A Day at the USGA Senior Open

Mr C has two big loves in life: golf and great food.  Really.  Give this young man a chance to play golf and he will give up almost anything else.  Offer him a dinner/lunch out at a restaurant he deems exotic or prepare a meal that is fancy and he will come running.  Knowing this about him, it was hard to imagine that a USGA event would be in our area and he would miss out on going.  When Mr C's golf coach offered up some tickets for the practice rounds and my husband had ticket for Thursday, I knew we'd be moving heaven and earth to go to the tournament.

On Monday, Mr C and Miss A and I braved the extreme heat (95 plus) to watch the practice round and catch a glimpse of some of the Old Guard of the PGA in action.  Guys like Tom Kite, Tom Watson, Fred Couples and Fred Funk; the people I remember watching with my Dad on Sunday afternoons.  In fact, I might have had a middle school crush on Tom Watson!

Walking the hills of the Country Club and watching these golfers gave Miss A an itch to pick up some clubs just like her big brother that she idolizes so much.  Seeing them walk hand in hand between the holes caused a little lump in my throat thinking about the fact that in another year this young man will be off to college. Having days like this when we can spend time doing something Mr C loves so much is even more precious.

Miss A and I had fun too watching the people.  On a hot day, its amazing what people will wear to a golf tournament and how much $7 Lemonade they will consume to keep cool.  Within minutes of arriving at the course, Mr C realized that his Green Golf Shirt choice was not the best as it was also the color of the Marshall's for the tournament.  I bet five or six people came up to him asking questions and directions!  Good sport that he is he helped them out as best he could.

Mr C was thrilled when we ran into his Golf Coach and they were able to "talk the talk" while watching; guess he didn't like Miss A and my comments on the Golfers shirts, cute caddies and bad putts.  

A day at a PGA event would not be complete however without a little fun at the Stemzone Tent where Mr C was able to act like a Golf Channel announcer and Miss A played the role of the Sound Guy.  Miss A learned a little bit about the science of golf technology and what a Stem Meter is while Mr C was practicing his swing in the simulator.  

Spending the day at the US Senior Open was one of the highlights of my summer because not only did I get to see PGA superstars up close, I got to experience it all with two of my favorite people in the world.