Pebble Beach and The Carmel Cup
By: Mary Robbins
As we prepare to host the final Carmel Cup, I can’t help but look back at how it all started over 15 years ago.
As a relatively new Pebble Beach Preferred Manager, I was summoned to the office of the legendary RJ Harper. RJ was our beloved EVP of Golf at the time, and he wanted me to meet his dear friend: Fin Ewing.
So, I did. Of course I did! At the end of the meeting, our very first together, we all stood up from the table and that was when I first learned that Fin doesn’t shake hands, he hugs. I hurried back to my office to get started. I was excited. This was different. This felt different. The very next day, I picked up the phone and dialed Fin’s number.
“Hello Mr. Ewing. This is Mary Robbins with Pebble Beach. I have a quick question for you. Wha-” Fin immediately interrupted me and said (in his distinct Texas drawl), “I’m 5’ 5”. That’s what you wanted to know!” I burst out laughing and cannot recall a conversation with Fin that did not include a good chuckle since.
Then I got to work.
The first Carmel Cup was contested in 2011 at Spyglass Hill Golf Course and Pebble Beach Golf Links pitting two of the preeminent men’s programs, Texas Tech and Vanderbilt against one another. This inaugural edition was a family affair for the Ewing’s as Fin’s two sons, Finley and Charlie, were members of those teams respectively. The tournament was such a success that the next year Fin invited two more teams and four more the year after that.
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There were certain aspects of the Carmel Cup that were sacred to Fin. Coaches were required to bring their spouses and treat them to The Spa while everyone else was out on the course. Players and coaches should enjoy The Lodge and all its amenities with breakfasts, lunches and dinners provided. Caddies were to wear personalized caddie bibs that the players could take home with them to commemorate their time here, tournament rounds had to have standard bearers and for the love of God, NO LITTLE NECK CLAMS!!
I quickly learned to brace myself when Fin would start a conversation with, “Robbins! I’ve got an idea.”
In just a few short years and with the invaluable addition of Melissa Richardson to the team in 2013, the Carmel Cup became the #1 collegiate golf tournament in the country in strength of field with all four rounds being played at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Athletic Directors from around the country were calling Fin vying for an invitation for their team. Several teams that competed in the Carmel Cup went on to win a National Championship the following spring. Carmel Cup participants set course records, one of which stands today when Rose Zhang carded a nine-under 63 with a birdie at the 18th. Alumni won U.S. Amateurs and went on to victories at the professional level. There was no doubt that the Carmel Cup had become a huge success.
Fin was extended an invitation to play in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, one which he very easily could have simply accepted and spent his own money promoting The Ewing Automotive Group and entertaining friends and family. If he had, no one would have questioned him for it. But for Fin it was never about any of that. The focus was always on giving the players, coaches and their spouses a once in a lifetime experience. Always.
Has it always been easy? No. Did we run in to challenges and issues along the way? Definitely. But by pushing through and never compromising on what was most important, the Carmel Cup did more for us at Pebble Beach than we ever could have hoped for.
It created friendships and bonds between players, spouses, coaches and employees that will never be broken while giving young golfers the opportunity to experience Pebble Beach and make some history of their own.
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It strengthened collegiate golf programs who used the event as a recruiting tool and highlighted women’s golf by putting them on the national stage.
It filled our hotel, restaurants and banquet spaces while keeping our staff’s schedules full.
And personally, it taught me so much about how to grow a program at the right speed and how to make a client feel truly valued.
Mr. Ewing, on behalf of all of us here at Pebble Beach (even RJ), thank you for allowing us to be a part of The Carmel Cup. Your warmth, humor, incredible generosity and commitment to doing what is right will never be forgotten. We will cherish the memories we have made, and we look forward to giving you a big bear hug when we see you again.