Yesterday, I crossed another item off my life goal’s list as I had the chance to attend the U.S. Open Golf Championship at Congressional Country Club near D.C. What made this day even more special is that my father joined me on this Father’s Day Weekend excursion.
Because we wanted to get to the course when it opened for play, we left for Congressional early (well before 5 am) and arrived a half-hour before the first tee time. We were able to walk up to the 10th green just in time for the first group to send their tee shots towards the hole. After watching a couple of groups play through 10, we joined the third group, which featured Bo Van Pelt, Kyung-Tae Kim, and viral video sensation Ben Crane (if you haven’t seen the video, check out pgatour.com, then go to the players’ link, click on Ben Crane, then find videos, and click the Golf Boys “Oh oh oh” video… or you could go to my Facebook page, where I have a link). It turned out be a terrific decision as only a handful of people followed the group around.
Some thoughts on the group my dad and I followed for 18 holes… Bo Van Pelt was clearly the best player of the group yesterday. Not only did he shoot 67, he hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation, stayed mostly on the fairway, had 4 birdies & no bogeys, and was the longest hitter of the three. His only hiccups occurred on the par 5’s, particularly #6 and #9, where he reached both greens in 2, only to 3-putt both times. Still, he stands at +1 and played his way into the weekend.
Kyung-Tae Kim was among the round 1 leaders when he teed off. He showed spectacular play on the more difficult holes. He was the first player to birdie 10 on the round, then birdied 2, 3, and 4, which were 3 of the most brutal holes on the course. But Kim was erratic all day, being forced to make incredible saves on 11 and 14 on his first 9. He double-bogeyed two of the shorter par-4s (17 and 8), then failed to get out of the trees at the par-5 6th. He finished with a 72, but only 26 putts on the day. Currently at –1, Kim could end with a top-10 finish.
Ben Crane had an unspectacular day when he needed to make a move. He did have an early birdie at 11, but scrambled on a couple of holes to save par. His chances of making the weekend disappeared when he put his 2nd shot at #6 into the pond. A 71 combined with a first-round 77, left Crane at +6, 2 shots short of the cut line.
Aside from following the trio around, I had a couple of additional thoughts. First, we saw the MetLife blimp for the first time at 17, which was quite interesting. The pin placement at 18 was brutal, and you can ask Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy how bad the pin placement was (I watched Phil’s ball roll into the lake and heard the groans as Rory’s ball suffered the same fate). I thought I might have been on TV when Kim teed off at 8, but it was not to be. Also, on that same 8th hole, as we were waiting for our group to putt out, three tee shots zipped next to us, with two of the balls nearly hitting us and the ESPN HD cameraman.
After lunch, we sat at the 10th green and watched several of the afternoon groups start their rounds at 10. Among the golfers we saw were Davis Love III and Jim Furyk. The last man to win the U.S. Open at Congressional, Ernie Els, was a part of that group, but after a great tee shot, he 4-putted, and went on to miss the cut. Also, we saw defending U.S. Open champion Grahame McDowell and reigning Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen tee off. My dad and I left at 2:30, just before the rains came to suspend play. On the way out, we saw Bob Costas’s golf cart, which is about the closest we came to seeing a media star on the course.
All in all, it was a special day with my dad. I realized later just how precious that time was with my father. My dad is 74, and I don’t know how much time I have left with him. He now has a cane he occasionally uses for his back when he stands for long periods of time. To see him now and remember how he once was has shown me that I should treasure my times with my dad. The day will come in the near future when my dad be there only in spirit, so having the ability to enjoy the time he spends with Joshua is something I will remember as long as I live. And yesterday was icing on the cake for me.
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