a few weeks ago, chase and i experienced the ryder cup. it was his second time, but it was my first. he said things had definitely changed since he went 20 years ago!
we flew into minneapolis, and after a quick stop by the hotel to drop our stuff off we made our way to hazeltine for the opening ceremony. there was no parking at hazeltine, so all 60,000 fans had to meet and ride buses to nearby chaska high school. canterbury park (a super nice horse race track) was about a mile from our hotel, and that's where we met our bus....along with a million other people. but since we got there right before the opening ceremony, we didn't get a grasp on the bus line until the next morning.
we walked around and figured out the layout of the course, found the international pavilion (the only bathrooms that i would use because well, just imagine the port-a-potties after 60,000 people had been using them during the practice rounds all week), perused the 50,000 square foot ryder cup shop for some gear for the little people, and watched the opening ceremony.
walking in...
the next morning, we were up at 5am and thinking that we were ahead of the game since the buses didn't start running until 6am. hahahaha!!! we got to the buses and then waited in line for an hour just to get on a bus. it was crazy! but the pga got it figured out after that first morning, and we never waited more than 10 minutes after that. they were actually very efficient (and should have been considering that they had charter buses all the way from louisiana, school buses from every district around them, and what actually looked like a prison bus! we still made it just in time for the first tee time of the day!
jordan speith in the first fairway...
we bought ryder cup radios, and that was the best money we spent all week. it was little radio that hung around your neck, and there were 3 channels...nbc, the american broadcast and the BBC. the european broadcast was by far the best. they were hysterical, and their description of what was going was so much better than the american broadcasters. i need a british guy to walk around and just describe what's going on my life!
anyway, this was my favorite spot on the course. par 3 #8. it was crazy crowded, but we happened to be there when rory made his 40 putt and patrick reed followed it with a birdie of his own, along with some finger wagging and smack talk! so much fun!
middle of the fairway at #18...
we added on and got international pavilion access. it was nice to have a place to sit and eat some food, and it would have been great if we had needed it for rain and cold weather. but we lucked out and it was 70 degrees everyday.
all smiles after finishing in the lead after day 1 (barely)...
#4...
jordan speith lining up his putt on #6. (i wasn't stalking just him with my camera, but they had "mobile device enforcement" people that would yell at you if you got out your phone. so, it just happened to be him every time that i had a chance to take a picture!)
mr. ryder cup himself! what an amazing week this guy had...
the empty #1 grandstand at the end of the day...
and the full and rowdy #1 grandstand in the morning...
signing arnold palmer's memory board....
these are two of the "guardians of the cup." they travel to every ryder cup wherever it is and cheer (and sing...loudly) for europe. and yes, it was about 8am. and yes, they have multiple beers in their hands and pockets. and the pga can't figure out how or why fans are crazy and loud during the rounds....hmmmmm???
jordan and rory having a chat on the putting green before the final day got started.
jordan again...
dustin johnson finishing up on #16. this was my second favorite place on the course. it was on a hill, and it could get to 30 people deep watching on this hole. there was also a video board behind the hill, so we could watch what going on elsewhere on the course.
zach johnson after clinching his match...
celebrating the win!!
ricky fowler and jimmy walker...
patrick reed...
phil and jordan...
winners!!
the closing ceremony...
saying goodbye to hazeltine....
this is only about half of the sea of humanity making their way to the buses to leave. half of the people didn't stay for the closing ceremony!!
if you are a golf fan (and even if you're not), you should definitely put the ryder cup on your bucket list just to experience a sporting event unlike any other anywhere at least once! but i'm going to warn you, i think golf fans are the tallest people on the earth. i promise you that every guy there was 6'5". so if you go, make sure you have a 6'7" husband upon whose back you can jump when it gets to the point that you need to see something important unfold!! i might have missed a few exciting putts if not for chase!!
we are so glad that the cup is back where it belongs, and i'm already looking forward to two years from now and cheering us on in paris at le golf national. now i've gotta get chase to get in touch with some of his french tennis teammates from college and round us up a place to stay!!! :)
