in the wind, but he gets it up and down, makes some difficult putts and takes care of me out there.”
For Frey and his partner, second place was a frustration. Three years ago, when the final round was rained out, they tied with two other teams for the Pro-Am lead at minus-22, but lost the title on a tiebreaker.
“But, hey, we had a great tournament,” Frey said. “There were about 160 guys who wished they were me when I was standing in that 18th tee box, in second place, playing on Sunday, in a group with three Tour pros. What could be better than that?”
Editor’s note: Glenn Frey went on to win the inaugural Jack Lemmon Award in 2002, given to the amateur who helped his pro the most. Frey aided Craig Stadler 31 shots over 72 holes. Frey and Stadler finished only one stroke behind Brian Claar and amateur Randall Mays, a communications executive.