This is a Guest Blog from top World Golf Tour player
BolloxInBruges, who won the 2010 Virtual U.S. Open and a trip for two to the
U.S. Open. WGT asked him to share his experience on his recent trip to
Congressional. In this year’s Virtual U.S. Open, he was the top qualifier with
a 54, and just posted a 59 in the first round of the championship, 1 stroke
behind the leader with 18 holes to play.
Watch BolloxInBruges tee it up in real-life at the Pete Dye course Big Fish in Hayward, Wisconsin
First off, for those that don't know, I'm Sam from Duluth,
Minnesota. I joined WGT back in Feb 2009 as BolloxInBruges and have played over
3,000 virtual rounds.
I just returned from a long weekend watching the U.S. Open at
Congressional. This was my grand prize for winning the Virtual U.S. Open on WGT
last year. Getting ready for the trip, it was nice to pack some shorts into the
luggage, it has not been above 75 degrees yet this year on the chilly shore of
Lake Superior so I hadn't had a chance to experience summer until the
trip. I took my dad with me who is a lifelong golfer and even an
occasional WGT player. Was a great way to spend Fathers Day weekend.
It was a very fun trip for him also as he had not even been on a commercial jet
in a few decades.
Onto the highlights from the golf action, Rory’s shot on 10 on
Sun that nearly went in has to rank at the top. From my vantage point
behind the green it looked as if it were hanging on the lip. The crowed
reaction was awesome as it became louder and louder as it trickled back down to
the cup. We also had a great view of Charl Schwartzel's 105 foot putt
from the fringe on 3 on Sat, and Ryan Palmer’s 70 foot double breaking putt
from the back fringe on 17 on Fri, just to mention a few.
It was also cool taking in the scene at the final hole as Rory
finished up. It’s a pretty awesome finishing hole for the spectators, all of
the tens of thousands of us that stuck around had at least a decent view of the
action on the 18th green. Not like most tournaments where you have to stake out
a spot all Sunday afternoon on the 18th just to see the winner finish.
Just experiencing Congressional in person was almost as fun as seeing
all the Pros. As good of a job as WGT did on the course you really can't
appreciate the elevation changes without being there. There were lots of spots
where I thought "ahh, so that's why the ball does that on WGT in that
place". It was especially fun when the pin positions were in similar
places to the WGT locations. The caddies or even the Pros should really
be playing the course on WGT for a month before the tournament just to learn
the subtle breaks of the greens.
Aside from the golf action trip went smooth except for a rush to
make our connecting flight in Minneapolis only having around a 15 minute
layover due to our first flight being delayed out of Duluth. Definitely
got to see plenty of Bethesda on the 30-40 minute shuttle commute each way to
and from the Montgomery Co. Fairgrounds and Congressional, real nice
neighborhood. The hotel was also quite nice aside from the lack of a hot
tub, sure would of felt nice after walking all those miles around the course!
One extra day would of been nice to do a little more sightseeing
with so many touristy things to see in DC. We did get a nice view of the
Lincoln Monument, and the Washington Memorial on the way to Bethesda.
Then spent the day on Monday at Mount Vernon, and got to take a tour of the inside
of George Washington's house and all the other buildings on the property.
It's 8,000 acre estate on the banks of the Potomac River where George spent
most of his life, and still contains many of the items that he used every day.
As far as this year’s Virtual U.S. Open, I'm very excited to tee
it up this week at Congressional. Have to admit being a little
discouraged seeing FunkieJunie3000's awesome 58 as I checked up on WGT from the
DC airport. Just hoping for something around 60 or 61 in the opening round to
stay in touch with the leaders. There are many more players this year capable
of winning the big ones, so it is really going to take some solid play to
contend again in the Virtual Majors this summer.
BolloxInBruges