Prior to play, there were a couple of must do's. The first was a group photo next to the statue of Payne Stewart. The statue depicts the punching of the air action Payne made when he holed the final putt of the 1999 US Open. Payne was tragically killed in a plane crash only a few months later.
The second was a group shot gathered around the "putter boy" statue / sundial which was sculpted in 1912. The "putter boy" or "golfing lad" is depicted in the club logo.
This course has undergone major change in the past decade. When Michael Campbell won his US Open title here in 2005 the course was a typical US course. Thick lush rough covered areas off the fairway.
Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore were tasked with restoring the course back to its origins, and that meant removal of the thick rough, and reinstatement of the sandy waste areas scattered with wire grass.
Much like many sandbelt courses, the greens here hold the key to scoring. The course is relatively straight forward off the tee, but approach shots need to be very precise as the green undulations, and fast drop off's mean even good shots can finish well off the green.
Playing it today just makes you appreciate how good the best golfers in the world are. The sheer mental strength shown by Martin Kaymer and Michelle Wie when they won their respective US Opens here in 2014 was incredible. The concentration required to negotiate these greens over four days is immense.
The course looks very natural, with all sanded areas being deemed in play. This means that even very well defined bunkers are not classed as hazards. You can ground your club, and have a practice swing. It is quite difficult to do.
Again we had a brilliant day of weather, however a stiff breeze did make things quite challenging.
The results for the day are still in the hands of the stewards, and will be updated here after tomorrow's round.
Our playing group (Patrick, Sharon and Michael) pictured here with both Payne Stewart, and our caddie Charles. Tomorrow we play number 8, then depart the Carolina Hotel, and make our way to Augusta!
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