Home from Scottsdale, some thoughts: We landed at 10:45am on Wednesday and had a 2 o'clock tee time at Talking Stick. Once we got the rental we just went straight there, got there around noon. Ate lunch at the grill there and it was fine, nothing amazing but not bad either. The course was absolute chaos. We were behind a group that were more concerned with getting hammered and you could hear there music when they were down the fairway. Had to wait on them quite a bit because they weren't keeping up, in turn making the guys behind us wait a decent amount...those guys apparently thought we were the slow ones and hit into us multiple times. Couldn't see a thing when we got to 18 and just tried to hack it in. Course was an easier one to start on which was nice. Didn't play well and just ignored my phone so only got this one pic Thursday we got to the tournament about 8 and it was pretty empty. Hung out between the 10th green and 11 tee for a little bit then headed into 16 about 20 minutes before the first groups would be coming through. We had Members' Club badges that day so we left for a tent. We paid about $150 per ticket and it was way worth it, included alcohol and food throughout the day. It's really easy to go in and out quickly just to get a drink so we found some spots to stand near holes that had a tent. Friday we had regular tickets and the crowds were noticeably larger from the start. Wasn't worth even trying to see the JT/Rickie groups but we were mostly trying to see a lot of Wolff and some other groups that didn't have many followers. 16 started to clear out so we went back there about 5 o'clock to see the last groups and that place was a disaster. Walking in the bleachers felt like you were going to stick to the floor, porta-potties were close to overflowing, and beer cans and liquids all over the stands. Biggest takeaway I can give...if you take an Uber, when leaving do not go to the normal Uber pick up area. They set it up like a normal taxi line and we heard it was close to a 2 hour wait just on Thursday. We ended up walking a ways away from everything and calling a car there. Pics are 16 on Thursday morning, 17 view from the Members' Club, and the Wolff group on 3 on Friday when he blew it by the other two Played Troon North first thing Saturday morning and it was awesome. Course was pretty challenging, the greens were rolling just over 11, and if you got wayward you weren't generally weren't finding your ball. I hit the ball nicely but couldn't putt for shit with the speed and contours, think I had something like 6 3-putts. Only regret from this day was I wish we would've had more time to hang out at the course, we ate in the clubhouse as soon as we finished and then had to head to the airport. Nice thing about this plan was the locker rooms are great so we could shower off.
More pics from Troon. The 16th hole is a 234 yard par 3 that plays about 208 because of the elevation change. Best view on the course all day. Last is the tee shot on 18. I hooked this into a fairway bunker on the left but still like the pic
No report on what you did at night? Did you go to Old Town in Scottsdale? That place is fucking wild. Can only imagine what it would be like while the tourney is in town.
Nothing worthwhile unfortunately. We woke up at 4am CT on Wednesday so after beers at Talking Stick plus dinner we were dragging like crazy and crashed early. Thursday got pretty drunk at the tournament then drank more at dinner and went to some divey place near our hotel. Friday night we didn't want to do much since we had to be up at 6 to pack up and leave the hotel. We ate at Cold Beers and Cheeseburgers on Wednesday for their special and it was pretty good, $13.50 for a burger plus any toppings you wanted. Friday we went to some Mexican place near the course right after the tournament and as we're sitting at the bar, George Gankas sat down right next to us. He noticed my friend's OSU hat and asked us if we were there to meet up with Matt and we talked to him briefly before Wolff's whole family came in and sat in the bar area with us. Alan Bratton (OSU golf coach) was there and he noticed the hat as well and chatted with us for a while too. It was a pretty tame trip, I'm a 50 year old in a 30 year old's body
Didn’t want to take the attn away from the champ. Could go for a distraction with how bad this golf is though
Good for rick. Made some tough par putts after that disaster hole. Could have gone off the rails if he missed those.
How is everyone feeling about their fantasy teams? Had a guy finish T-4 and am still 3rd to last. Didn’t move a single fucking spot.