The US Open Torrey Pines

Today was the opening day for the US Open golf tournament in Torrey Pines.. down by San Diego.
Every year this tournament, one of the majors, moves to a different course. Golfers compete to be included in this tournament in regional tournaments held across the country. The pros usually make it in by winning a PGA event during the year or have won a major event in the last 10 years. These are plays that compete through exemption. It is very special tournament. I have been fortunate to cover two such events when they were held in Northern California. The last one was held in 2000 at Pebble Beach. I was able to get dad in to see the one held at the Olympic Club two years before that 100th at Pebble Beach.

In both cases they allowed the rough to grow very deep. This makes for much more careful play. It was so deep at Pebble Beach, that the second place golfer's ball on the the final hole could not be found when hit into the rough by the club house with thousands of people watching. I heard from the coverage today that they had done the same thing except they cut down the rough a little in the last couple of weeks so that it would not be too rough.

Torrey pines is not a private club. It will allow anyone who lives in La Jolla to play for 40 dollars. This is an amazing fee. Most private clubs in the Monterey Bay area charge upwards to 600 dollars to play.

NBC and ESPN are covering the tournament. My direct TV allows for four extra channels for specific spots on the grounds. In high Def.it is incredible. I The most picturesque hole is the third in this tournament. A hole that is separated by a huge cliff. Just the green and the Pacific Ocean are visible from the T box.

The big news at the event is that Tiger had knee surgery after the Masters (the last major tournament) and hasn't played competitively since. Will he or will he not be the Tiger that will decimate the rivals? He is kind of in the middle of the pack with a +1 score in the first round. There are four rounds to this contest.

After the first two days the field is cut. The last two days have pairings instead of four member groupings. In this stage half of the groupings start on hole number one and play to 18, The other half start at hole 9 and continue to play to hold 18 and then continue playing on hole one and finish on hole 8. This allows for speedier play. It wasn't in effect for the US open tournaments that I covered.

Have a great day! : ) Pat