It looks like I may have the opportunity to go see the Ryder Cup, which is being held near Birmingham, England this year. A friend of the family won the trip in a radio contest and I will be going with him.

I'm very excited: I've never been to England and have never been a spectator at a golf tournament before (I do golf and watch it a bit).

My question is: does anybody have any tips on what one should do as a spectator? ie. Follow the crowd? Run up ahead and stake out a spot before the golfers get to a hole? Watch from the tee, the fairway, the green? Wait at the grandstand for the finishing hole? Follow the lead group or the last group?

Will be seeing the likes of Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, David Duval, Jesper Parnevik, Davis Love III, etc.

Hi Mark. I've gone the past ten years with my dad to the NFL classic Senior PGA tour at the Upper Montclair CC in New Jersey. We've gone on Fridays where most of the groups have two Senior PGA pros with one NFL pro. Anyway, what we have done is sit by the greens, so we can see their final approach shot to the greens and the putting. If I just watch them hit off the tee, I lose the ball instantly, but it may help to see how they swing the club. So we usually hang out at the green of a hole through several groupings, and then go to another hole. By doing that, you can usually get a good up close view of the action. If you follow a particular golfer, I think you miss much of the action, especially if he is a popular golfer, e.g. Tiger Woods. But if you are already sitting by a green, then at least for one hole, you get to see your favorite golfer up close.

I go to this message board that's based in England. Understandably, they don't have stars in their eyes about the American golfers. Some of the comments: [quote]I think the real question people are asking is what sartorial abortions the US team are going to wear this time. Here's my prediction...

Friday - General Patton outfits

Saturday - 'It's A Knockout'-style eagle costumes

Sunday - They all carry round a retired President piggy-back style, and the winning putt is made with a putter found in the ruins of the WTC.

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Ouch.
[quote]Just watching the ryder cup closing ceremony. Three things:

1) The spectacle of all those identikit blonde women in blazers smiling smugly at their be-blazered husbands as they stood smugly on the stage was somehow deeply repellent.

2) Colin Montgomerie sings god save the queen with great gusto for a scot.

3) Bernhard Langer quite clearly sang the words 'deutschland, deutschland, uber alles, uber alles in der Welt' to the final phrases of the german national anthem. i thought those words had been changed.

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*snicker* "Identikit blondes" *tee hee*
[quote]Golf as a game has a lot going for it, it's just that golfers spoil it. But European golfers aren't as bad as Americans. The American Ryder Cup team in 1993 refused to meet Bill Clinton. John Cook explained that "Clinton takes money from people who work hard and gives it to people who don't"- well said, by someone on a million quid a year for playing sport. Then there was the "Twelve best golfers in the world" jibe, Ballesteros maybe being the 13th. And 1991 where some Americans really seemed to confuse golf with war. And 1999, where, even overlooking the green-invading antics, their self-righteousness and meannness rivalled the South African cricket team, and some spectators heckled Colin Montgomorie's pensioner father.

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Hmmm...yeah, golfers pretending to be Friends of the Working Class is a bit of stretch.

I fully expect a quote soon from Woods along the lines of "Well, I'm not getting wheelbarrows full of money for playing this damn thing so why should I give a shit about representing my country anyway?".

Or not.

Well, I made it to the final round of the Ryder Cup. It was a very enjoyable experience.

The American fans were all decked out in their stars & stripes shirts and sweaters (I wore a "Canada" sweatshirt), while the European fans were out in full force and voice (imgagine "One for McGinley... One for McGinley... One for McGiiiinnnnley!" to the tune of "Guantanamera").

Got to see McGinley's winning putt from the 18th fairway and got to rush behind Tiger & Jesper as they approached the 18th green as the last pairing of the day.

A lot of hot golfers out there. Some (visual) highlights:

Two cuties -- Lee Westwood & Sergio Garcia

Intense and hot Niclas Fasth

Sweet Swede Thomas Bjorn

The 'Zinger