There were a few practice rounds being played by some of the amateurs entered, but with the LPGA rule that doesn’t allow Tour members to tee it up on the course while a regular event is being played, most of the professionals in town early contented themselves with a walk in the park, sort of.
Frankly, the Pine Needles course that acquitted itself so well in the 1996 Women’s Open appears almost too beautiful to play. The first golfer taking a divot out of superintendent Dave Fruchte’s landscaping should be penalized at least two shots.
Never has this golf course been in better shape. It’s wall-to-wall perfection, with every blade of grass apparently turned just the right way to catch the best camera angle.
Fruchte was ready for this championship months ago. He’s hand-fed the vegetation and sung lullabies to the bentgrass greens. There isn’t a pebble in a bunker or a sprig of crabgrass for a mile around.
This is the U.S. Open, by Peggy Kirk Bell, and Pine Needles is Fruchte’s baby. Rumor is he was caught out late one night trying to burp one of the holes.
Things would be changed by today, though. The golfers would be arriving by the courtesy carloads. Both practice ranges would be filled with the hopefuls, the dreamers and the contenders. Annika Sorenstam would be at one station. Karrie Webb would be at another. There’s Juli Inkster. And isn’t that Dottie Pepper?
Monday is the first day of Open week, and this is when things really get serious. The smiles are still there, but they’re sometimes forced. There’s no room for glitches in the swing. Careers are at stake here.
But there’s something missing. Where’s Nancy?
Nancy Lopez — you remember her. She’s the raven-haired beauty who saved the LPGA Tour once. Yeah, she took the Tour to heights it had never dreamed of. Boosted television ratings right off the scale. Had galleries following her that would have made Tiger Woods envious.
What do you mean, she’s not eligible?
Oh, she didn’t qualify? Nancy had to qualify? You’ve got be kidding me!
No, there’s no kidding. Lopez didn’t qualify and she isn’t here. A ray of sunshine will be missing this week.
Most of the other players even feel that way. Take Jane Geddes, for instance.
“I think that any Hall of Fame player who is still active should be exempt,” Geddes said. “There aren’t that many of them and as many spots as the USGA gives away, it could do that. But this is the USGA and it has its own rules.”
Unlike some, Geddes is not concerned by the recent domination of the LPGA Tour by foreign players.
“I think it’s just that there is a very large percentage of foreign players on the LPGA Tour now,” she said. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the American players, it’s just that the number of foreign players is so high.
“We really are the World Tour. Other than the Japanese Tour, we’re the only women’s professional tour. A lot of the Europeans would love to be able to stay at home, but they have no other place to play.
“But that doesn’t bother me. I don’t look at Annika and say, ‘She’s a Swede.’ Or look at Se Ri Pak and say, ‘She’s Korean.’ They’re just golfers, and very good ones.”
Odds are, come Sunday, that the player taking home the U.S. Open Trophy will be from some country other than the U.S.
But that’s OK. Whoever she is, wherever she’s from, she’ll be a great player and a deserving one.
But dang! I do wish Nancy Lopez were here.
