Heading to CDN Open... Questions

[orangeTANG]

I've got tickets to head to the Tuesday practice round of the Canadian Open. This is my first tournament event so I don't really know what to expect. I'm curious to what time most pro's start their practice rounds to find out if I should be heading there Monday night, or if I can just leave early Tuesday morning.

Is there a lot of freedom to move around during these rounds, or is there a particular spot I should be standing to see the most action.

Any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

[jvincent]

Many of the pros will try to practice early to avoid the crowds so you best bet is to get there as early as possible.

Usually practice round days have less crowds so getting around should be easy. As far as where to go, my suggestion, since you're going to be there early is start by watching a few groups tee off and if there's somebody you would like to follow, do that for a while.

If you find a spot that has a good vantage point of a couple of holes you might stay there for a while until somebody else you are interested in watching comes by.

[jeffc]

From the Canadian Open Site:

http://www.thecanadianopen.ca/innerp...WLSwrmjLBK7bjL

Practice Rounds

Players will have the option of playing a practice round at Glen Abbey GC on Monday from 7:00am to 11:30am. On Tuesday, the course is available for practice rounds all day. Players will have the option of starting practice rounds at the 1st or 10th tee. Players electing to play a full round of golf generally begin somewhere between 7:00am and 1:00pm.

I have been several times to Glen Abbey for this though during the regular rounds, not the practice rounds.

My personal preference is the Valley Holes (11-15) since they are challenging and picturesque and more interesting than most of the rest of the course which is not that exciting IMHO. The walk back up the hill to 16 is a good one so don't have too many "pops" down there.

[lms]

A lot less people during practice rounds - unless you are trying to follow Weir around.
You can take a camera (you can't do this Thur through Sun), and you can ask for autographs anywhere.
Sometimes guys will tee off before 7am as they don't want the crowd.
If I was only going 1 day I would be there from opening until closing, walk the front nine following one or more groups, sit in the stands for a while, and then walk the back nine, but I like to see every hole, and I would also be scouting out all the best places to watch from on the weekend.

[Arrt]

Seeing Amateurs Hill or Taylor would be cool, but I would probably just watch Camillo, rofl.

[funk-like]

In terms of practice round - its a great way to see the players up close. I did this at Presidents Cup on the Tuesday, and it was much better than the Sunday round which I also attended. You can get closer to the players, get pics and autographs - its cool. I would recommend buying something from the tournament (hat, flag, program) and getting that signed (if you are into getting autographs). I had a Nike hat with me, and go that signed by 15 of the Pres Cup players, but I wish it was a tournament hat rather than a regular Nike one. Anyway, I'm sure you will have fun - the valley holes are fun to watch and the players are amazing from that close up in terms of how talented they are.

[mpare]

If you want to see the skills that these guys have and learn a bit about a proper golf swing, spend time at the practice range. You'll see lots of players up close.

[jeffc]

If you want to see the skills that these guys have and learn a bit about a proper golf swing, spend time at the practice range. You'll see lots of players up close.

Good call Mike. Watching them hit balls is a treat. It looks absolutely effortless.

[orangeTANG]

Well, I just got in the door from the CDN Open practice round today and what a treat. Much better than I could have ever expected.

I was suprised at how close you could actually get to the players, and how interactive they are. As for crowds there was actually times where me, and the two guys I was with were the only people standing at the tee box with the Pros and Caddies. You could hear them talking back and forth about shots, and things like "man, you should have seen the shot Vijay hit here a few years ago". (Nice to see they are fans too).

Its amazing how much you can actually take away from watching these guys live. How free their swings look, and how little effort it looks like they are putting in to hit they way they do. Its a completely different experience than watching them on TV look like they are trying to kill it. Accuracy is unbelievable. 200+ yards and they're upset being 6ft from the pin. Watching them hole bunker shot after bunker shot is crazy.

For anyone thats questioned going to a practice round I don't think there's really a better experience you can have.

As a side note, keep an eye on the Canadian Matt Hill, he's one heck of a golfer.