Here is a post that has nothing to do with hiking, geocaching, remodeling or programming. So, the best label will be need to be hiking as it was an outside spectator sport.
Getting There:
Took PCH to Sunset. Took Sunset up to
the 405. Did not have printed instructions or had punched the
location in the Garmin. Had never been up Sunset from PCH, did not
know it would have been that much of a difference in the drive.
People that know the area drive very fast, me on the other hand did
not go as fast and managed not the directly find the VA parking lot.
Ended up going over the 405, checking directions on the Android, then
making the way back, getting on San Vincente via some other major
throughfare. Sorry fellow drivers if I did not sail through your
city.
Finally, got the the parking area. At
one point in considered abandoning the effort and leaving.
The trip then continued from the VA
parking lot to the bus. Bus to an elementary school drop off point in
the middle of an older community in near the course. Walked through
the neighborhood along these older homes eventually getting to the
course entry point. They were wanding people with metal detectors. No
idea why. We are not hunters, we are golf fans. So after the hassle
of LA driving, finding the parking area, getting on the bus (not that
bad), treking through the neighborhood (not that bad either) finally
got into the grounds, got my printed out ticket scanned. That was
about the only thing that worked without some form of misery.
Not knowing anything about the course
and not doing any event homework plus being frazzled by the trip thus
far, I consulted a course volunteer for ideas on where to go and
watch. He suggested the area by the 11th hole. This would
catch the first group of players and they rolled through the course.
It was adjacent to two other tee boxes in case there would be some
good action. So off to the 11th.
On the walk up there, I noticed that
Angel Cabrera had just hit his tee shot and was making his way to the
11th as well. So he and I locked strides and I pretty much
shadowed him until reaching the 11th. There was some eye
contact, but I opted to remain silent fearing a course marshal would
expel me. Angel did his thing, sank his put, got the polite round of
applause and off to the 12th. I stayed at the 11th.
I stayed at the 11th for the
next five groups. Most notably in these groups would be Lee Westwood,
Bill Hass, Harris English, J.J. Henry, Kevin Stadler, Keegan Bradly.
These guys I suppose are some of the more popular of the others in
their round 3 parings. Eventually, I departed this 11th
and headed to watch some guys tee off. A side trip would be to get a
snack and something to drink.
That's right, now I remember. I picked
some random group to follow from 10th tee off to the
green. Thing is I can't remember who was in this random group. They
had their expected and practiced perfect drive and second shot that
landed on the green (of course). At this point, I got a snack and a
drink, and made my way down along the 9th fairway to the
area known as “The Grove”. Watched the group of Bubba Watson,
Kevin Streelman and Billy Hurley hit their second shots.
Funny, this group had about 10
followers. You know how the marshal's will have everyone be silent
while the player is setting up and making the shot. The crunching of
those salted potato chips I'm sure would have been an issue so I
stopped crunching until after these shots. Then offered the
obligatorily polite clapping.
By then, that Coke was history so I
ducked in the Military Appreciation tent and got a bottle of water
and lifted a program. The program was a $5 value, the water was a $3
value. They were handing out free Carls Jr burgers and fries to
military folks. I opted not to consume a burger and fries since being
the middle of the afternoon that would put me into weekend nap mode.
Leaving the Military Appreciation tent,
I paced myself behind a group of younger former military guys and
parked at the 9th just in time to see Webb Simpson, Jason
Dufner, and John Huh get down to business and drill their drives way
down there. They got their round of polite applause and off they
went. Eventually I'd be making my way down the 9th.
Off I went to the tee box of the 14th.
Got a good standing place for the next bunch through. This was the
threesome of Dustin Johnson, Jim Furyk and Blake Adams. I suppose the
good standing place was not that good 'cause I could not see the
flight of the ball. Seems this group had many fans. Unknown if it was
a Dustin Johnson following or Jim Furyk. I'd opt for the former. This
was the last bunch that I settled down to watch, then headed up
towards the 18th and the club house area.
I chose the route along the 9th
fairway (opposite side). Had an interesting conversation with two
volunteer guys who man'ed that ball location survey tripod mounted
telescope device. Seems that is quite a fun thing to volunteer for.
It has some technology, they keep you fed and watered, and you get to
see all the groups play through. I suppose it would become more work
than fun though. These are the guys that input the ball location data
that is transmitted to some computer server somewhere and is sent on
the Internet for all to enjoy.
Eventually, made the climb to the 18th
where an unknown threesome was wrapping up business for the day. This
was at the top of the course and the pro shop was being opened to the
public. Not being as situationally aware as I normally am, I happened
to walk within inches of Fred Couples. That was kind of interesting.
There were other golfers that had wrapped up their round and were
hanging out in the immediate area. Suppose I could have stayed awhile
and take in a view of the course from this elevation.
With that, I called it a day, and made
my way to the entrance area, walk back through the neighborhood, get
on the bus for the ride back to the VA Center parking lot. It was
then the drive up the 405 during “Jamzilla”. You see, “Jamzilla”
was CalTrans shutting down three north bound lanes going over
Mulholland. I wanted to get on the 101, but missed the turn at the
405/101 near Sepulveda, so I stayed on the 405 to the 118. So I
survived “Jamzilla” but it was not that bad, it's been worse.
The Course:
On the PGA tour TV coverage, they
mentioned the rich and famous play here. I'd figure the rich and
famous play here because the course is close to home. My personal
opinion and with limited knowledge of golf courses (what makes them
good, what makes them bad) I did not really have an overall positive
opinion. If I was blindfolded and dropped off there, well, once the
blindfold was removed I would not figure I was at such an exclusive
venue.
The Players:
While at the 11th, here are
some random observations. Golfer had missed a belt loop while getting
dressed this morning, a caddy selecting an dpointing out an
individual person in the crowd and asking them directly to stand
still, a caddy asking people to put their cell phones away, a golfer
missing a birdie putt and throwing his putter on his bag, golfers
mumbling loudly after missing their birdie putts, a golfer was very
happy making an eagle, a well known golfer demonstrating his
obsessive compulsive disorder with his sand wedge, people in the
crowd commenting (not in a derogatory manner mind you) on the size of
a few caddies, a caddy with his polite English/Australian/South
African accent asking folks to “be quite please”. I could hear
him wanting to say, “Excuse me please, would you mind being quite
for a bit, me mate is putting”. Once golfer was using a really nice
putter with a small head. Pretty interesting. Not everyone makes a 3
foot put, even the pros.
No comments:
Post a Comment