49ers Legends Host Celebrity Pro-Am Golf Tournament in San Francisco

What a showcase for the 49ers and the city of San Francisco.

On Friday, Joe Montana and Jerry Rice hosted a celebrity pro-am nine-hole shotgun scramble golf tournament at TPC Harding Park. It was called The Breakfast Ball, it was presented by Front Office Sports, and it was one of the most surreal experiences of my life.

Somehow, I got invited to play in it. So I showed up at 8:30, an hour and a half before tee time, and warmed up on the driving range next to Mike Vick, who has a sweet, left-handed swing. He was talking to Manolo, one of the top gold influencers in the world.

Later, they fed us Thomas’ bagels in the clubhouse, and as I was eating, former NFL wide receiver Steve Smith sat in front of me with a mouth full of food, stuck out his hand and said, “Hi, I’m Steve.”

Finally, just before we teed off, Montana and Rice spoke.

“I’m standing next to the greatest quarterback to ever play the game, Joe Montana,” Rice said. “If he was a female, Joe and I probably would have dated. We had such great chemistry.”

It was that kind of day.

We all played in groups of five. It was supposed to be four writers or content creators and one NFL celebrity, such as Von Miller, Brock Bowers, Quinn Ewers, Doug Flutie and Urban Meyer. In my case, the celebrity I was paired with was Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey.

But he didn’t act like a celebrity. He was one of the guys, along with RJ Ochoa of SB Nation and Andrew Edwards who used to play in the NFL and is the brother of Chicago Bears linebacker TJ Edwards. None of us were particularly good, although McConkey hit some great shots. He also played country music the whole time and drank transfusions with us and tipped the cart girl $20 for the free drinks. He was extremely down-to-earth.

The real celebrity was Gabby Golf Girl, who also was in our group. I hadn’t heard of her until this day. She’s a high school phenom who plays at the same school as Tiger Woods’ son and has a social media presence that’s so lucrative and successful that she’s considering taking a gap year before enrolling in one of the best golf programs in the country. Meaning her YouTube channel trumps an NIL deal.

She was filming content with her family on every hole and giving out free tips to the four of us whenever we asked. Her swing was slow and effortless. She was a machine, and we used almost all of her shots.

And we did all this at maybe the most beautiful public golf course in America. It’s near the ocean, it’s surrounded by a lake, the layout is wide open the course is lined with old Eucalyptus trees. And the grass is absolutely perfect. And we had a caddie. A freakie caddie named Jay, who ran around and found our balls and gave us tips. I felt like a celebrity.

When we finished, I immediately texted my manager about Gabby, the high-school phenom with a YouTube channel that gets 7 million views a month. “Can we sign her?” He asked me.

I ran her down as she was leaving with her family and said, “Hey Gabby, you probably already have a guy, but if you don’t, I have a guy who can get you sponsors for your YouTube channel.”

She smiled and cocked her head to the side like she was looking at the most innocent person in the world. “I have a guy,” she said.

Of course she does.

I still don’t fully understand how I made the cut for this event, considering I started playing golf just a few years ago and I’m not good or famous. But if you ever get the chance to play at TPC Harding Park for free with a caddy and a bunch of celebrities and 49ers legends, you should do it. I highly recommend it.

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