The Open @ Oakmont

Perhaps against my better judgment, I’ll type this while in a stupor of drowsiness. This, being not out of a sense of obligation, but written to both inform the nonexistent masses that frequent my page and to numb my mind to the inescapable sense that the hands of the clock are moving at half-speed while I sit in my cubicle jail cell. Without further blabbering, I present the past week:

This past Tuesday, I turned 24. It was a fairly quiet event. I’ve found that birthdays aren’t the annual holidays of our childhood, once we have moved away from home. When I was young, family and friends constantly reminded me of the occasion, and there were parties and gifts to anticipate. Now, though gifts are still nice, and being with loved ones is still a treat, there is a definite decrease in the hoopla factor. This isn’t really a complaint. I do not care about having a big bash, nor do I mind being older. In fact, I quite enjoy the inverse relationship that my car insurance premiums share with my time on this Earth.

This weekend was fantastic despite a disappointment that was completely out of my hands. On Sunday, I was one of these people.

Thanks to my wonderful girlfriend and some planning with a good friend of mine from my days at MethCo, the “woms” (a term of endearment coined by another friend) and I spent many hours in close proximity to many of golf’s top players: Els, Funk, Singh, Furyk, Mr. Woods (just google him - if you must) etc. Mickelson took the weekend off… that’s ok. (I can see overweight hackers at the local municipal track.) The only other tournament I’ve attended was The Player’s Championship in the spring of 2002. I was able to get much better views there. I’m under the impression that approximately the same number of people attended each. However, Oakmont’s openness and hole configuration do not allow for spectators to be along each side of every fairway and tee. This caused many areas to be off limits and severe congestion in those that weren’t. Worse yet was that after Baddeley handed over the lead on the first hole, Tiger couldn’t hold onto it with par. His 2-over round resulted in a 2nd place finish tied with Jim Furyk, one stroke behind Angel Cabrera. Despite the loss, it was an enjoyable experience.

I also decided that my not-so-coveted Fashion in Golf award goes to Ian Poulter (see above). I’ve liked his sartorial choices for a while but would never wear any of them. Why would I, a hacker, want to have any more people’s attention than is absolutely necessary?

After the festivities, we made the return to Harrisontonburgvillefieldcesteria around midnight. Time well spent.