From TCC to Crooked Stick

Well I didn't chime in after the Amateur after at The Country Club, but what a week it was. The news media had it well covered ni telling the special story about Bill Drohen winning with his brother Andy on the bag. Tough to script that one with Andy beating Frank Vana in the final at TCC the last time it was played in Brookline. The storybook week was made even more special for everyone involved because the weather was perfect (finally, hooray!) and we could not have been treated any better by the club. Players, officials and spectators alike were all made to feel so welcome that it was a tribute to the club and the game itself.

Last week at Portsmouth CC in New Hampshire, Thorny Lea's Matt Parziale continued his torrid play by capturing the New England Golf Association Amateur Championship. More weather problems (surprise) to start the week, but everything ended up great. I helped out one day, and Harry McCracken and company did a great job. And a very nice course to boot.

Yesterday (Tuesday) I arrived in Indianapolis for the US Senior Open. I was invited to be a rules official and was thrilled to be asked. I flew in and a volunteer - a retired gentleman named Al - was there to greet me with a sign with my name on it. There was another volunteer there with a sign that said 'Mike Reid'. I thought, 'Gee, what's wrong with this picture?' Mike is a career tour player who now plays the Champions Tour and I'm just some rules official. I was just looking for a shuttle ride to the airport and Al said that he would escort me to fill out some paperwork so I could pick up my Lexus courtesy car. I was stunned for a second until we figured out that Al mistook me for a player in the field. He said, 'You look like a player.' I said, 'Yeah, but you haven't seen me play. No, I'm just a rules official looking for a ride.' We had a laugh and then he drove me to the Radisson about half hour from the airport.

I bumped into Bob Ruby in the Providence airport who was also traveling straight through to Indianapolis to also serve as an official. Bob is a doctor from Connecticut who I know through the Connecticut State Golf Association - he has officiated at three other Senior Opens so he said he'd take me around. We got to the course and with our 'All Access' badge got to go straight into the clubhouse and locker room where officials were sharing the same space with the players. Hale Irwin and Tom Lehman walked by and nodded and I realized I'm not at just any golf tournament.

Bob and I walked the front nine at Crooked Stick to familiarize ourselves with the course. The Pete Dye design is in absolutely mint condition. We walked inside the ropes and read through the hole by hole description provided by the USGA Rules Staff that lists all the hazards, obstruction and TIO's (Temporary Immovable Obstructions). The TIO's are basically all the grand stands and TV towers that only come into play at Tour events and national championships. We bumped into a group on the third hole that featured Tom Purtzer, Gary Hallberg and Larry Nelson. We stayed out of their way but watched them hit shots all the way around the front nine as we checked out the course. Larry Nelson, of course, is a former US Open and PGA Champion and Hallberg and Purtzer are multiple tour winners. Purtzer and Hallberg have two of the sweetest swings going. Gary chatted us up after a few holes and started asking us how the course would be set up. We explained that we were just a couple of volunteer officials and that course set-up was a little above our pay grade for the week.