Changes Coming to Pebble Beach?

Photo from Reuters Pictures

It’s no grand revelation to say the buzz has been missing from the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in recent years. The tournament draws a parade of celebrities, earns strong television ratings and makes hefty donations to Monterey-area charities, but it still falls flat in the golf realm – a dilemma magnified by low-wattage champions (Steve Lowery and Dustin Johnson) the past two years.

And now the PGA Tour, thankfully, might take action.

Ollie Nutt, president of the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, which runs the tournament, will attend the tour’s policy board meeting Tuesday in Orlando. That’s nothing unusual; Nutt is on the tournament advisory committee and routinely attends the policy board’s three meetings per year.

But the board could consider changes to the AT&T next week, according to the Associated Press. Nutt and Rick George, chief of operations for the PGA Tour, downplayed any imminent changes during phone interviews Wednesday with The Chronicle, but the AP story suggests the board could reduce the field size and possibly replace Poppy Hills in the course rotation.

Full Story: San Francisco Chronicle