It Was Great...

OK, I shot 112... But it was Oakmont.

This was like no golfing experience I have ever had. I normally golf at cheap public courses... for the most part. You pull your car in the parking lot, looking for a strategic spot where it won't get hit by any stray golf balls, change your shoes in the parking lot... stuff like that.

Not at Oakmont.

We pull into the car port... a valet takes the car, golf bags, shoes & the bag with the clothes for changing... directs us to the Men's Grill, where Mr. M is waiting. Lunch has already been ordered. We eat, then off to the locker room.

We are assigned a locker. There is a metal plaque above my locker indicating this one was used by Ernie Els in 1994 when he won the US Open, so I guess it is good enough for me. While changing, they have attendants that are asking if you want sunscreen, baby power, new soft-spikes, beverages (there is a full bar in the locker-room).

We stop in the Pro Shop, then head over towards the 1st tee. We are assigned 4 caddies & have 2 carts. We ride in the carts while a caddy stands on the back, handing us our clubs, cleaning them after we hit, telling us the yardage... the other 2 are walking 150 to 200 yards ahead, marking our balls as we hit. That is a fore-caddy, so I'm told. With "US Open ready ruff" it can be very difficult to find your ball, let alone hit it... so these guys really help. (not that I was ever in the deep rough or anything... HA!!!) They will place a little flag by your ball then move up again. On the carts, they had a little cooler... not for beer, but it was filled with ice and little chilled and lemoned towels, to cool off with. (gosh!!!)

Now, for the game. I was very nervous starting out. I have never golfed using a caddy before. I have never played a course even in the same league before. I was playing with the Sr. Partner & a client. Standing in view of the patio of the club house. The first hole is the No. 1 handicap hole (the hardest hole on the golf course). I took a fairway wood & put it about 220, just down the left rough. Outta the gate... I take a double bogy & move on.

It probably took me 3 or 4 holes to realize that it is just another golf course. A freak'n hard ass golf course, but just a course none-the-less. The fairways look like the greens of most courses I play. And the greens... I have never putted on greens like these before. Undulating, hard to read & slicker than snot... I was in the famous "Church Pews" (bunkers in picture above) on number 3, but managed to "punch out." The rough was so thick there was no way for a player like me to really advance the ball very much, you just had to take a club with enough loft to get it outta there and hopefully back into the fairway.

I had one par on the front 9 & one on the back. On the bad side, I had a snowman (an 8) on the front & a 9 on the back... but for the most part, I was taking double bogy. Not too shabby, considering...

After the round, we return to the locker room for a shower. Even the showers in this place were great. They had these huge shower heads and temperture controls that were amazing... if you set it just right, it felt like you were in a cool rain storm... very refreshing. They have this one area set up, just to powder your feet...

So, I must say, it was an experience, start to finish... a golf experience like I have never had. It was a bit "high brow" for my tastes, but it was still fun.