The Peninsula is buzzing with anticipation of the coming US Open Golf Championship, to be played at Pebble Beach. Organizers have been fretting and bustling for the past year, and now with a palpable sense of urgency are putting the final equipment, processes and volunteers in place. Play begins Thursday. Lots of locals are planning to be out of town as the crush of oogling fans can be overwhelming.
I don't golf, but since I live here I am virtually required to know at least something about the game. I have lost track of the number of 18-hole courses that exist in the area. I believe there are six major courses just within the confines of Del Monte Forest: Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill, Poppy Hills, Cypress, Del Monte Country Club, and Spanish Bay. It's free to take a walk in The Forest as we call it. If you go, always beware of the possibility of a golf ball whistling by no matter where you are, so practice ducking while you walk, which is almost the same as walking like a duck.
You have to be quiet, too. Golfers like it very quiet so they can concentrate on hitting the ball into the water traps and sand traps. They pay a lot of money for the privilege of playing, especially if it's Pebble or Spyglass. Do not get in their way or pretend that you matter as much as their game does. You don't, at least not while they're playing. Green fees are upwards of $300 a round on the most famous courses. Players are listening to the cha-ching of cash registers in their minds as they make their way around the course, and rightfully so. But, the sacred ground of Pebble is worth it to many, so they pay up.
The US Open is one of the biggest tournaments in the universe of golf; Pebble had to bid on it what seemed like 18 years ago. Bidders compete ferociously for the right to host the tournament. The last time it was held here (2002?) Tiger Woods won by something like 13 strokes over the nearest golfer. That's kind of the equivalent of winning the mile run by a whole lap. He made the other golfers look like they'd been hitting their drives with the back of their clubs. This year there will be other wonderful athletes in expensive clothes labeled with Nike swooshes who will be mobbed by quiet respectful golf fans.
The golf course itself has been redesigned to make it even more challenging. I think they've added an island offshore which is where the 19th hole will be located. Otters trained to catch golf balls are forming little flotillas offshore, posted there by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where they have been raised since puphood. They'll be wearing specially designed golf caps with the Pebble Beach logo on them. This is planned as a special feature of this course this year. Tour organizers are hopeful that the trend will spread to other tournaments in other parts of the country in keeping with their attempt at education outreach to young golf fans. "We hope the otters posted offshore will show that humans and wildlife can work together to improve understanding of our ecosystem and to lessen the impact of golfballs on the local marine environment." I understand that the most skilled otters will be throwing balls back onshore once the balls are caught.
Hoteliers are happy that their rooms will be full for an entire week at least. There have been some well-deserved complaints about rooms being sold for exorbitant rates. I'm happy to also note that when locals have heard of room rates being horribly expensive they have offered rooms in their own homes. We are friendly here and we understand that not everyone is wealthy and has money to throw around.
Shuttles are being offered to fans, and that's mostly to relieve what is normally a pretty congested commute for locals; add about 40,000 extra people to the morning and evening crush and you'd have a lot of frustrated drivers. Without shuttles, we'd experience an extra four hours on each commute. It's going to feel like a phone booth with 20 people in it as it is; the Peninsula is actually a small area.
I'll keep you posted on the Groove and the impact of the tournament on it. Next time: Those dear deer.
Friday, June 11, 2010
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2 comments:
Minor correction to your golf litany: "The Forest" actually has eight (8) courses within its confines. The two you missed belong to and are run by the Monterey Peninsula Country Club. There is the Shore Course, now being used as one of the three courses involved in the AT&T tournament each year in February; and the Forest Course, the older and shorter of the two, and most heavily played by club members for the simple expedient that they can actually hit some greens "in regulation" and brag about doing so. They can only dream of doing that on the Shore Course.
The U.S. Open is actually a big deal in golf, because anyone skilled enough can qualify to play in it, whether pro or amateur. That's what "open" means in the title. The British Open is another such tournament, but you have to go all the way to England or Scotland to play in that thing, and that in itself is both foreboding and frightfully expensive.
Just in case you were half serious about it, there is no island off the Pebble Beach Course on which to place a 19th green. The actual 19th hole is, instead, to be found INSIDE The Lodge and its popular 19th Hole bar. In fact, that's probably the best seat in the house for watching the tournament on television, with instructions to the barkeep to keep your glass of suds or scotch topped off. Cheaper too....
I am never even half serious; life is a lot more fun when nothing is taken seriously at all.
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