Necklace of Technologies
So, even though Pebble Beach Golf Links will celebrate its 100th birthday in 2019 — and host its sixth U.S. Open to mark the occasion — and its elder sibling, Del Monte, dates to the 19th century, Laird Small never looks back when it comes to teaching technology. “We wanted to create a necklace of technologies that you can’t find anyplace else. Other places have some of this stuff, but not all of them together. And we have partners helping us innovate new stuff to help make what we do more effective.”
He embraces every new gadget, including this cool little Quintic, with awe and wonder. “We can now coach you on how to do something using technology, instead of telling you what to do. We can help get people into a putter than gives them better contact. Some people use a linear putting motion, some more of a radial motion, so we try to marry the putter with the motion so they’re not fighting each other.”
To cap off the impressive putting facility, Pebble contracted fitting guru David Edel. “His system is one of the best in the world. We’ve come up with a solution to deal with the ban on the long [anchored] putter. And we can bend putters, too.”
In the next room, the high-tech parade continues with yet more clubfitting wizardry, this time for irons, drivers and wedges. They’ll also fit you for the fight ball with a launch-spin monitor.
