Oh so many firsts! I’m jumping ahead in my normal chronological posting of a road trip since The Open is still being played today and tomorrow. The Open is the primary reason for our trip. We have not attended any amateur or professional golf tournament before. We have not been to Pebble Beach or even the Monterey Peninsula before. Papa’s dad played Pebble Beach and we looked at doing that during our memory tour in 2022. That was a little out of our league, both from a price and skill level, so skip that idea. Attending The Open, however, worked out perfectly.
The goal was to see at least two players: Annika Sorenstam and Rose Zhang. To do that we had to learn: first, our way around the course and, second, figure out where the players were on the course. Sounds simple. To learn the course, if we started on tee #1 and drove a golf cart, it would be pretty doable. Did we do either of those things? Neither!
Annika started on #10 before we arrived so we tried to find the back nine. We walked and walked. We saw a young deer. The deer ran one direction and into people, so abruptly turned and ran another direction, people, another direction, golf carts. Finally it sprinted through the crowd in sheer panic. I looked at Papa and said, “I think I know how that deer feels.” Later, we spotted the deer with it’s herd, happily munching on landscaping around a beautiful home on the course.
Although we spent the first hour or so wandering, we did start to learn the course while watching some great plays. We learned how a tournament operates from the spectator viewpoint. The huge screens at every hole announced who was playing that hole. Groupings were displayed with their location on the course. Of course, the app (there's an app for everything) also kept us informed.
Around hole #6, we asked a gentleman if he could point us to the 18th tee. He said, “I’ll do better than that. I will walk with you because I am heading that way.”
He chatted with us the entire way. He showed us the “magic” area of the course where holes 3, 4, 16, and 17 come together (video link). What great help! It was easier navigating the course after learning that reference point.
After two hours at Pebble Beach, one of our goals was accomplished. We watched Annika Sorenstam tee off #17. At that point, the gallery had grown in numbers, and it felt like tournament excitement finally hit.
We followed the group of Annika, Michelle Wie West and In Gee Chun to #18. What a hole! Have you ever hit a golf ball and couldn’t find it? Or maybe hit a tree? Certainly the pros wouldn’t do that, right? On #18, the group was halfway through their first round since they started on 10. Wie West was Even at this point, until her fairway shot, that is (video link). She ended up with a triple bogey on 18. She had a great game going and hiccups like that are so frustrating!
We went back to #17 to have lunch and rest for awhile. We met a couple from New Mexico who follow the LPGA. They told us Amy Olsen's story during the 2020 Open. This year, Amy is 7-months pregnant. (GMA story/video link). As they finished relaying her story, they looked at the groupings on the display and said, “We gotta go, she’s approaching the 17th green.” We all jumped up and saw her in time.
We enjoyed grandstand seating at 17 and watched several groups come through. Then the long walk to the #1 tee to watch the grouping of Brenda Henderson, Lydia Ko, and Rose Zhang. The group before included Jennifer Kupcho. Watch these four ladies take their first round tee shots. We wiggled our way through the swelling crowds to wait on the #3 green, the first place we were close enough to actually see them putt. Watch the same four ladies finish on the #3 green.
If you asked me, after our first hour at Pebble Beach, if I’d like to attend another golf tournament, I would have told you no. Same question at the end of the day, a totally different response. Let’s go! It was an incredible day. Another amazing trip. So thankful. More next Wednesday.
Final note: after the second round, the group of Henderson, Zhang and Ko all made the cut and will play this weekend!
Orig post 7/8/23. Updated 7/9/23. Fabulous win for Allisen Corpuz from Hawaii. Our trio finished T9-Rose Zhang, 12-Brooke Henderson and T33-Lydia Ko
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