The Open

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Well I have managed to miss many different famous sporting events during our travels; landed in London the day of the closing ceremonies for the Olympics, tried unsuccessfully twice to go to Wimbledon, and left Paris to head home the day the Tour de France got close. Fortunately I was stubborn enough to keep trying and got myself a ticket to the final round Sunday for The Open at Muirfield in Scotland.

Drove up Saturday afternoon and had some time to explore Edinburgh. It is a beautiful city that hasn't had the modernization that other large cities have faced. I enjoyed just roaming around checking out the city, some of the various street performers, and local pubs. Got to watch a guy that did some incredible artwork with nothing more than spray paint, crumpled newspaper, and a putty knife. Had to pick one up for the kids. Plan on going back with the family some time soon.

Sunday got to The Open and experience the world's best golfers on an extensively challenging course. You really don't get an understanding for just what these players are going through by watching on TV. The fairways are narrow, the rough deep, and the bunkers deeper! I was across the fairway from Sergio Garcia, saw him walk over to look into a bunker at his ball, disappear into the bunker, the next thing I saw was a puff of sand come out of the top of the bunker. No Sergio, no club in the backswing, just a puff of sand then the ball landing further along. At the #5 green I walked up to a guy on his knees next to a greenside bunker where he put his ball feet from the hole. This was followed 2 groups later by another one on one knee out of the bunker with a foot in, again feet from the hole. These guys are good.

Phil takes it though. He managed to come from behind and be the only player in red numbers for The Open. I was able see some of it and hear the roars for other parts. It is an experience I won't forget and a course I'm not sure I really want to try to play. It's one thing to be a pro and have spotters to find your ball on the couple times you miss the fairway. It's another to try to go and hack around yourself and see how many balls you can manage to survive on.

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