Golf's Hat Trick

As some of you regular readers of Bighouseblog know, I am a golf fan. This year, I have had the unique opportunity to attend three huge professional golf events: The Masters, The PGA Championship, and this weekend's Ryder Cup. Each of these tournaments were different but special experiences. So if you will allow me to "go off the board" for a minute, I would love to share with you my thoughts and experiences from such a "lucky" year for attending such great events.

The Masters: As Jim Nance says, it truly is "a tradition like no other". When your on the hallowed grounds of Augusta National it's something very special. The place is magical, beautiful, and perfect all together. If you ever get a chance to attend, you should whether your a golf fan or not. I have never seen an event run so well. Like their name says they have "mastered" every aspect of your viewing and attending pleasure. You can get a 2 drinks and a sandwich for less then $10. Television doesn't come close to showing the speed and breaks in the greens and most of the pin placements aren't even fair. It's a wonderful experience to just attend and enjoy the historic course, there is also some pretty good golf played there as well.

The PGA Championship at Oakland Hills: We were lucky enough to attend Friday's round (the day with the best weather) when it was Hot and a little windy. This was a day where the best golfers in the world (minus Tiger) were against the long Oakland Hills golf course and the course won. We watched golf for 11 hours and could have counted the number of birdies we saw on one hand. I have been to US Open's and Ryder Cup's at Oakland Hills but this was as tough as I have ever seen this course play. Great Day of watching golfers trying to take on the "Monster" and end up looking like most of us do playing on the weekend.

The 2008 Ryder Cup: This weekend was like no other golf event I have been to. (When I attended the Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills the US team got beat badly and only manged one point the entire day) This past Saturday was filled with tremendous golf from both the US and European Teams. Many different crowd eruptions from fans from "across the pond" and even here in the "good old" USA.

The players were on both sides were very focused and the fans were chanting "USA, USA, USA" all day. This weekend was as special as watching golf gets. It wasn't one golfer against the course, this was a team and country event. It was Olympics for Golf.

Both teams were playing "out of their minds" with amazing shot making and un-believable putting. Both teams were playing to the crowds and you could really see that Paul Azinger put together a team of good players but players with personality that could thrive in this format. Boo Weekly played perfect golf, his energy, humor, and "down home" personality was a perfect fit for the US. Tie that in with Kentucky natives JB Holmes and Kenny Perry with the young "AK" Anthony Kim. The US team was tough to beat.

The energy and memories of this past weekend will last a lifetime. If you think golf is boring to watch or not for you, give the Ryder Cup a chance. It's the Masters meets Michigan - Ohio State. It's the US Open meets the Olympics. It's a wonderful chance to be patriotic, it's a wonderful chance to get your blood boiling, It's a wonderful chance to be American and cheer for your love for golf and for the love or your country. It's a chance to put the thoughts of $4 gas, historic foreclosers, Presidential elections, and a down economy away and just be American for a few hours. Well done gentlemen, you made your country proud.