Field Notes from the 2021 US Open
I was fortunate enough to attend the first day of competition at the 2021 US Open hosted by Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, California. Below are my on-the-ground observations of the competition, the venue, and the execution of the event on its first day. A TL;DR section resides at the end of the essay.
First and foremost, it was treat to be at this golf course. The location is surreal. Torrey Pines Golf Course rests on a premier piece of American land and you can't beat Southern California weather in June. Additionally, I enjoyed the company of six of my best friends from college, some of whom I had not seen since the pandemic forced us to leave campus early during our senior spring. This also happened to be the first live professional sporting event I attended since the pandemic occurred. Given the circumstances, it was hard not to anticipate having an overwhelmingly positive experience. With that being said, not everything was perfect.
Our group intended to arrive right as the first threesomes went off around 7am, but we did not meet that target. Luckily, the Thursday morning fog delay worked to our advantage as competition was delayed until we had literally just entered the property, around 8am. The drive to the course was incredibly easy with minimal traffic and North Torrey Pines Road itself is a magnificent road (more on that later). Getting through the security and health screening and onto the grounds was surprisingly painless. This was much appreciated. Thank you California and USGA. The process for fans to enter the event during a pandemic was absolutely something the tournament got correct. The health screening was efficient while being thorough enough to make spectators feel safe.
Once inside, we first stopped at the practice green witnessing a few players' putting routines from surprising proximity. We were in the 2nd row of fans about 20 feet from many of the world's best players, near enough to hear their casual conversations. This would become a theme for the day: consistently getting remarkably close to the players we came to see.
After this stint on the practice green, we headed towards the back nine and made a stop at a concessions compound, attempting to grab our first beers of the day. Alas, we were denied as the staff could not begin serving until 10:30am. This was probably a really really good policy, but that didn't mean it was a fun one. Another theme for the day was beginning to emerge: getting less inebriated than initially speculated the night before.
We then ambled down the 10th hole and secured a solid spot directly behind the 11th tee to watch several marquee morning wave groups come through. Again, we found ourselves in the second row of fans just a few yards behind the tee. The 11th at the South Course is a lengthy, demanding par 3 that required the players' stiff morning bodies to step up and execute with a long iron. If a recipe for slow play existed, this would be it. However, the pace of play was somehow even worse that expected. It was unbearably slow. Frankly, the pace of play was complete ass. Players were missing the green badly and grinding over pars saves while the following group sat idly on the tee. Yet, there were other forces at play as well. The sluggish pace was exacerbated by a comically bad volunteer governing the left side of the ropes. This volunteer was routinely allowing fans to walk directly across the hole on the spectator pathway after group on the green was done and the next group could tee off. The fans were then stuck having do the awkward run-walk to get the other side once they realized they were holding up the very people they came to see. It was easily the worst volunteer performance I have ever seen at a golf event. This volunteer's malfeasance went on for three straight groups culminating in Brian Harman staring at the volunteer in the distance with his hands in the air. Mind you Brian Harman had only completed one golf hole before visibly letting this get to him. And I will fully defend his reaction. He had waited around eight minutes for the group ahead to finish and then another painstaking two minutes for the late-crossers to get out of his way. The situation on #11 was definitively not good, but it was also funny and relatively inconsequential: a reminder of those tiny moments within a crowd of other humans that you can only encounter from being somewhere live.
Of those shots we saw on #11, one in particular stands out from the rest. It was Brooks Koepka's towering buttery baby fade that climbed into the air dead straight, apexed, and gracefully dripped three yards to the right on its way down. The ball started at the center of the green between the two bunkers protecting its front corners and worked its way ever so slightly towards the right-hand hole location. It was a high powerful shot yet so soft, so controlled, and so sensible. As someone who exclusively hits cuts on the course, the ball flight was aspirational. That tee shot is now engrained in my head. What made this shot even more impressive was the fact that nobody else executed so well with seemingly such little effort. Koepka knew that making par on #11 was gaining strokes on the field so his shot was everything he could have wanted. The 11th was playing tough to others, but it was barbeque chicken for Koepka.
