Ryder Cup

The visit to Medinah and the practice rounds of the Ryder Cup were more than I had hoped for.
We started out Tuesday morning at 7:30 and the crowds were not too bad. We parked at the forest preserve for free, hopped on a shuttle bus and were at the course in 10 minutes. Very easy!

We started walking the course and when we got to 3 we knew that we had to stop there. There were bleachers for the guys to sit and watch, which were empty, and Sharen and I planted ourselves right out side the walkway between holes about 20 ft from the cup and 15 ft from the green. Prime location for pictures. We had to stand around for about 3.5 hours before all the golfer came through, but that was OK we met some young twin boys, Kyle and Andrew from Fl. They wanted to get a picture so Andrew could post it on facebook, so I had the guy take one of us for my blog. Kyle thought I was pretty cool cause I blogged. We passed the time talking twin.

All the members of the Europe team signed autographs. No one was signing for the American team but Matt Kuchar. Standing right in front of us was a boy clearly going through Chemo. Kuchar stopped, signed his flag and his hat, and chatted with him for a good minute. I heard the conversation and got choked up big time. The Amercain team did hand out RC pins and told all the kids they would sign after the round. Not sure if that happened because we were long gone by then.

After all the golfers came through Mike and Dup wanted to walk around the course and the only thing Sharen and I wanted to do was SIT DOWN somewhere. We decided on the 13th green to watch them hit up on a par 3. Not thinking the boys took off with both cell phones and the money. Sharen sat there for awhile while I headed over to the first fairway to get some pics of the captain/celebrity scramble. When I got back we both decided we were thirsty and tired and wanted to shop and get something to eat before heading home. We both borrowed cell phones to try and call the boys. No Answer. Ugh! They finally show up and we head over to the gift shop, grab a bite to eat, and head on home. 3:30pm. Very successful day 1.

Day 2 started out with a birthday breakfast. Thanks Mike. Got to the course a little later - around 9:45. Stopped for a twin picture in front of Tiger Woods poster!

Sharen was hoping they were signing again today and bought a flag. No such luck! Note to visitors next time go on day one for autographs. We caught some Europe players between holes 1 and 2, but no such luck in any autographs. Bummer! A couple of the American golfers were teeing it up on the backside so we decide to sit in the TALLLLLL bleachers on 17 and watch from there. It was very nice having Mike there - one to take our pictures everywhere and 2 he saved our seat so Sharen and I could run over to the 14th tee off to get some pictures of golfers tee off. Mission accomplished.

People were asking why we had corsages on and we proudly told them that it was our birthday and Sharen's daughter made them for us.

While you wait for golfers to come through you sit or stand around and talk with everyone who is around you. On the 17th green we sat in front of a couple from Ireland. The couple next to us were from Tulsa and they were here for the whole tourney. The most interesting were the four guys sitting in front of us. (I couldn't not sit in the front row). They were from Denver. Yes they were Bronco fans and in true Bronco fashion (Andy) they snuck a flask of whiskey in their pants. It took some convincing on Sharen and my part to stop them from singing Happy Birthday to us. They were convinced that they could get the whole crowd involved. Thanks God for that one. Those poor guys sat there for 5.5 hours and only saw 6 golfers. Most all the golfer had stopped before getting to the 17th hole. They had one more day there so when we left they were planning their tomorrow. Oh Yeah, one of them was a twin too, but his twin wasn't there.

It was a smooth day from getting to the course, getting around the course (even with all the crowds), getting something to eat, shopping in the gift shop and leaving the place. All went really well. No lines for us. We did see some lines for the pottys, but not when we needed them.

Just a few observations. I know they bring in money, but there were way-way too many corporate tents. There had very few bins for recycling - even though everything came in plastic cups or bottles. They could of used more picnic table or places to eat. Behind the first tee were about 30 tables and room for 100 more.
The course looked amazing and when we cut across the fairway you could see they were immaculatly groomed. Big thumbs up to the golf attire on both days. Pin striped pants with navy shirts on Tuesday and red pants with navy shirts on Wednesday. The red.white.blue jackets looked really good too.

 Good Job Medinah... Go USA!!!!
Lots of pictures on my shutterfly......