Had an opportunity to see Saturday play at the US Open at beautiful Bethpage Black. My Mother-in-Law lives in Farmingdale, which made it extremely easy to walk the 10 minutes to the train station and then take the shuttle over to the course. I’ve also had the opportunity to play the Black and it was one beautiful, yet ridiculously difficult course. So well designed and every hold just beats you up. I’m around a 21 handicap, ended up shooting 106 the first time and 102 the second time. But, I couldn’t have been happier to shoot a 46 on the back that second time around (from the whites).
We got lucky to get three tickets and my Dad came down for the weekend. If you ever go to a major, get tickets for the first days and do NOT go to the Final Round. It is very difficult to follow the leaders and it gets so packed, you can’t see anything. Found that out at the ’03 PGA at Oak Hill. We had a great spot behind the 6th green and watched a lot of guys come thru. Spent a lot of time in holes 6-9 and then saw the Tiger hoopla as he came to finish. We took off after the second round ended around 4 pm and worked out perfectly with the heavier rain coming in later. Nice to luck out with the rain and see a lot of golf. Of course, I was rooting hard for Phil, a bit dissapointed that Glover won, but he was the steadiest golfer out there the whole week. As for the fans and atmosphere, it is a loud and great time, but there are also a lot of obnoxious, drunken jerks just trying to join the ‘party’. Most fans are respectful, though there is not much holding back there comments. Nothing beats that roar though from a huge New York gallery!
Stadium and Arena Visits 