Holy Toledo, These Guys Are Good

Sorry, couldn't help myself withthat title. I have been at the U.S. Senior Open since Tuesday. Serving on the Rules Committee. It's been a hectic but enjoyable week. Walked the golf course Tuesday and Wednesday to get familiar with it, attended Rules meeting on Wednesday night and we were off and running on Thursday.

Inverness is a great course and the conditioning is perfect. Small greens, rough is thick but not overly long. If you've beenfollowing then you know exactly how good the scoring has been. There was a lot of rain the week prior to the championship which softened the greens somewhat. Combined with the heat and high humidity, it was just going to be difficult for the USGA to get them firm. And then we had some drenching rains in the very early morning hours of Friday which delayed the start by more than two hours.

My first group that I walked with on Friday featured two amateurs, Mike Allen from Austin and Rick Cloninger from Fort Mill, SC. Both are very good players. Mike played well but had three bad holes, and Rick played extremely solid but three-putted the last to shoot one over. The third player in the group was club pro, Sonny Skinner, from Georgia. He got to two-under early but struggled late. We had a few rulings, but all were minor (thankfully). There was a ball against a TV tower on one hole, ball in a lateral hazard and a question whether a ball was actually on the putting green. It was the 18th hole and it was Rick Cloninger. I was fairly certain but had some doubt so I called in a Rover to verify. The fact that it was on the 18th hole in front of the gallery made it doubly inportant to get it 100% right.

It was brutally hot out there on Thursday, about 100 degrees with high humidity. everybody was soaked. We didn't tee off until 2:25 so we were in the real heat of the day. I drank 8 bottles of water and 2 Gatorades during the round and never once had to seek out the port-o-let. OK, that's probably too much info, but that's how hot it was. Nice to get in the AC afterwards.

I was scheduled to go off at 8:40 on Friday with first round leader Olin Browne. Also in the group were Dan Forsman and Mark McNulty. Because of the weather delay we ended up not teeing off until 11:25. Another hot day, but slighty less so compared to Thursday. All three players are nice guys and fortunately never needed my help al day. Olin continued to play well, a very tiday round of two-under with one blemish on #7 where he made double after a poor drive left into the trees.

I was tired, but on Friday night I was invited to a Toledo Mudhens game, the AAA baseball team made famouse by Jamie Farr's constant references back inthe M.A.S.H. days on TV. Great stadium, great game. Voted best minor league stadium for several years running, and right neart the hotel, too. Not too much other sight seeing. Pretty much been golf course and hotel.

Saturday I was an Observer with the Loren Roberts and Willie Wood group. I was out fron to assist the referee. Much less pressure than being a referee. Warm day, but the hunidity was down. Both players played well and didn't need any rules asistance, so it was a walk in the park. I watched the rest of the TV telecast from the USGA hospitality room in the clubhouse. Too tired to do anything, but grab a quick bite at the hotel with Dave Miller and Dr. Bob Ruby. Dave is onthe USGA Senior Am Committee and a member at Charles River who officiates many MGA and NEGA events. Bob is a dentist from CT who is also onthe USGA Senior Am Committee and very accomplished player. He is one of the best Rules guys I know. The three of us have had a nice time this week and have also met some new people along the way.

Final round today and I am going with Phil Blackmar and Steve Lowery at 12:06. They're both former winners on the regular tour and pretty low-key guys, so hopefully it will be a good day out there.