Maginnes: Tough stretch, especially for the rookies

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Wednesday marked the beginning of the hardest stretch of golf on the PGA TOUR each year, and it is easy to get a little awestruck if you are a rookie.

This week, at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, you may or may not see all the movie stars and celebrities. You are probably still rubbing the sleep out of your eyes. Next week, you share a driving range and a walk beside the ocean with Tiger Woods. If you are fortunate enough to get into the FBR Open in Scottsdale, be prepared for Super Bowl Week. Then, more celebrities and the best walk in golf, Pebble Beach.

The beginning of the TOUR season can be brutal for seasoned veterans, let alone rookies like Brad Adamonis. (Badz/PGA TOUR)

Sounds like a pretty nice way to start a career. Let's just say, though, that you are Brad Adamonis or Tim Wilkinson and made the cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii. You had to catch a flight Sunday night from Honolulu to Los Angeles, and then find your way to Palm Springs sometime on Monday morning. Without having been to bed, you have less than 48 hours to learn four golf courses before the 90-hole tournament starts on Wednesday. Then you have to find out where Indio is because all putts tend to break that way -- although I didn't discover that until my second year in the desert. Perhaps that is why Charley Hoffman last year became the first player to win the event in his first try since Arnie won the inaugural tournament back in 1960.

Not to worry, though. You will have plenty of time to scope out the courses because rounds tend to take at least five hours in this pro-am format. And by the time you learn the courses, you are finished with them for a year. Remember that experience, you will need it in the future.

While you are processing all that information, you'd better be on your way to San Diego because you are going to need to play another pro-am on Monday. The Buick Invitational is played on two courses -- the North and South courses at Torrey Pines. The only way that a new kid is going to get to see both courses is to volunteer to play in the Monday pro-am and a practice round on Tuesday.

For a lot of the younger guys, this will be their first shot at the TOUR's elite. Tiger and Phil will both be there -- along with the media crush and fan frenzy they bring to the game every time they play. The young guys shouldn't get their hopes up too high, though. After all, Tiger has won here three years in a row.

The few young guys who get a chance to play the next week at the FBR Open, which has a limited field, may think that they are getting a bit of a respite because this is one of the rare left coast events played on one golf course. Under normal circumstances, the FBR Open is utter chaos -- but this year, that din will be even louder. Championship Sunday is always exciting in Scottsdale, but this year it is also Super Sunday. More than 100,000 came to the party at the TPC Scottsdale on Saturday a year ago, and one can only imagine what that number will be the day before the Super Bowl. The signs all say: We never sell out. Well, they may have to rethink that this year.

The following week, another of the great traditions in the game adds a page to its storied history when the TOUR visits the Monterey Peninsula once again for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. If you have never been there before, you must see every course. Although Spyglass Hill and Poppy Hills share the peninsula with their more famous counterpart, the three are completely different and require meticulous preparation. The younger players simply don't have enough time to learn the nuances. Not to mention the scenery, the restaurants and the celebrities who inspire awe in even the most tight-lipped rookies.

After the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, the TOUR begins business as usual down the coast in Los Angeles. The biggest hassle there is battling the traffic to and from the course. For those outside the top 64 in the world, this is the final stop on the West Coast swing. After playing three multiple course events in four weeks, the TOUR plays one course per week for most of the rest of the season.

For this reason alone, if you happen to get off to a rough start on the West Coast, remember that it is a long year and there is plenty of golf left to play. And while this is the toughest stretch of golf for the year, it is also the most fun. Where else can you share a locker room with Samuel L. Jackson or Kevin Costner and still play for millions of dollars? Where else can you shake hands with the men and women who run corporate America and be accepted as an equal while they are in your office? As tough as the West Coast is, it certainly is worth it.