Dining at Pebble Beach (California) Golf Club by Ruth Paget Dining at Pebble Beach (Monterey County – California) Golf Club with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget by Ruth Paget
When I first moved to the Monterey Peninsula more than twenty years ago, my mother’s cousin David Sawle from San Francisco emailed me and wanted to visit the area along with his sister from St. Helena outside Napa.
My mother told me that he had made a film and drove a Jaguar. So, stage mother Ruth Paget wrote back and said to meet me in the Embassy Suites parking lot in Monterey. I would find his car and take everyone including little Florence out to Pebble Beach.
My boss at work checked to make sure I could go to the golf club. We arranged for a lot of catering there, and I was going during the week. Catering gave the go-ahead, especially as I described David as my mom’s rich cousin who published a weekly newspaper in San Francisco.
On the appointed day, I picked up David and his sister with Florence in tow. We drove out to Pebble Beach. I had valet parking take care of the car.
Inside the club the host led us to a table with a floor-to-ceiling window on the eighteenth hole of the golf course.
I gave David the best seat for viewing players finishing up play.
Tiger Woods says he does not like playing the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, because of all the wind from the ocean. Everyone here just wants him to be a celebrity. The kids love him and love shouting, “Tiger!” whenever they see him on the course. Golf is as avidly watched as football in Monterey County California.
While we were deciding on our dishes to order, I pointed out the flag in the eighteenth hole to Florence.
“If you can get a golf ball in that hole with the lowest number of hits, you can win a million dollars at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am Tournament,” I told Florence.
Florence slid off her chair and looked outside.
“You can buy a lot of lollipops with a million dollars,” I said to her.
“You can make a million dollars with a film, too,” Florence remarked.
My mom’s cousin laughed and told Florence, “I produced and directed a film. I am getting distribution, so I can make a million dollars without golfing.”
“What’s your film about?” I asked in a room full of people who finance Clint Eastwood films.
The logline for the rich cousin’s film follows: It’s a film about parking rage in San Francisco.
People around us, who were pretending not to eavesdrop, started giggling.
Being a true stage mom, I asked, “Do you have any parts for a young and talented actress like Florence?”
“Just let kiddo be a kid before applying to Juilliard,” he said.
Note: The parking rage in San Francisco film played at the Sundance Film Festival and David Sawle has produced and directed a second film. Check him out on IMDB – Internet Movie Data Base.
Florence now goes with her friends to attend the Pebble Beach Pro-Am Golf Tournament and dine at the Bench and Roy’s deck.
By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Teen in China
 |
| Ruth Paget Photo |
