I recommend at least once in your life watching a PGA Tour event in person. I am still re-living the experience of watching the 2022 RBC Canadian Open in person two weeks ago.
It was an experience I will not soon forget. You can’t really see anything, certainly if you are watching it from the course, especially if it’s on the final day of the tournament. Unless you position yourself in a spot away from the crowd – and that means getting there really early – good luck getting a glimpse. I arrived about an hour or so after the final group teed off and the lineup of people was seven or eight deep, particularly in the area around the greens.
I recommend sitting in either a grandstand seat, but again it means having to get there early. If it’s a boiling-hot day, which was the case when I was there, the grandstand offers some shade and a much better view of the players and the shots.
It also means you’ll probably be significantly full of beer or liquor if you are imbibing early – and often. Yes, drinking water is a better way to stay hydrated, but it doesn’t give you the same depth of perception or altered view of reality.
I didn’t see anyone lobbying beer cans on the course similar to what happened on at the 16th hole of the Waste Management Phoenix Open this year. No one nailed an ace when I was there. Then again, the 16th hole at the Waste Management tournament has a grandstand that runs from the tee box to the green. The Canadian Open doesn’t have that because it rotates ever year from course to course, as opposed to a tournament which takes place every year at the same spot and has a permanent grandstand.
And by the way, isn’t throwing away a fully loaded can of beer a waste or does it make it appropriate when the tournament has waste in its title?
In retrospect, I’m glad there were no golfers who got hit with a beer can at the Canadian Open. That would not have been cool and, besides, we Canadians are so polite.
Why can’t people just throw their hats similar to the case when a player scores three goals in a hockey game? I guess, it’s just not the same.
By the way, while I was walking through the mass of humanity I ran into Davis Sanchez, a former player in the Canadian Football League and National Football League. We’ve known each other for quite a few years. He’s now a broadcaster with The Sports Network (TSN) in Canada, offering expertise on both the CFL and NFL. I asked someone to take some photos of Davis – or Chez as everyone calls him – and we walked together for a while. We even talked about the CFL, which I’m sure no one else in the crowd was doing.
Like, who goes to a golf event to talk about football?
Let’s just say it happened organically.
But I guess that’s the joy of watching a golf event in person. You just never know who you will run into. I should note that neither Davis nor myself imbibed in any beer. Firstly, both of us were driving, but beyond that the lineups at the beer stands were a mile long. Okay, not that long but you get the point.
I made sure that after Davis and I parted, I loaded up on water – and food – at the media center.
There are, after all, some privileges to being part of the media.
Name me one person in the media who doesn’t take advantage of the free offerings provided and I will tell you that person is either new to the business, too proud or too self-righteous. When you have established veteran status in the media, you throw away all the rules you are taught about taking freebies when you begin your career.
So, whether or not you are a member of the media, seeing an event in person is a bucket-list item.
My next one will be running with the bulls in Pamplona.
