Moving Day

Saturday of the U.S. Open is known as "Moving Day," because it is the day each player attempts to make his charge so that he will be in the best possible position to win on Sunday. If you're not within striking distance by the end of the day Saturday, then you won't be in contention for the Championship Sunday. It will be interesting to see who makes a charge today to position themselves within reach of the Title tomorrow.

I spent much of Thursday and Friday of the Open following Kansas Citian Tom Watson. Watson, at 60, was older than the combined ages of his playing partners Rory McIlroy (21) and Ryo Ishikawa (18).   Watson quipped Thursday on the 1st (10th) tee: "I'm playing with my grandkids here." He then asked them good naturedly "How many U.S. Open's have you played in?" This brought a few laughs as Watson reminded the gallery he'd played in 32. If I hadn't heard him say it I would have thought he was trying to get inside the young guys' heads. I think it was his way of settling them down a bit and saying "hey, it's no big deal, go out there and have fun."

Watson seemed to enjoy playing with the youngsters and was reported to be very impressed with Ishikawa and even said that he reminded him of himself at 18. Ishikawa put on a display for the living legend Watson as the Japanese teenager shot a one under 141 over the first two rounds tying him for second place.  McIroy struggled both days shooting 75-77 and missed the cut at +10.

One of the reasons I followed Watson Friday was that I thought it might be his last U.S. Open and would likelly be the last opportunity I would have to see him play competitively. However, Watson's even par round of 71 was just good enough to keep him above the cut line and keep him at Pebble Beach over the weekend. So...we'll have an opportunity to follow him some more.  Players making the cut had to be in the top 60 (plus ties) or within 10 strokes of the leader. Watson's +7 was exactly 10 shots behind leader Graeme McDowell who is at -3.

Watson's round included three birdies and three bogeys. His putter failed him on the bogeys and also kept him from grabbing a couple other birdies when his play tee-to-green put him in position to do so.  A particularly impressive birdie came on the 495 yard par 4 10th hole. Watson's 3 was well below the average score of 4.375 for the field on that hole.

Pebble Beach Exceeds Expectations

Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb, when I made clouds its swaddling band, and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, and said, 'thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed?'  Job 38:8-11

It seems like every time we turn around someone is trying to sell us some type of product, service or person. These sales pitches bombard us daily, and are chock full of spin, embellishment and hype--many the brainchild of some ad agency's high dollar marketing campaign. These systematic assaults have left us largely jaded and grossly underwhelmed when we eventually encounter the focus of the hype.

Today I encountered Pebble Beach Golf Links for the very first time. I'd been told things like "it is breathtaking" and "you won't believe how beautiful it is." I usually thought to myself 'I bet it's nice, but it can't be that nice.' I reasoned that at some level Pebble Beach was just another "product" being over-billed by the media and golf establishment and that it would be certain to fall short of expectations. I was wrong.

The English language sometimes falls short when called upon to adequately describe a product of God's creation. Our language has met its match at Pebble Beach. Words like "breathtaking" and "beautiful" don't scratch the surface of what I saw today. Pebble Beach, if anything, is under-hyped. Perhaps those that come here year after year take it for granted and have lost a little of the wonder that comes with the certain astonishment of a first encounter.

Pebble Beach has been called the "greatest meeting of land and sea." It's hard to dispute this claim when looking out at the Pacific Ocean as its waves crash the shore beneath the 7th green. We know God created the Monterey Peninsula, but we must also acknowledge its designers Jack Neville and Douglas Grant, who, being created in God's image, wonderfully reflected their Creator in fashioning this property into arguably the best golf course in the world.

Some other first impressions and observations of Pebble Beach and today's practice round...

• I knew a good bit about holes 17 and 18. These are nice golf holes, but numbers 6-9 were especially surprising and certainly more beautiful than 18. These really caught me by surprise.
• Hole 17 is relatively flat. When I've watched it on television over the years I had gotten the impression that it had a pretty steep decline from tee to green toward the ocean. Not so.
• U.S. Open caps are expensive. The merchandise tents were asking $34 a piece.
• The rough looks pretty wicked and the greens appear postage stamp sized.
• Kenny Perry has lost a lot of weight.

That's all for today. We'll try to write some more each day. In the meantime, take a look at some other photos from today's practice round.