My friends and I then migrated up to No. 12, another long demanding hole but this time a par 4 that plays at the Pacific Ocean. On our way towards the green we stopped at another concession compound. This time we aiming for waters and snacks. (A brief interjection: In my humble opinion, on a golf course, hot dogs qualify as snacks, especially at a municipal golf course -- of which Torrey Pines is one!) When arriving at the window we were informed we could not order hot dogs. Rather in order to acquire a hot dog one had to sit down at a table, scan a QR code, order online and wait for our hot dogs to be delivered to our table. A) This implies that hot dogs are not a snack. B) This would have taken way too long for a simple dog. This was terrible hot dog policy and something the USGA needs to reevaluate promptly. Hot dogs should always be available for purchase at the window and they should also always be ready. They don't have to be great, they have to be ready! We grabbed waters and power bars and sulked away.
Luckily, the sun was beating away the clouds and vanquishing thoughts of shameful hot dog acquisition systems from my mind. We were also once again watching Koepka's group and on the heels of his stress-free par on the 11th, Brooks steamrolled through the difficult 12th capitalizing with a comfortable birdie. He drove it in the fairway, hit another excellent iron and rolled in a 12-15 footer. Koepka had just dissected two of the hardest holes on the course without breaking a sweat. He looked in complete control early and it was obvious right then that he would be a contender come Sunday.
Seeing that it was getting close to 10:30am and that we were in the corner of the property, we decided to make our way back towards the main entrance and first tee. On the roughly 20-minute U-shaped walk back to the main areas, I couldn't help but admire the casual vibe of all the fans in attendance. Everything was very laidback. I would definitely classify it as SoCal. I gladly welcomed the lack of stuffiness. Throughout the day we stumbled into many famous people in the golf world including: Riggs from Barstool, Justin Thomas's parents, Coaches Sean Foley and John Tillery, and Koepka's partner Jena Sims. These semi-celebrities were all just in the crowd hanging out and chatting with their friends. At one point I yelled out to Erik Van Rooyen's caddy, who I used to caddie with, and he threw me a ball. I appreciated the nice little gesture. Everyone at the event, players and fans alike, seemed to be generally happy throughout the day. It was hard not to be.
We eventually stopped at the main concessions compound right of 1st fairway and got ourselves beers and some hot dogs. Surprisingly, this compound did allow for instant hot dog attainment right at the window. Strange! We fueled up and headed to the green on #4 to camp out for the marquee groups' back nines. Hole #4 is one of the most picturesque golf holes on the planet and again there were just not that many fans. We had front row seats to watch the best golfers in the world and take in a magnificent vista when they weren't actively playing. I should note that the USGA had limited the ticket sales for this event due to COVID-19 restrictions from the State of California so we were probably always going to be able to get quite close, but it just felt like the fans were in all the wrong places.
When Brooks finally came through #4, I focused on his walk. Each stride contained so much confidence it was sickening. He carried himself with immense swagger. He was dialed and he knew it. Whatever you believe about the actual existence of alpha males, Koepka was embodying every characteristic through his body language. I truly felt small next to him. If this walk was intimidating to me, a fan, surely it was for other already-nervous players as well. Koepka's outward confidence and mental game were giving a huge edge against his opponents.
An aimless 90 minutes led us eventually to the driving range, fully alive with afternoon wave players warming up for their first rounds. This was the hottest but arguably most enjoyable portion of the day for the golf fanatic within me. The driving range line-up was incredible stacked. Of the two areas available for players to warm-up, it seemed that almost every big name chose the upper portion, where we were seated. At one point nearly every player in an upper-level stall had at least one major championship to their name. The control and grace of every single player (save for Bryson DeChambeau who was impressive in his own ways) was astonishing. Everyone was staying within their limits, but their swings are so efficient that the ball comes out disconcertingly hot. The other astonishing aspect of these warmup shots was the trajectory windows of the ball flights, strictly low launching but high and soft shots. This is how a golf shot is meant to look. A few of the players' attributes made more of an impression than others. Those were: Adam Scott's full swing tempo, Dustin Johnson's 80-yard flighted wedges, and Patrick Reed's spinny draw pitch shots. Scott's tempo was so smooth; he was the only guy on the range in a sweater and it did not seem that his body was going to work up a sweat even after launching many 6-irons in a row. DJ hit about 20 straight wedges to an 80-yard target and none of them landed for than 8 feet away from the target he had chosen. The distance control on these shots was insane and each shot had the exact same ball flight. They all just bled 2 yards to the right. Finally, I have never understood how players can hit spinning shots without putting cut spin on the ball. However, Patrick Reed was clipping 40-yard "body draws" (not using hands and wrists to manipulate the clubface) that had a ton a spin and a ton of height. I cannot fathom this turf interaction and it was a testament to his short game skill. The consistency among all three was incredible. These were professionals gearing up to take on one of their biggest championships.
