USGA Senior Open advice

[zaphod]

Son and I have tickets for the USGA Senior Open at Whistling Straits for championship Sunday. This will be my first time attaining a Pro event and first time at the Straits. Hope to have great time.

Alas, no cameras or cellphones are allowed in so will not be able to post pics.

Any advice on how to get the best time in attending this event. Anyone with experience from the PGA held there. Good locations to watch multiple holes. Is it worth it to camp out at 18? or follow group. Opinions??

[Irish]

I was at the pga championship at medinah last year...and been to a good few events here in ireland...

my advice and what I do is get there early as hell and follow some groups around in the morning...did olazabal early sunday...after lunch I get a seat at a grandstand (was the 5th last year - par five..lots of birdies) and stayed there to watch the last 15 pairings come back..

then cut across onto 16 grandstand for a few more groups...finally settled at 17 in the natural amphitheatre to watch the final groups come home

that way i got to walk the course a few times in the morning and see the big guns play a couple of holes in the afternoon

trying to follow tiger was just pointless with the amount of people around him

[Eracer]

I went to all four days of the 2004 PGA championship.

Our strategy was:

Thursday. Walk all day. Start out on #1, follow a group for a while, stop, camp out, follow, stop, etc. until you get to #9. Eat lunch. Do the same on the back nine.

On Friday we did mostly the same, but did a bit more sitting, since the Straights course can wear your ass out.

On Saturday we hit the course at 6:30 (when the gates opened) and walked all the way out to the grandstand at #5, ate brats and drank beer at 7:30am (this is Wisconsin, after all...) and waited for the golfers to play through. You get a great view on a great par 5 hole, and you can turn around and watch them tee off on #6. We sat there for a while, then followed a group into #9 for lunch (more brats and beer - duh!).

The green complex at #1, #8 is a good place to sit as well, although I don't recall grandstands. One thing about the Straights course, there are always great vantage points if you're willing to release your inner Billy Goat. Lots an lots of steep, tall dunes that offer great views, if you can hack it. Just for reference, there were seven people hospitalized on Thursday alone for injuries sustained from falls. Not for the faint of heart, but that means more opportunity for the fearless...

If you walk the whole course on Thursday, you'll find your spots.

Now - on Sunday, we got there at the crack of dawn, got in line, and immediately headed for #18, so that we could secure good seats for the finish. It was a long wait for the first group, but because we had four people, we had the luxury of going out in pairs while our seats were saved. It was worth it, since having primo seats next to the green was a great way (really the only way) the see the excitement of the tournament finish.

You may not have the luxury of our Sunday strategy, since it's just you and your son. In that case, I would just wing it, since by Sunday you will have a good idea of the layout of the course.

Have fun. Whistling Straights was a great experience. Believe me, you WILL want to play there once you go. And it's worth every penny...

[zaphod]

Thanks for the advice. Am looking forward to the weekend.

[Eracer]

Zaphod - how was the tourney?