A Grip on Sports: Sticker shock comes in many forms in sports, including what it costs to play golf at some spots

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Want to shock your grandkids? Tell them how much you paid for college. In our case, that was about $200 a quarter at the University of California. Contrast that to what we paid for our son in the same system. We figured we spent enough to own a home in Santa Barbara. But wait. We have a better way to give your progeny sticker shock. Talk about what it cost to play Pebble Beach back in the day.

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• With the USGA finally deciding to treat women golfers as (nearly) equal to their male counterparts (the U.S. Open prize money is still just 55% of the men), Pebble Beach Golf Links is back in the public eye. But the course, considered by some the best in the world, has always been open to the public.

If you can pay the freight. And these days that freight is somewhere around $2,500. For a couple nights at an affiliated hotel and one round. At least you get a cart.

But it hasn’t always been that way.

In the mid 1970s, our best friend Kent suggested we play Pebble Beach. Off-season, of course. He was the person who inspired us to take up the game back in our freshman year of high school – yep, he gets the blame – and now that we were in college, both holding down jobs and looking for adventure, he thought it would be a good idea to play the course Jack and Arnie had trod over the years.

He took care of everything. Made the reservation at The Lodge. The tee time. And off we went, driving up from the L.A. area to Monterey, and checking in to a place in which fancy is not fancy enough of a term. Opulent. At least that’s how it seemed to our teenage eyes.

We spent the night on the deck outside our room – we split one to save cost, which we will get to in a second – and then retired early, as the tee time was in the morning.

Fog greeted us, as it often does. But by the time we got to the seventh tee, overlooking the largest lateral water hazard in the world – golf humor is the best – it had burned off. And we were actually playing a major-level course, though it wasn’t at that level on this day. Hard, yes. But not overpowering.

We wrote down a 95 that day, which was accurate to the stroke. And appropriate. That’s what it cost us to spend the night in the Lodge and play. Yep, 95 bucks. Well, $95 each. For a lifetime memory.

A few years later we made the trip again, though being gainfully employed, we also stuck around and played Spyglass, another of the course in the peninsula’s Crosby Clambake rotation.

The cost at Pebble had doubled. And the course? It was much tougher. We played a few weeks before the 1982 U.S. Open. The course was about to close and the USGA was getting it ready.

The rough was longer. A lot longer. The greens were faster. A lot faster. And, though our game was a lot better – working nights left us time to practice during the day and the handicap was down to the teens – our score was exactly the same. Another 95. How the heck did professionals shoot in the 60s?

Then again, how the heck does anyone afford playing the course these days?

There is a way, we guess. Just use your grandkid’s college fund. They won’t need it anyway. Not if they become a professional golfer.

• Somewhere in a drawer, we still have a picture Kent took as we were standing in a Spyglass sand trap. The 18th hole, if memory serves. The lip of the bunker was above our head. Well above. We’re not sure our ball isn’t still stuck there.

Played much better that day than at Pebble. Still shot another 95. The course was way too long for our wooden driver that launched 250-yard drives – if we hit it really well.

But the score was immaterial. The experience wasn’t. And, back then, it didn’t cost an arm and a leg. Just a pinkie toe.

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WSU: Around the Pac-12 and the nation, the conference welcomed the fourth representative from the University of Oregon on the board since USC and UCLA decided to leave. The school’s new president, John Karl Scholz, started work this week. … We missed this San Diego State story when we didn’t work on the Fourth. … Arizona finds out today if it convinced a five-star defensive lineman from Tucson to stay home. … The U.S. Women’s National Team is training for the World Cup at Stanford. That is appropriate. … California’s new men’s basketball coach Mark Madsen is trying to turn the program around. … A couple Arizona players earned valuable experience at FIBA’s U19 championships.

Gonzaga: Chet Holmgren was back on the court for summer league play in Salt Lake City and Jim Meehan watched. Jim has this story, which covers his performance and others from around the area. … Elsewhere in the WCC, Santa Clara alums also did well, including Brandin Podziemski for Golden State, playing in Sacramento.

EWU: If you have a special place in your memory banks for Tyler Harvey’s time at Eastern, you are not alone. The left-hander’s long-range shots are worth keeping in mind alone. But he was more than that, a scorer that turned the Eagles into an NCAA participant. He’s now getting ready for his fourth year in Australia’s pro league and talked with Dave Cook about how his basketball journey has played out. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Weber State has tweaked its logo.

Preps: North Central High boys basketball coach Andre Ervin is facing a trial after being accused of sexual misconduct. Garrett Cabeza has this story following Ervin’s arraignment Wednesday.

Indians: If Spokane played as well against everyone as it seems to do against Everett, the league might be in big trouble. The Indians won once more last night, defeating the Aquasox 3-1 at Avista Stadium. Dave Nichols has the coverage.

Mariners: Lots to cover here – again. The M’s offense was non-existent, the defense let Tommy Millone down and San Francisco won 2-0, sending Seattle to Houston a game under .500. … Free agents do not come to Seattle. Why? … All-Star Game previews abound, with this ranking of M’s all-stars from 48 to 31. Our former teammate and neighbor, Matt Young, makes the list. … Another preview, focused on Julio Rodriguez, is available in the S-R, along with a look at George Kirby’s year and the home run derby matchups. … The News Tribune also has a couple stories. … Finally, this attitude just might be the reason why the M’s are always also-rans.

Storm: Gabby Williams isn’t a fan of a new WNBA rule.

Kraken: Seattle is holding a developmental camp and it includes coaches from all aspects of the game.

Golf: We mentioned the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach above. Rose Zhang is hogging the spotlight but that’s not her fault.

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• For all the talk of growing golf as a game, the professionals play in a world that has nothing in common with the game most of us play. Nor will they ever, despite the occasional U.S. Open at Bethpage or Pebble. But such venues do lead to the “you can play these courses” stories. Though a round at Indian Canyon or Liberty Lake or Deer Park or The Links is more on our to-do list on a daily basis. Until later …