Around lunch time things got weird. The lines at the concession compounds had grown to enormous lengths and wait was around two hours. Throughout this piece, I have been referring to all areas with food as concession compounds. This has been intentional as the only places to get food or beverages were the 4-5 large tents surrounded by seats that were placed throughout the property. There were zero smaller concession stands at the event. This led to the incredibly long lines as fans got corralled into such few areas for the lunch stops. These compounds had become total choke points for the herd of spectators. I am not sure who planned this out (maybe it was the volunteer from #11), but it was done poorly. Here is some evidence:
Dismayed at what I saw, I chose not to wait in the lines but to head off property and find a meal with a subset of my original group. We are allowed to leave the event and return without any trouble. I must commend the USGA for their flexible entry/re-entry policy. This is something many sporting venues will not allow as the venue wants you to spend money on their premises, but given the state of affairs throughout Torrey Pines at the hour this policy choice was sincerely appreciated.
We headed towards the campus center at the nearby University of California - San Diego. To get there we walked down North Torrey Pines Road (this is a major boulevard running parallel to the property, not the entrance road to the golf facility). On the walk, I fell in love with North Torrey Pines Road. It is a great road. There are multiple freshly-paved lanes, a comfy shoulder and clean sidewalks to accompany vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians. The speed limit is fast and the lights are few, yet it felt incredibly safe. Cars were moving efficiently even with heavier traffic due to the event. The center boulevard is populated with green grass and Torrey pine trees while the sidewalks have grass and a variety of shrubbery. The road flows over lovely rolling hills next to some elite research facilities and provides occasional views of the Pacific Ocean. A tremendous American motorway.
Once exiting North Torrey Pines Road, we meandered through the winding paths of the UCSD campus. The path to the campus center was heavily wooded. Suddenly, a mirage arose out of the trees: The Geisel Library. Hungry, sunburnt and somewhat dehydrated, I was taken aback when I saw this structure. I was previously unaware of its existence and I had never seen anything like it before. This floating glistening building in the middle of a Southern California forest is one of a kind.
Coming off back-to-back positive surprises with the infrastructure around me, my lunch at the campus center tasted even better. We had avoided the lines and encountered my completed unexpected non-golf highlights of the day. With a lunch in our system, we took some electric scooters back down North Torrey Pines Road and I re-entered the US Open recharged and excited for the late afternoon.
The first stop of our personal afternoon wave was at the merchandise tent. This stop was very underwhelming. The logo for the event was horrid. It was generic in its multi-colored appearance while also bulky and generally uninspired. I was not impressed by the items selected for embroidery and the selection was not great in quantity. The latter issue may have been COVID-related as the merch tent was essentially an outdoor space with lots of room between each section of merchandise. I feel as though there would have been more options situated in the tent if public health was not a concern. I left empty-handed.
#/media/File:2021_U.S._Open_(golf)_logo.png){kind=link}
Even after the lunchtime traffic jam, you still couldn't get a beer quickly. The lines remained longer than seemed justifiable. Further, you really couldn't get any drink quickly, alcoholic or not, since, again, there were no small vendor stations around the course. I really disagree with this approach. It is not challenging to put small vendors in between some of the holes since there is a lot of space at Torrey Pines. Additionally, this was actually done when the course hosted the 2008 US Open as seen in some of the aerials. I believe this would not just have improved the fan experience as they could have stayed "hydrated" more easily, but it also would have made economic sense for the tournament to do so. With the lines so long and the concession compounds often many holes away, I am sure we were not the only people to skip purchasing more to drink or eat.
