Welcome to your personal Ryder Cup tour. I'm Robyn and I'll be your guide. And if you don't care anything about golf, go ahead and skip today's blog. I won't be offended.
The tour started early Tuesday morning. Actually, it started 2 years ago when I was waiting in a virtual line to get tickets. And, by the time I got to the front of the line, they only had practice days left – no competition days. I was bummed but then was excited because practice days are more relaxed and we spectators have more freedom – including bringing our cameras.
It was a good Valentine's Day gift in 2020 and worth waiting for.
We arrived in one of the parking lots around 8 a.m. Knowing the players couldn't start practicing until 9 a.m., we decided to walk around. Jim golfed at Whistling Straits years ago and was excited to show me. But it didn't look at all the same.
Large TV screens and spectator stands were everywhere. Somewhere among them, was a gorgeous course alongside Lake Michigan. Definitely close as we could feel the 20 mph wind on occasion. Thankfully we dressed in layers. And didn't need to take our light jackets off. Ever.
We saw a few people we knew, plus made a point of seeing some friends we hadn't see in ages. Here's Jim with Rob, Rapids native who lives in Arizona now but writes for wisconsingolf.com.
And here's me with my former pastor Josh, who is the Green Bay area now but I haven't seen in 6 years. Oh the amazing power of Facebook and cell phones to stay connected!
Now onto golf...
The European team literally arrived Monday so they had to get their team photos and individual photos taken before practice. That's the first thing we happened to stumble upon, being in the right place at the right time. And yes, just 6 or 10 feet away. So cool. And I'll say that another dozen times, I bet!
Well I'll just get this out of the way now. I had a crush on Sergio (left if you don't know) when he was first on tour. So you may or may not see too many pictures of him.
The usually very stoic Ian Poulter was so entertaining. Just a clown. He was hilarious.
Little windy.
Lake views. See what I mean about structures causing obstructed views?
And then there's Rory. So talented and little cutie.
Captain Padraig Harrington.
Lots of seating set further down the fairway. This is where we sat later to watch the action on 9 right there and could see 18 green, too!
They're actually facing a mass of cameras. Those professionals. I'm just standing on the side of the ropes with the other amateurs.
Ooooh. Can I take that home?
After spying on their photo session, we headed over to the putting green and driving range. That's where the Americans were warming up.
Captain Steve Stricker taking a picture for social media.
See? Not kidding! Now let's watch some warmups...
Patty Ice in the sand.
Some words of advice from the coolest golfer on the planet: Freddy Couples.
And here's my buddy Harris chipping. Why yes, he IS my buddy...
Not fake. This was this summer. He's that tall – 6'4" I think – plus I'm that short.
So some players are more interesting to watch than others!
Brooks is one, too. Only because of an alleged feud with his teammate. But you'll see in a few photos down that they actually did talk to each other! And I captured it.
I have JT's autograph from when he won the Sentry Tournament of Champions in 2019. So many connections.
Wouldn't you love to hear this conversation?
Mixed company on the putting green.
Another convo I'd love to have heard. Something with the belt buckle or pants?
Oh, it's Sergio! Getting interviewed.
Neat to see Lefty, another longtime icon.
All day I wished I could have Tommy Fleetwood's hair!
Westy is another legend and gentleman.
Now for actual practice! Each team had 3 foursomes that also included plenty of caddies and captains tagging along. The USA team did the front 9 and Europeans took the back. They only did 9 holes but at each one they really practiced the holes – like lining up lots of putts they expect to face this weekend. Slow pace but it worked well when we were sitting down for a bit and could watch action on both the 9 and 18th greens.
So here are action shots. I don't know if my blog limits the number of photos, but I'll add them here and hopefully they're self-explanatory! We started on back 9 just on hole 10.
Lake views.
It definitely seemed like the Europeans were having more fun and just enjoying themselves, while our guys were all-business.
And back to the American crew finishing up on the 9th hole.
And turning ourselves to the left, we could watch the Euro team finishing on the 18th. Quite a finishing hole!
We interrupt this practice for a fairway crossing. What do you think it is – muskrat, otter, fisher, marten, what?
The out-of-state visitors sitting behind us thought squirrel. But they didn't have a zoom lens. And they're also the ones who referred to Lake Michigan as an ocean.
My turn for a hug, say blog author.
I don't know about you, but having an American eagle fly over the European team sure seems like a good omen to me! For that and so many reasons now, we'll really enjoying the action on TV this weekend. We'll be warm and in comfy chairs AND some of these boys will be larger than life!
Even without a zoom lens.
Thanks for coming along on my tour. For golf nuts like us, it was a really fun experience!
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