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 Boomer golf fans will remember them by the entertainment icons who hosted them: the Bob Hope, the Andy Williams, the Bing Crosby (always The Crosby) and the Glen Campbell opens. Today they’re known as the Humana Challenge, the Farmers Insurance Open, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, and the Northern Trust Open. Collectively, they’re known as the core tournaments of the West Coast Swing of the PGA Tour, the season openers that follow a pair of grand events in Hawaii. For golfers in the winter cold of the East and Midwest, the West Coast Swing whets the appetite with eager dreams of approaching spring golf weather. But for many Southern California fairway zealots, it’s a chance to see favorite players in person, or to get a close-up look at how the big guys do it. But even if you just watch on TV, most locals will recognize easily many of the most famous holes, and they’ll drink in the atmosphere of each course: The soft colors of the Palm Desert mountains, the golden coastal bluffs of San Diego County, the crashing waves of Pebble Beach. And in Los Angeles, that grand clubhouse on the hill behind the 18th green that forms the star-studded backdrop at Riviera Country Club. Whatever your favorite locale or tournament, the West Coast Swing always brings a contented sigh: Ah, golf is back. “On all our TVs, when the winter tournaments start, it’s automatic: Our players want to watch golf,” said Art Guevara, head pro at Green River Golf Club. With maybe a special reason in 2012: A return of the old Tiger Woods? After a two-year drought, he won an unofficial tournament in December at Thousand Oaks: the Chevron World Challenge, which Woods himself hosts. “Tiger always adds interest,” said Geoff Hodges, assistant pro at Coto de Caza Golf and Racquet Club. “We’re pumped for the new year on tour, and it all starts here in the West.” The complete Western states tour swing includes two stops in Arizona. But it’s California and Hawaii that get the hearts of the golfing community pumping. In the following pages you’ll find a guide to the Hawaii and California tournaments, a roundup of the plush fairways and greens that many of us only dream of playing. The Hyundai Tournament of Champions The Sony Open The Humana Challenge Farmers Insurance Open AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Northern Trust Open Plus: Watch this way Get the most out of your live tournament experience |
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