It’s not known what Bing Crosby is saying in this 1958 photograph, taken during the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am by a Golf Digest founding editor, though Bing might be recalling the ace he made a decade earlier on this, the renowned par-3 16th hole at Cypress Point Club. As Golf Digest celebrates its 70th year in 2020 by culling interesting photos from its archives, the Crosby, now known as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (Feb. 6-9), is a good place to start. Crosby established the pro-am format in 1937 in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. With the United States entering World War II, it was canceled after the 1942 event, but Bing restarted it in 1947, initially at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Cypress Point and Monterey Peninsula Country Club. Pebble Beach is still the anchor, with Spyglass Hill and Monterey Peninsula in the rota. The Crosby name was dropped from the title when AT&T began its sponsorship in 1986. But Bing’s name still surfaces, notably when the weather is inclement. Crosby weather, as it’s called, has been part of the tournament since it moved to Pebble Beach.
