PGA Championship

What a treat to be able to go see the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island. Ty and I spent all day Friday at the tournament and the television did NOT do the wind justice. At times it was even hard to stand up! We arrived at the main gate and stopped in with PGA passes. Anyone with a ticket could then see if their ticket was a lucky winner of fabulous prizes but alas, not ours. 

We passed through many huge tents with merchandise, performance, sponsors. Then we decided to meet up with friends to watch the players making the turn from 18 to 1 tee off on 1. Ty and I then moved on and walked backwards from 9 to 5 green. Big winds made it hard for the players to hit close to targets and we saw some very interesting short game shots we thought had a minimal chance to save par but wouldn't you know, everyone chipped within five feet of the hole from almost everywhere.  

Wow, these guys are GOOD! We were five feet from two players whose golf balls came to rest precariously on the edge of the rough overhanging a small cliff by the cart path right of 6. It was really fun to listen up close as they discussed wind, lie, hillside and wind again before making their shots. We were right up there in the action.  

Ty found a great spot for us where we could watch the players hit into 5 green and then we took eight steps and were right up on #6 tee with them, again just inches from their bags and tee shot. Seeing the great players on TV is one thing but being there in their presence that close is another. They're just people like us but for some reason, we just stare and admire and feel like we're watching golf Gods in action. 

Wouldn't you know it - on the farthest point from the clubhouse a storm hit. Luckily, we had huge golf umbrellas to help. I squatted under mine and was in my cozy 'tent' without getting wet while Ty helped shelter a few other golfers next to him. Good foresight to bring those umbrellas! 

We had a good lunch and made our long way back to the other end of the island to catch up with our friends on 13 green. We felt like fish going upstream when we hit Tiger's hole on 1 and everyone was going forward while we were going backward. We watched him leave his approach shot 20 yards short of the pin on 1, requiring a chip and a save for par -- he can certainly draw a crowd. 

The back nine reared its ugly head and made for some tough golf. Our friends were situated left of 13 green and in almost every group, we had to duck for 1-2 balls that were incoming into our area. Two people were hit within six groups, as the water right and the tight approach allowed for a small bail-out left. We also wondered why on earth we kept sitting in that area. It's very disconcerting to lose sight of the ball in the air and hear frantic "Fore!!' alerts. There was nothing to do but cover our heads, turn our backs to the player and hope it didn't hit!

What a wonderful day as we left windblown with sand in our hair, socks, ears and everywhere - the Ocean Course is one of the toughest courses I've seen but one of the most beautiful as well!