The assignment today was the putting green and then the 18th green area. Way better than the driving range we thought. There were at least 15 of us guarding against the hordes that were non-existent to protect the players who were not there. Keep in mind this is 7 – 8 a.m. The world isn’t even awake yet. By the afternoon the green was full. Wait until Thursday…
The putting green was beyond boring but we walked out to the 18th green – here we are in all our glory. The closest we will ever be again. We chatted up NBC’s Jim Grey by a very small interview tent that is practically falling into Carmel Bay. Nice man all dressed to kill – from the waist up. Jeans and really strange shoes below the belt. We ended up patrolling a player walkway from the 18th back to whence they came or to continue on to 1 if they teed off on 10.
Saw lots of players – could have reached out and touched them but that would not have been cool. Camilo, Rory, Angel – both of them, Ryo, Retief, Oliver to name a few. Was excited to see Tiger on 18 as he was, as always, the first one out the door. Never showed. His entire group bagged it at 13 apparently due to slow practice play by the group in front that amazingly included Tom Watson. Major bummer! Phil cruised by in deep conversation with an interviewer. He was NOT discussing golf but the Lakers and what he thought they needed to do to pull off game 6.
Observation: seems like many of the players still prefer spikes – the real ones. Haven’t heard the sound of spikes in a long time…a welcome reminder of years gone by. And let us not forget that at Bethpage we only heard sounds of gurgling and worse. Another thank you to the golf gods for dry if not warm weather.
The entire Open experience is amazing and it is impossible to put it into words even though I try. American Express is omnipresent as a sponsor as is Lexus. But they both do totally cool things for the spectators. American Express has a venue where pros (not the playing PGA dudes) will work on your swing, video it and a couple of weeks later send you an analysis. How cool is that? I hope to do that tomorrow. Lexus always has pros do autograph sessions and of course takes your picture with the trophy. In my glory…
A lot of things seem a bit smaller this year – Merchandise tent, volunteer tent to name a few. Probably because the USGA does NOT tell The Pebble Beach Co how to run its show. The USGA runs all Opens with an iron fist except at Pebble and Pinehurst. The two P’s tell the USGA that it is their way or the highway. So they all get along which is great news for the rest of us. Thought that was an interesting tidbit.
Tomorrow promises to be a special day...they all are but really looking forward to the morning. And I need to hit it. Only one more thought for the evening...
HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY PHIL!!!
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