The Flow of Consciousness

Leanna and her Dad took me to the 2007 US Open practice round yesterday at Oakmont Country Club. For those not from western PA, Oakmont is next to Plum Borough and just a little north of Pittsburgh. It’s not far from New Kensington and Monroeville.

I grew up watching golf on TV with my Dad. I know names and a lot of faces. I’ve not played, but I am able to get the ball off the ground nine out of 10 times

It was cool to actually see what goes on at a course during a tournament. The stands, the buildings, the camera towers, and just about everything else but the club house is all temporary. It’s honestly like a small village with some very precise lawn mowers and a thing for sand without water. Oakmont has one sand trap to which my Dad later that night referred as “church pews.” It’s a series of grassy bumps in a very elongated sand trap. It looked like the grassy bumps had risen from the sand of their own accord—neat.

I saw a bunch of golfers I’ve heard of, such as Colin Montgomerie, Mike Weir, Sergio Garcia, and Davis Love III. I missed getting Mike Weir’s autograph by a matter of seconds/inches. I wish I could have gotten Colin Montgomerie’s—it’s always cool to meet a celebrity Colin. I saw Johnny Miller, too. We missed Tiger Woods by a day, though, as he did not practice yesterday.

One of the things on my TODO list for this summer is to improve my swing enough that I can actually play on a course, even if only a par-three. I have a lot of respect for the sport/game/life, and I would love to be able to go out with my friends as well as my Dad.

I took some pictures with Leanna’s camera, so I’ll throw them up on Facebook or Zooomr when I can.