That is a misting fan, he stood there for 9 minutes (I counted).
My first stop once I meandered away from the tent area was the practice range, which is long enough that players can hit from either side of it without hitting each other. One side is significantly uphill from the other, so they encourage players to hit their drivers from the low side, if possible.
View from the high side looking at the low side.
I began on the high side, and got a glimpse of Eric Axley (who? more later...) and Stuart Appleby...who were both coordinatingly clad in lively shades of blue...must be trying to stay coooool.
From the range, I made my way to the nearby putting green, where I observed, briefly and most notably, Charles Howell III, Jim Furyk and local Tusla-an/ite Bo Van Pelt, who has found quite a following playing in front of a hometown crowd. I watched him tee off on his practice round, and he must have had roughly 50 people following him down the fairway, which is a good number for the first practice day.
The course itself is in great condition. The word on the course is that it will be challenging, but fair, and will likely be the second major, along with the British Open, to have the winning score be under par. The rough is not nearly as penal as it was in 2001, when Southern Hills played host to the U.S. Open, won in an 18 hole Monday playoff by Retief Goosen over, I believe, Mark Brooks. Hole 2 will be a difficult driving hole, requiring both length and precision, as a 488 yard par 4. The next major test should be hole 5, a 653 yard (not a typo, 653) par 5 that only the longest of hitters might reach in two shots, but the most popular play will be laying back to a comfortable pitching distance for a third shot. Most of the remaining holes are reasonable by even amateur standards on the par 70 layout (each side has one par 5 and 2 par 3s) are reasonable, save for #8 (a 245 yard par 3) and #16, a 507 yard par 4.
I suck at panoramic pictures, deal with it.
View from the high side looking at the low side.
I began on the high side, and got a glimpse of Eric Axley (who? more later...) and Stuart Appleby...who were both coordinatingly clad in lively shades of blue...must be trying to stay coooool.
From the range, I made my way to the nearby putting green, where I observed, briefly and most notably, Charles Howell III, Jim Furyk and local Tusla-an/ite Bo Van Pelt, who has found quite a following playing in front of a hometown crowd. I watched him tee off on his practice round, and he must have had roughly 50 people following him down the fairway, which is a good number for the first practice day.The course itself is in great condition. The word on the course is that it will be challenging, but fair, and will likely be the second major, along with the British Open, to have the winning score be under par. The rough is not nearly as penal as it was in 2001, when Southern Hills played host to the U.S. Open, won in an 18 hole Monday playoff by Retief Goosen over, I believe, Mark Brooks. Hole 2 will be a difficult driving hole, requiring both length and precision, as a 488 yard par 4. The next major test should be hole 5, a 653 yard (not a typo, 653) par 5 that only the longest of hitters might reach in two shots, but the most popular play will be laying back to a comfortable pitching distance for a third shot. Most of the remaining holes are reasonable by even amateur standards on the par 70 layout (each side has one par 5 and 2 par 3s) are reasonable, save for #8 (a 245 yard par 3) and #16, a 507 yard par 4.
I suck at panoramic pictures, deal with it.
Next, the fluorescent blue radiating from Eric Axley caught my eye as he walked down the 1st fairway, playing a practice round by himself. I felt kind of bad for him, especially since no one was walking with him, aside from his caddy, so I decided to tag along. I watched him play a couple holes, and chatted with him and his caddy a bit while waiting for the 3rd fairway to clear. The lefty was nice enough, and I've decided to follow him on Thursday and Friday, and be his one man cheering section. I'll update you more on that as it happens. Some Axley pics are below. He's a good player who had struggled for a long time on the minor tours before breaking thru last year at the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio. Also you can't spell Axley without Alex, or at least without the same letters.
I walked from the 3rd teebox back to the practice area, by this time suffering mightily in the scorching sun, so I was beginning to think about heading home. I saw Billy Mayfair
doing some chipping practice and chatting with his caddy, so I snapped a couple pics of the cuddly duffer and kept movin'. I had looped around to the low side of the aforementioned practice range, and got a chance to see a new crop of players including 2007 British Open champion (survivor?) Padraig Harrington. He was hitting next to the portly Darren Clarke.
I strolled down the rest of the row, not recognizing many names until the very, very end of the line, where I found Adam Scott,
a young Australian golfer ranked #3 or #4 in the world (I can't remember). He was hitting 3 woods with his coach (Tiger's old one) Butch Harmon, his caddy, and their Taylormade rep who was, I'm guessing, tweaking Adam's clubs in one of the massive trailers
each of the manufacturers has on-site to cater to the players clubfitting needs. After he finished up, he signed some autographs for the kids standing around me, and I talked to him briefly about Australia, using the whole "I've been to your homeland" line. He was, as all Aussies are, very nice and accommodating, asking if I'd been to Adelaide, his hometown, but I hadn't, so we kinda stopped talking. I didn't have anything for him to sign (in hindsight he shoulda signed my student ID from Australia but I wasn't that smart at the time). After our minute-chat I made a b-line (bees???) for my car and headed home, tired, sunburned, and fully content with my first day.
doing some chipping practice and chatting with his caddy, so I snapped a couple pics of the cuddly duffer and kept movin'. I had looped around to the low side of the aforementioned practice range, and got a chance to see a new crop of players including 2007 British Open champion (survivor?) Padraig Harrington. He was hitting next to the portly Darren Clarke.
I strolled down the rest of the row, not recognizing many names until the very, very end of the line, where I found Adam Scott,
a young Australian golfer ranked #3 or #4 in the world (I can't remember). He was hitting 3 woods with his coach (Tiger's old one) Butch Harmon, his caddy, and their Taylormade rep who was, I'm guessing, tweaking Adam's clubs in one of the massive trailers
each of the manufacturers has on-site to cater to the players clubfitting needs. After he finished up, he signed some autographs for the kids standing around me, and I talked to him briefly about Australia, using the whole "I've been to your homeland" line. He was, as all Aussies are, very nice and accommodating, asking if I'd been to Adelaide, his hometown, but I hadn't, so we kinda stopped talking. I didn't have anything for him to sign (in hindsight he shoulda signed my student ID from Australia but I wasn't that smart at the time). After our minute-chat I made a b-line (bees???) for my car and headed home, tired, sunburned, and fully content with my first day.
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