Conference 7.286::golf

    I was there on Monday, I really enjoyed seeing how the pros play a
    practice round (hitting several balls, putting and chipping many balls
    around every green). I was next to Norman walking off the 14th green,
    what a mob seen. The course is just like mine (Charmingfare), the rough
    is the same and the fairways are just like our greens. My favorite spot
    was the 12th hole landing area, the 12th is a 450 par 4 with a blind
    2nd shot up a cliff, it was fun seeing and hearing the pro's say "where
    the hell do I hit". The greens are very hard, I didn't see any player
    make a ball mark. 
    

 I arrived at 6:45 am on Tuesday, and I guess it was a good thing we
had.  It was a real zoo later on, with the course basically inexcessable
from route 9.  Best to get a detailed map of the area and back door route
9.  We parked in the first section on Putterham with the gate only a few
yards away, and they allowed us to go in and out as much as we liked so
the beer we brought was well worth it.  Matter of fact, if you don't
have tickets I would just stand near a gate and politely ask someone
leaving if they would give you there ticket, this may be accomplished
in the early afternoon.  Coolers had to be left at the gate, but
we saw many cans inside.
  Leave as early as possible, we left at 3:00 and It was getting pretty bad.
As far as the players, It was great to see all the Pro's that don't show
up to Pleasant Valley.  Tom Watson holed out a bunker shot on 3 and then
sunk a 5 iron on the 6th I believe.  We had quite a good time
hanging out at the 9th green as Nicklaus and Norman got the crowd
involved in a little comedy with repeated jabs at each other and Nicklaus
impersonating Palmer's staturistic putting.  Fuzzy was playing with the
crowd all day too, but for the most part, all else especially Seve wouldn't
give you the time of day.  Very business-like...  

                   A great day and I guess I'll be routing for the fun
                   guys!
                             Saw Lohaus, can't miss him in a crowd!

                                  Robbie

  By the way, would anyone be so kind as to purchase a program for me!
I'll send you the $5:00.  
                   Robbie

    	Anyone who takes pictures during the practice rounds, please
    let everybody know, later when you get them back, who you got and
    how well they came out.  I may even be interested in purchasing
    reprints, if someone was kind enough to offer.
    
                                                         Beak

  My buddy and I got of some great shots! I'll let you's know.

Can anybody get me a program!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                      Robbie

 re .4 

>    	Anyone who takes pictures during the practice rounds, please
>    let everybody know, later when you get them back, who you got and
>    how well they came out.  I may even be interested in purchasing
>    reprints, if someone was kind enough to offer.
    
	I took 84 shots (though some were of the spectators !) with
	my new zoom. I'll have them in the office (WJO1, Westford Ma)
	next week. If you live or work anywhere near Westford or
	Haverhill I'll be glad to show them off ! :-) I've also
	already promised some reprints to the guys I went with, so...

	Peter.

	p.s.  I used my Pentax ME Super, Vivitar 70-210, Vivitar 2x
	converter for extra length, if this means anything to you...

    Random thoughts from yesterday, the final practice round:
    
    Practice rounds are fun for spectators, and most pros look like
    they're having fun too.  A fair amount of banter between golfers
    and gallery.  Even right before a putt, e.g. a fan yelling out to
    Norman just before he addressed one on the 8th "Greg, I've got money
    on you here!"
    
    Had never been to a practice round before.  Players drop a second,
    even a third ball after a bad drive or approach shot.  On the green
    they'll usually play out their "real" ball, then spend at least
    5 minutes doing more putting, either to the cup or often to some other
    targets on the green.  They know they won't see the same pin placement
    again in the next four days, I guess, so they experiment with all
    different areas of the green.
    Greens are very tough.  Firm (ball marks VERY rare) and very small.
    
    Lots of autographs signed walking from the green to the next tee.
    
    Clowns of the day -- Fuzzy Zoeller and Greg Norman.   On the 10th
    green, Nicklaus has hit long, 10 feet over back of green, and has a 
    nasty chip shot out of rough and downhill to the pin, cut only about 
    15 feet from the back.  We're talking slippery here.   He lines it 
    up and Norman, just below the pin, pulls five clubs out of his bag 
    and arranges them just below the hole, ladder style, to catch Jack's 
    ball that's sure to roll past. 
    
    No cameras allowed, starting today, as has been noted.  You know
    why they have that rule when yesterday you hear a few dozen camera
    shutters click when a big name player hits a putt.
    
    There's 10 or 11 par 4s on this course, I'd say nine of them are
    longer than 420.
    