Note: This piece was posted simultaneously on our sister blog http://www.finleyriver.com/. There because it's supposed to be funny. Here because it's sports.

Ah, Pebble Beach…the greatest meeting of land, water, and unadulterated greed. As we prepare for this week’s United States Open, to be held at the venerable Pebble Beach Golf Links, imagine the following exchange taking place in a bedroom near a master bath....


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“Hi honey, I’m home!” says husband to wife.

“You’re late dear!” says wife to husband. “I tried to call you but your phone just went to voicemail. I was worried sick! Did you have to work late again?”

“No dear,” says husband, “remember, I went to the U.S. Open today. We discussed that this morning at 3:57 a.m. while I was leaving for the airport.”

“Oh that’s right sweetie,” says wife, “You’ll have to forgive me, my Advil P.M. was still hard at work keeping me comatose when you kissed me goodbye. That seems like yesterday!”

“Well, sweet cakes, that’s because it was yesterday,” says husband. “It’s now 1:45 a.m. on Friday. Yesterday was mostly Thursday!

“Why, I declare,” says wife to husband, “I guess it is Friday. At least you can sleep-in tomorrow and go to work late.” (The wife’s voice fades as the husband steps in the shower near the master bath)

The husband eventually emerges from the shower, shaves, and puts on new golf attire. “Honey, I’m off again to the Open. I’ll be home again in about 22.5 hours. Would you mind washing this plaid Izod outfit you bought me at the thrift store? I want to wear it again Saturday.”

“Saturday?!” The wife sits bolt upright in bed. “What do you mean Saturday?” Her slumber is now supplanted by slow burning but accelerating wrath.

“Would you rather I wore it Sunday? I can wear the argyle Satur-“

“Sunday?!?” The wife gasps. “But that’s Father’s Day! You were supposed to assemble the grill we bought you then cook for the neighborhood!”

“Darling, we’ve been over this a thousand times. I’m commuting this year to the United States Open. I went to great lengths to explain this to you while you were alphabetizing the spices a few weeks ago.” The husband reaches into his briefcase to reveal a camouflage dossier and travel itinerary. “Once again, our recreation budget would not allow me to book an affordable hotel room within 100 miles of the Monterrey Peninsula. I had two free flights on Southwest and found deals on two other airlines for $300 each—round trip. One night at the Monterey Marriott is $757.78. I sleep about as well on the plane as I would at the Marriott. So…I’m commuting. Now give me a big smooch and fry a couple of eggs over easy…please honey lover?!”
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If the above scenario seems far-fetched, think again. If this story’s dialogue seems slightly over-the-top, you’re right. But only the wife’s anger at her husband has been embellished under the umbrella of “literary license.”

You see, golf fans everywhere who would like to attend this great golf tournament are being forced to reconsider because of the outlandish and opportunistic price gouging perpetrated by the hospitality industry in and around Pebble Beach and the larger Monterey/Carmel/Pacific Grove area of California. Even thought tickets to the event are reasonable and at least three airports—San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose—offer travelers reasonable airfares, the tournament attendee is slapped in the face when attempting to find a room—any room— in an inn.

Even rooms at Motel 6, the brand whose spokesman Tom Bodett promises to “leave the light on” for you, have been going for rates exceeding $300 per night. So much for “economy lodging.”

So why wouldn’t an astute golf fan consider community to the Open to avoid paying these outrageous room charges and their accompanying “hospitality taxes?” I believe the idea has merit.

Originally at this point in this “essay” we had planned to demonstrate the infinite wisdom demonstrated by commuting to Pebble Beach this year. However, in the interest of sound journalism we must confess that the idea has a few holes. Not the least of which we’ve discovered is traffic, drive time, traffic, unprecedented inconvenience, and the lack of a direct flight from Kansas City International to Pebble Beach’s number 1 Fairway.

So I’ll leave it to Michael Lewis (The Blindside, Moneyball) to research the market inefficiencies of commuting to Pebble Beach from Garden City, Missouri. For now, we’ve done our job. We’ve floated the idea out there for the general public and academia to digest.

Thus, instead of flying home tomorrow night after Day 1's competition, we'll just sing to our GPS System: Do you know the way to San Jose?