PGA Championships - Part 1

Two weeks after the Canadian Open, the PGA Championships were being held in Rochester, New York.  Rochester is only about 3 hours away, so months ago, I mentioned it to Curt and suggested that we try to get tickets.  Well, time went by and we didn't act on it...so, the week before the tournament, Curt contacted our friends Henk and Amy to see if we could get tickets through them...we heard back from them on Tuesday and found out that they were able to get us passes for the week!

We knew we wanted to try to get there Thursday morning so we could see all four days of tournament play - so, we made arrangements for time off work, and then started looking into hotels. Trying to book a hotel just a few days before the event was NOT a good idea - even the low end hotels/motels were going for $300/night!  We really tried to get creative to get around paying that much - I looked at Bed & Breakfasts (still too expensive), called a local college to see about renting a residence unit (only thing available was a townhouse, again, too expensive) and looked at 'Vacation Rentals by Owner' (not very many options in the area).  In the end, we booked a camp site at a nearby KOA!!!  If you know me, you're thinking 'NO WAY'!!!!   Believe me, that was my original thought too - when Curt suggested it, I just laughed it off...but, in the end, $30/night sold me...Curt also pointed out that if we saved that much on our 'accommodations', I would have more money to spend when we were shopping!  It ended up working out great, and I even admitted that I would do it again - we didn't spend a lot of time there, so it wasn't really like we were 'camping'...all we did was set up a tent with a foam mattress and sleeping bag, no other camping supplies. We got up early in the morning and after getting ready, left for the course (picking up breakfast on our way)...we were at the course all day and then went out for dinner and usually did some shopping before going back to the KOA...so, when we got back, we were tired and just went straight to bed.  Surprisingly, there seemed to be a lot of other people at the campground that were going to the tournament during the day, so we weren't the only redneck camping golf fans :).

Our awesome accommodations...

It did rain on Thursday night, so we didn't sleep great (just because rain on a tent is kinda loud), but we stayed dry, so I guess that's what matters!

Enough about our tent...on to the golf...

We left home bright and early Thursday morning and got to Rochester around noon. We weren't exactly clear on parking arrangements, so we followed signs and ended up parking on the front lawn of one of the houses in the neighbourhood right by the golf course - it was only $20, and minutes from a gate, so it worked out well.

The entrance we used put us right near the fourth hole...we grabbed a pairings sheet to try to get an idea of where different groups were at that point, and realized that Bubba had literally just teed of the fourth hole...it was perfect, we managed to find Amy and Ang right away (thankfully, Amy's sister/Bubba's wife, Ang, is really tall, so she's easy to spot!) so we walked with them until the 9th hole (Bubba's final hole - he started on the 10th that day).

After we said good-bye to Amy and Ang, we walked around the course a bit, watching various groups and trying to get a feel for the layout and where the best viewing spots would be for the rest of the weekend...eventually we decided to go to the grand stands on the 18th to watch groups come in - it was really hot and humid, so we were ready to sit down.

Our view of the leader board on the 18th green...

Unfortunately, not long after we sat down, they blew the horn because of an approaching storm.  Of course at this point, no one has any idea how long the players will be off the course, so we decided to head out and find a place for dinner.  Although the delay didn't last long, we didn't go back to the course - instead, we did a little shopping and then made our way to the KOA so we could set our tent up before it got dark :).