    Traffic and lines for food were bearable yesterday, though that
    should change.  Parking pretty good too -- one of the three parking
    sites, Putterham Meadows, actually abuts the TCC.  We thought we
    were walking from our car to some shuttle van at the edge of the
    Putterham lot (course), and discovered that we were walking right
    in the gate onto the ninth hole of the Open.                 
    
    Route 9 should be absolutely horrendous this weekend though.  Best
    get a helicopter.
    
    

    
    	Standings as of about 1:00 today...! Simpson and Gilder
    	tied for the lead at -3. Seve is at -2. Trevino is at +2.
    	Can't recall other for sure...! 

    I attended all day Wednesday! Got there between 6:30/7:00 and thought
    that I made a real mistake to bring Video Equipment -- it was real
    hot!  By the end of the day I knew that I made the right decision!
    
    As previous noters mentioned, the pros play the crowd as much as
    they play golf on practice rounds.  My Best Video Sequence occured
    on the Par 4, 439 yds, 10th Hole.  This was a great spot, directly
    behind the green, where you could view each group as they hit their
    second shot, and then as they "practiced" making a tough pin placement,
    back and left. Seve & O'Grady had just hit hit thier approach. Seve's
    on, forward and right -- O'Grady on the back fringe, 15 feet right of
    the pin.  Seve hits up close, knocks in for par.  O'Grady try's a
    light pitch which looks close, passes the hole and rolls FOREVER!
    He can't believe it rolls this far. He throws down three balls to
    the same spot!  Each time he just barely misses the hole, and each
    time it rolls on and on -- with the crowd laughing!  Now O'Grady
    decides to get Seve involved.  He places several balls in the same
    spot and invites Seve to give it a go.  Seve try's the same light
    little pitch/chips with the same result -- roll on city!  Now Seve
    decides to put a "little" backspin on this thing -- a half swing
    with too much forward motion and not enough spin, it doesn't hold
    and down the green it goes!  Now the crowd & O'Grady are really
    into this, with cheers & gasps on every attempt and bursts of
    laughter when the ball coasts on by! Seve thinks "forget this half
    swing stuff" and launches these full swing/full speed attempts,
    for maximum backspin!  The crowd is really eating this up!  The
    ball goes straight up -- lands within a FOOT of the hole but doesn't
    hold the hill!  He tries the full swing attempts a few more times,
    and lands them so close to the hole that you'd swear he would
    "swish" one right into the cup!  One last attempt, he hits, O'Grady
    grabs the flag and positions it right behind the cup -- insuring
    success.  The appreciative crowds gives them both a rousing ovation!
    
    This was closely followed by the Nicklaus/Norman show as mentioned
    in the 297.7 and finally Trevino arrives and a member of his group
    has landed, you guessed it, behind the pin off the green. He tries
    with all the same results, when Trevino goes up to him and instructs
    him on how this should be done! Trevino drawls "just blade it like
    a putt, son!  The young golfer tries it once and the balls stops
    an inch away -- a second time and it goes right in!
    
    I'll be watching for the 10th on TV!
    
    Alan 
                                                               
    
     

    I went to yesterday's first round.  First off, I was surprised at
    the ease that I was able to get in, park, and get out (128 -> Rt
    30 worked well).  The open is well organized, and since a large
    number of the field is well known, the crowds (for the most part)
    were not a problem to the average spectator, as they were spread
    over the entire field.  I encountered no lines for food/drinks or
    at the pro shop tents.  BTW: The pro shop tent at the clubhouse
    had the widest assortment of items.
    
    The contestants are serious now, though Trevino was playing the
    gallery as well as his approach on the 6th.  I have to admit, I
    got bored with the drives and the approach shots.  They simply are
    consistent and accurate.  The putting was enjoyable, though that
    part of the game will be more interesting Sat and Sun.
    
    I ended up positioning myself in places that I could watch the pros
    scramble out of trouble.  The best by far was the landing area for
    the 3rd hole.  There is a narrow chute, that if the player reaches
    it, will give him a severe downhill lie to the green.  If the player
    hits right/left, there is heavy rough (nasty stuff).  There is a
    knoll that lets the spectator watch both the tee short and the approach
    to a depressed green. Another place to watch is at the 18th green.
    There are 2 deep bunkers in the front that seemed to attract at
    least 1 ball per 3-some.  They provided great entertainment.
    
    I read in the Globe today, that they sold more tickets to the practice
    rounds than the competition rounds (which they limited to 25,000
    per day vs 30,000+ per day).  
    
