First Round--92nd PGA Championship

Sorry, I didn't get this written after the round. It was a long day. We left at 7 AM and got back home at 7PM. We woke up to fog in the morning and when we got to the course, they were in a fog delay. The problem was the holes nearest the water. The fog was really thick, so they couldn't see the flag on the par 3's The wind was blowing pretty good off the water, but it wasn't moving the fog. Most of the time, the driving range was in sunlight. Waiting for 3 hours is long and rather boring. The longer the delay, you realize that the round won't be completed by all the players. Having a late time on Friday, we realize we might be finishing Saturday morning.

Ryan's round was disappointing. The wind out of the SE was harder than it had been all week. It made it harder to keep the ball on line and affected club selection. The errors came on the par 5's, #5 and #11. He got bogeys on holes that were birdie possibilities. Hit the water on #5 and sand on #11. He also missed three good birdie putts and had one lip out on #8 for a bogey. He knows he can shoot under par, but he put himself in a hole. Friday will be a long waiting day. They are expecting more fog in the morning, so if there is another delay he definitly won't get his round finished. Hopefully we can tee off before 4.

I want to relate a little about the area that where we are. It is very rural with corn fields, and farms with silos. Evidently it was a cattle area with dairy, although we have seen no cattle grazing near the barns. All of the homes are surrounded with huge lawns, even the none farm homes. Riding lawn mowers would be a must. Everything is really green, so the must get a lot of rain. Less than a half mile out the gate of the course is an unicorporated town call Haven. It has a nice rural fire station, a pub, one or two businesses and half a dozen homes. It is like going through Ralston. Down the road from that is a country Lutheran church with a well manicured cemetary. We are actually staying in the City of Sheboygan. Kohler is 5 to 10 miles from us. The course had been a military airfield at some point. It cost $380 to play Whitstling Straits and a caddy fee of $80 plus tip. So you are looking at $500 for a round. It is owned by the Kohler family, which I assume is the main employer in the area. They have several plants in the area. Needless to say, all of the plumbing fixtures at the course are Kohler and very nice.

Due to our schedule of getting home late and leaving early, I haven't seen grandson Carsen for over a day. Since most of Friday will be spent at home, I'll get a lot of grandpa play time with him.

Hoping for good shots and putts dropping on Friday.

Bruce from the CaddyShack