Heading to Whistling Straits - Tuesday Practice Round

VPSax

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Good evening, THP!

I'll be heading to the PGA Championship tomorrow with my family to catch the Tuesday Practice Round. Will post pictures, anecdotes, and impressions here, for those who are interested.

Looking forward to sharing,
Vee
 
Look forward to the pictures
 
Enjoy!!!


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Have a great time!
 
Enjoy the course. It's amazing. They've really upped their game out there since the first time the PGA visited in 2004.


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Lucky you! I'll be checking out the pics as they come
 
Vee, I'm going on Sunday. Looking forward to hearing your comments and pics.

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Have fun!
 
Hope you have a great time!
 
If I were within 4-5 hours (by car) I would go also. Absolutely love that place and going on Tuesday>Sunday. Up close and personal beats 50k ppl anyway for me. I've gone twice which is pretty good for me being a Texas boy & I can't wait to go back
 
Ticket's for fri. round MASH POTATOE'S
 
What an AMAZING day. Just got back to the hotel with the family. I will update and post pics later.
 
Best course I've ever played. I would love to see a round in person. I'm jealous.


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OK...first off, a disclaimer - I had my wife and 7 year old twins with me, so I did not get to do everything that I wanted to. With no one to slow me down, I would have definitely checked out the practice range and walked more holes.

The course was packed, but surely nothing like what it is/will be on tournament days. Everything was well organized - plenty of volunteers, signage, and amenities. The course is a little confusing to navigate, but we made our way through the back 9. When we arrived the Mickelson-Fowler-Spieth-Thomas group was on the 10th tee, so we followed them for a while. We camped out a bit on the 16th fairway, right where most of the drives were landing. It was a good spot to sit and rest. The day finished by the 18th green and then at the gift shop.

Course conditions are amazing, as you would expect. Players seemed to be testing out the wind, and would often play a couple of shots from the fairway to see what works best for them. We also witnessed a lot of players taking their ball from the rough and moving it to the fairway...lots of jokes amongst the gallery about how we wish we could do the same when we play! For the most part, the players were friendly and accomodating. Spieth was a total class act - he signed autographs throughout the round and was extremely friendly and approachable...more so than anyone else we encountered. It's easy to see why he is so well-liked. I was surprised to see some big names blow off the fans, telling us that "they'll see us after the round." This of course did not happen.
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Here's a couple of Rich Beem
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Spieth on the 10th fairway. He was the only one of the foursome to birdie the hole. Came up short with this shot...
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Some action shots from the 16th. Keegan is in one of them. Longest drive I saw of the groups that came through.
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Best part of the day - David Lingmerth hit his drive right at us...it bounced, hit my shoe, and landed three feet from me and my son. He approached his ball and a volunteer said that it almost hit us. Lingmerth struck up a conversation with my son, signed our souvenir flag, and gave my daughter a ball. The ball was a Pro V1x + ...a model that I didn't know existed (see the picture). He then preceeded to hit his second shot about three feet from us. So cool.
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Chris Wood and Paul Lawrie on the putting green.
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All in all, a great day and one that my kids will never forget. Highly recommended!
 
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Best course I've ever played. I would love to see a round in person. I'm jealous.


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I was so impressed (and depressed) by the contact that the pros make with the ball. TV does not do it justice.
 
Very nice day. So cool of Lingmerth. Bet he has a fan for life now in your daughter.
 
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Spieth on the 10th fairway. He was the only one of the foursome to birdie the hole. Came up short with this shot...
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I am proud to say I birdied that hole.


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Very nice day. So cool of Lingmerth. Bet he has a fan for life now in your daughter.
Funny thing...after he walked away, my son said that "he's so happy he got to meet Louis Oosthuisen!" I guess the Ping branding confused him. :)
 
I am proud to say I birdied that hole.


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And having seen you hurt the ball in KC. I bet you carried those two pot bunkers in the fairway with ease.
 
Those photos were awesome and I bet the pros who stopped by and talked with your kids now have fans for life. Very awesome.
 
And having seen you hurt the ball in KC. I bet you carried those two pot bunkers in the fairway with ease.

Yep. I had a 58 degree wedge to the green. It wasn't my longest drive since it was all uphill.
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Such a cool experience. Thanks for sharing.
 
Looks like a great time. Glad the kids enjoyed themselves too.

I need to borrow somebody's kids for the next tourney around here!
 
Looks like a great time. Glad the kids enjoyed themselves too.

I need to borrow somebody's kids for the next tourney around here!

We totally used the "cute factor" with our kids to get the attention of the players. Rickie gave us a thumbs up!
 
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