    Greg

I went to all four competition days.  I am also planning to go to tomorrow's
playoff in the afternoon.  Some days I wandered around & followed players I
liked, other days I parked my self in one plance and saw the whole field,
today (Sunday I parked myself in key places and watched the leaders play 
through and then hopped a head to a different location.)

Several personal highlights:

- Watching hit a one iron on the 8th hole.  It went farther than any of the 
three woods of the following 5 groups.  It had to be about 250 yds.  The only 
person I saw hit it past him was Greg Norman but he hit a driver off the tee.

- Joey Sindilar hitting a 350 yd drive on the 9th on Saturday.  It landed on
the top of the rocks on the right side, hopped down,  rolled across the 
fairway.  Finally it came to rest in the rough next to the stream that splits 
the fairway.  From there he tried to force a shot into the green that landed in 
some grass that resembled a wheat field.  It took him 2 shots to make it to the 
normal rough, one more to make it to the fringe, and a three putt for 8.  

- Lots of good golfers getting it up and down from tough rough.

- How golfers out of contention on the last day can go shoot up the course.  
Peter Jacobsen shoot as 7 under par 64 to finish at +2.  Meanwhile the leaders
are struggling to stay at par, several spent quite a few strokes the last
day to finish back in the pack.  It just goes to show the pressures associated 
with the Open.  It's a whole different ball game than the usual Andy Williams 
Searson Leahman American Express K-Mart Blue Light Classics they usually play.

- How fast the greens are.  The first 2 days I kept saying he's left that putt 
short only to see it roll at least 10 more feet and past the hole 3 feet more.

The playoff was tremendous.  The course was playing much tougher than most of 
the competition days.  The wind was blowing and it was very gusty causing the 
players some difficulty.  There were enough people there to completely line 
about 4 holes 5-6 people deep + grandstands.

I staked out a spot in the grandstand on the 6th and saw #2, Strange's birdie 
on 5, and #6.  Then I found a spot in the grandstand behind the practice area
and got to see number 8, part of 9, 11, the birdie/bogey putts on 13, and 
everything but the putts on 14.  Then it was on to the stands at 17 to watch
Faldo make bogey.  (People that had been watching 17 all week long said Faldo
was lucky to stop his chip as close as he did (8 feet) that green is fast.)
Finally I joined my wife & daughter who had staked out some prime space at the 
top of the stands on 15 to watch them finish 18.

God, what a great day of golf.  It's too bad there could only be one winner 
because Faldo played well and was a true gentleman.  He made some very nice 
remarks at the awards ceremony.

I think the people involved with the tournament, the USGA, The Country Club, 
volunteers and staff did a super job.  The course was in great shape and the 
tournament was well run.

I can't wait to put my order in for the Open at The Country Club in 2013 (the 
100th anniversary)!

Larry

    My Uncle works for New England Tel. and he got my brother and I
    in on Saturday!  My uncle had to chase two bozo's that stole his
    golf cart.  My brother and I also had passage to the hospitality
    tent which had The North End, Fanuel Hall anad a couple of other
    well known eatery's there for our consumption!  I shook hands with
    Hank Finkle (Ex Celt) whilst watching Ben Crenshaw.  I saw many
    golfers play.  Couldn't believe the way Fuzzy chokes the buts down!
    Sandy Lyle was having a rough day. Wish I could shoot a 77! Fred
    Couple's was out of it but a good golfer to see play.  Sutton was
    not being followed by too many people so I watched him on a few
    holes.  His second shot on I think 10 or 11 was a riot.  He bounced
    his shot off and oak onto the green!  I loved the course! It was
    beautiful.  We also were able to sneek into TCC it was incredible
    with all the historical paintings and photgraphs and plenty of snoby
    people too!  After we got booted I hung around the grounds til 8:30
    and I arrived there at 6:30 to meet my uncle for the passes.  It
    was such a blast!  I saw a couple of friends of my brothers one
    that plays BC football was on TV yesterday in a Marshalls uniform
    and when we saw him he was a fence repairman.  They must have needed
    a big boy to protect Strange and Faldo....lucky duck got paid $2500.00
    for that!  I would have paid them to do it!  Beer tents near every
    hole and bud was only two bucks! Dogs were great too!  If you read
    this last Sundays globe an have seen the article that presented
    most of the trueisms about the tournament it basically summed it
    up!  I had a blast!  I love the game and only wish I got into it
    earlier in life!  See you at Stow..........