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i have been looking foward to this since january when i learned that my dad had US Open tickets locked up. So ive been waitin for nearly 6 months and now its a week away. this is going to be quite an experience since this is my first major tournament. I have been to firestone several times but never something as big as the US Open. Anybody else In the forum heading to the Open, if so speak up. Im going on Saturday. and also can anybody offer some advise from personal experience attending major tournaments or have gone to Oakmont in the past. Any advice will do. best places to sit, how to get around the course, etc. thanks for any replies

Remember your obligation of giving us non-goers a daily update from a spectators point of view

Have a great trip aceman!

And Stianvm's had it right about required live reporting!

I'll second this. Have fun and when you log back on to Golf Rewind, let us know all of the details.

Congratulations on your good fortune going to the Open. Please let us know about your experience. I got lucky for the next Open at Torrey Pines; going to be a marshal/hole captain. They killed all the grass tee to green a month or so ago and transplanted kikuya (sp??) sod and replanted most of the holes. The sun finally broke through the fog this week and the grass is popping up. I have not seen any news reports on this but I got to figure this is the first time in Open history an entire course's grass was killed and then reseeded a scant year before the Open. Quite a daring endeavor!!

I have been to two both at Valhalla the PGA and the Sr Open. I think I have a lock on Ryder Cup tickets in 2008. There a blast I have been to other Tournaments and there is so much energy in a major I dont know how those guys can even play under those conditions. I was right behind Bob May when he made that triple breaking put to take Tiger into a playoff need you mind nobody made that put all day and I watched every group. Tigers put was no gimmie either a 6 footer with about 6 inches of break. I think TV makes allot of there puts look shorter. Its amazing how good these guys can get it up and down. I think I jumped 6 feet off the ground when Bob made that put and luckily we got there way early so we were on the ropes. I got to take a tour recently of the new layout at Valhalla for the Ryder Cup, YIKES!! I think most scratch golfers would be VERY lucky to break 90 its stretched to like 7700 yards and just brutal looking I think there fairways roll at a 13, CRAZY!!! In case your wondering I have played the old design and I wont say what I shot (UGLY)the course re-opens for members in July I would sell my membership and quite golf if I had to play that all the time..

Im going to, i have a 5 hour trip from Philadelphia, id like some tips too. Is there a chance to see tiger. Also there's some good groups, these are what im looking at.
1. Phil, Adam Scott, Furyk ( wow, 3 of th top 4 players in the world)
2. Tiger, Ogilvy, someone( ogilvy is my 2nd favorite player, behind scott, and tiger,well, yeah)
3. O'hair,Howell,Rose(young guns, and O'hair lives really close to me, a local project.

those are the pairings for thursday and friday. if you have the chance, i would get there earlier and check out the practice rounds. that's usually the best time to see the players up close and personal.

To gdel, since you mentioned Tigers group, you might want to look into following him during the practice rounds. From what I hear, he likes to get out there when the course pretty much opens. That would probably be the best way to follow Tiger since you won't have to deal with as many people as during the tournament.

I like to follow players for several holes, sometimes even a whole nine during the practice rounds. Then, when it comes tournament time, I like to stake out a spot and stay there for an extended period.

I am not familiar with Oakmont and I've been reading they've taken out 5,000 trees.

Are you going just Saturday? That may pose some problems since I find practice round days the best times to navigate the course and plan out how I will watch the tournament. Maybe gdel can post here during the U.S. Open with good spots to watch the action from.

yeah im just going saturday, my dad got tix for all 4 rounds and i got the third round with a friend.

Hey, just joined the board, was looking for discussion of the upcoming open at Oakmont. I live in Pittsburgh and have tickets for the whole week, went to the practice rounds Monday and today (Tuesday). I also was fortunate to go back in 94 (though, I was 12 at the time and don't remember much, except that it was hot). That said, some advice:

- Get there early early early, the course will be absolutely packed. If there's a group you'd like to see find out when they're going off and camp out somewhere, preferably where you can see them for a few holes.
- There are a few nice places on the front to see some good golf. #6 tee or green will be very good, but expect few birdies there, the green is tiny and everything runs to the back left. In two days I haven't seen anyone really get it close. There's a grandstand behind 4 green that will also be nice; you'll see 4 green, 8 green, 2 tee, and 5 tee. 2 green if you're on that side and have binoculars. Right along the right side of 3 fairway is good too; you get a good view of the church pews, and you can see the guys hit their 2nd shot into the green. All in all, the front 9 is the place to follow guys around; plenty of crossings, and you have decent access to most of the holes (5 seems to be an exception, didn't really find a good vantage point for watching 5 fairway)
- The back 9 is brutal for spectators. There is basically no way through the middle of the back; you have to either go way up and around 18 by the clubhouse or go way down 12. You will not be able to follow a group on the back. After they go down 10 you have no hope of seeing them on 11, the only place to see 11 green is at a dead end after crossing over 10, and viewing there will be limited. If you watch a group play 11 green, there is just no way you can get down anywhere along 12 to see them play. Your best bet is probably to swing back up around 18 to catch them coming down 15 (or if you hurry you might catch them at 13). 14 is completely inaccessible (the entire hole). They lengthened 12 by a good amount, which means that 12 fairway extends right back to the clubhouse. So, there's no way to get across 12 to get anywhere close to 14 green or get on the left side of 18 green (back in 94 the tee was up far enough that the whole area was open to spectators and there was a huge grandstand by 18 that you could see 14 green from). It's a shame, because 14 is definitely a birdie hole. I can see someone making a putt there to take the lead and there being about 50 guys clapping cause that's all that will be able to see it. For those watching on TV, unless they alter something for the tournament rounds, you will see no people around 14 green. The spot by 11 wouldn't be bad for a long distance shot of 14, and you can see tee shots on 10 and 12. Behind 10 green is also a good spot, and is in the shade. The grandstand right behind 16 is a good spot to see 16 tee (par 3) and 15 green. The walkway along 18, and the main walkway between 9 and 10 will be absolutely packed by the weekend.

- I didn't get to see much of 1, 9, or back around 17 much the last two days. I suspect there also will not be a ton of room around 17 green; from what I remember walking through they weren't letting people between 18 tee and 17 green.

I'm really hoping they change a few of the viewing areas around for the tournament rounds and they're just keeping people back for the practice rounds, but who knows. If they don't, forget about following a group around the back, it's brutal. There will also be very limited room around 18 green, so if you want to see people finish you'll have to be camped there really early.

And, there is very little shade anywhere on the course, wear lots of sunscreen.

Good tips, mstock. Did you take any pictures by any chance? Have any "insider" info you would care to share with us?

many thanks for the advise

I have pictures, but haven't really had a chance to upload them yet. (plus, it's my girlfriend's camera, so I don't have the wire handy). As far as insider information, it's currently raining, not sure how quickly it will pass over; that'll make a big difference. From what I've seen of him, Tiger has looked pretty sharp, he's been pretty intense. We looked for Els for 3 days and couldn't find him (wanted to get him to sign stuff from 94), so he must be going out late and/or early. Phil barely played, and didn't look particularly sharp, his wrist is still bothering him. If he gets into the rough he's going to be in trouble, so I wouldn't count him amongst my favorites.

More advice gleamed from today:

It was more crowded today, so the area between 18 and the clubhouse was starting to get fairly packed; it's going to be somewhat of a mess getting through there, especially over the weekend. We might not see much of that side of the course just cause we don't want to deal with it.

Matt