While walking back to the grouping of holes 2-5 near the Pacific Ocean it dawned on me that there were not many great vantage points for fans around the greens or the tees. This was due to a combination of the typically severe slopes that surrounded each elevated tee or green complex and the ropes which were placed quite far away from the players. The result was that fans could only get as close as the ropes would allow but the ropes were far away and thus far down a slope. Your eyeballs often aligned with a player's knees and you had to get on your toes to improve your view. I was on my tippy toes regularly and my calves were feeling it. It was tiring and a bit frustrating to have this be the norm for viewing options on most holes, especially for tee shots. It would have been more enjoyable to see more tee shots from directly behind the players either at eye level or in a small grandstands such as what #18 offered. Unfortunately, the angles that fans could watch from were not ideal.
A particular exception to the complaint outlined above was the natural half-amphitheater on the right side of the green on #3. This downhill par-3 offered a great greenside viewing experience where you could sit or stand and easily see all of the action unfold. Plus, this hole created a wide variety of dicey short game situations for players due to the hazards of a deep front bunker and a canyon to the left. We parked ourselves on holes 3 and 4 for the remainder of the afternoon since it was comfortable, scenic, and not crowded. Again, the limited ticket sales worked in our favor. The Southern California sun had faded around 4pm and the already small crowds dissipated with it. We had front row seats the entire late afternoon. As each group came through, we developed a standard progression: watch the group finish out on #3 then follow them to the 4th tee, watch them tee off on #4 then head back to #3. We repeated this movement about 10 times. It was easily the best bang for your buck in terms of golf shots seen per minute.
holes back to the entrance. On the way back it hit me how much grass was out there. Torrey Pines is a really big ballpark. There's a lot of mown grass. Thus, there is a lot to maintain and the holes can become monotonous. This is one of the most popular complaints of the facility. It is definitely not my favorite golf course aesthetic. As a golf diehard I loved attending the US Open, but I did gain a renewed sense of empathy for why many people get quickly fed up with watching golf. There is a lot of time between watching golf shots. When your legs are sore and the sun is beating on you and you aren't seeing that much golf, it's pretty easy to pack it in. I am proud of my group for staying as it led to the best part of the day watching the afternoon wave on holes 3 and 4. Also if you went in to the 2021 US Open expecting a lively atmosphere akin to an outdoor sports bar you were likely disappointed when you left. It was hard to acquire a beer and the other amenities were not great either. The atmosphere felt closer to that of a Sunday brunch. A lot of people dressed nicely, behaving well, talking quietly. However, Sunday brunches can still be great. If you can enjoy the comradery and company of your crew in one of the most beautiful locations in the country can have an exceptional time. I appreciated all of what I got to experience, the highs and the lows. It just felt good to be back in person.
TL; DR:
A premier piece of American land, it doesn't matter that you are there for a US Open the vistas will always be stunning
Exceptional fan entry process and I loved the ability to leave/re-enter the property throughout the day
Brooks Koepka was insanely dialed and knew it too
I will never have the confidence to emulate Brooks Koepka's saunter, it was borderline NSFW
The concessions needed a mulligan
Complete choke points for the crowd
Situation was never great, but became a total disaster around lunch time
Not enough small concession stands, only large concession compounds
This made it frustratingly difficult to run into a cold beer out there
Strange and inconsistent policies for acquiring a hot dog at the concession compounds
Limited ticket sales were great for getting close to the action, but led to a little bit of a dead atmosphere
Expected a sports bar, received a Sunday brunch
Best visuals from the range:
Patrick Reed's spinny draw pitch shot
Dustin Johnson's 3/4 baby fade wedges
Adam Scott's tempo
Often hard to see drives because of ropes and the property itself
Only really good option for standing directly behind a player on flat ground we encountered was #18
Lots of slopes that caused the galleries to be well below the players
Not many grandstands
Hard to see putts because of the same reason as above
Natural amphitheater to the right of 3 green was a strong exception
Merchandise tent was stinky
Terrible logo and limited selection (I think this was due to COVID concerns)
Very cool to see famous people from the golf universe at the event
Coaches, internet people, players' parents and WAGs
The nearby Geisel Library on the UCSD campus is a one-of-a-kind building and well worth an excursion if you are in the area
North Torrey Pines Road handled the flow of spectators well
Great to be back at a live sporting event
Fantastic to spend a day in nature with friends