My First PGA TOUR Tournament by Kris McEwen

I watch a lot of golf on television. I mean, a lot, of golf.  I have also attended quite a few live sporting events, be it basketball, baseball, football, or hockey.  But until this week, I had never attended a live golf event.

I was lucky enough to land some tickets to the BMW Championship at Conway Farms this year.  The BMW Championship is the third of four elimination rounds of the FedEx Playoffs. And as far as a first time live golf event, it is a pretty good one to attend considering the top seventy players in the game would be there.

Here are a few things I learned from watching the best players in the world in real life and a few pieces of advice if you plan on attending an event.

Navigating the Tournament

There are basically four ways to watch a tournament live: follow a specific group, sit at a specific hole, wander the course and just watch different players hit shots, or all of the above.

The fiancé and I decided on that last option for a couple reasons:

First, Conway Farms is a very non-descript golf course.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very well maintained course, but it is also a very typical Chicagoland golf course.  The course doesn’t have a unique hole or holes that you would want to see a pro play.  So we didn’t see the point in camping out at a specific hole for the entire day.

Second, while there were a couple guys we definitely wanted to watch play up close; we mostly just wanted to watch some good golf.  Luckily for us, this wasn’t your typical Thursday of a tournament when half the field is filled with guys who don’t matter.  This was the third round of the FedExCup Playoffs, which meant all 70 guys on the course were capable of hitting some great shots.

Among the options, I don’t believe there is a wrong way to take in a live tournament.  Just know if you want to follow the big guys, so does everyone else, so getting a good look could be a challenge.  Also, if you plan on camping out at a hole, get a good spot near the green. The most fun we had was watching second shots into a green and seeing them spin the ball twenty feet back towards the cup.

Finally, if you suffer from “fear of missing out”, or FOMO as the kids like to call it, attending a golf tournament is probably a terrible idea.  You will miss out on a lot.  It’s obviously impossible to see everything, so just pick a lane and go for it.

Learning While Watching the Pros

You can learn quite a bit from watching golf on television, but for whatever reason, seeing these guys hit shots in real life really made me understand the differences between them and us.

The single, most glaring difference between an amateur and pro swing is the ease in which a professional golfer swings.  Regardless if it was on the range, off the tee, or a 225-yard second swing on a par five, they never once seemed to “swing out of their shoes.”  The only time I saw any of them truly swing “hard” was if they were in very thick and long rough.  Otherwise, it was always a nice, smooth back and through.

The first thing you notice about the pros is they don’t swing “hard”. They are so smooth. #bmwchampionship

A video posted by Kris McEwen (@krismcewen) on Sep 17, 2015 at 3:00pm PDT

So my tip to everyone, stop swinging so hard and figure out that lag and whip instead!

Pros are also obsessed with alignment and set-up.  At times you could see them picking a target down the fairway, then picking a target a few feet in front of them, and aligning themselves accordingly.

Some Other Random Observations:

• Roger Maltbie is an old curmudgeon.  On more than one occasion he was totally condescending to the volunteers on the course.  They’re just trying to do a job that, you know, they aren’t being paid for.  Maybe chill out, Rog.
• When they talk about the greens being fast, they aren’t exaggerating.  Guys were hitting ten-foot putts like we would hit four-foot putts.  And still going past the hole at times!
• When they talk about greens being firm, they aren’t exaggerating either.  Ball marks were a rarity on approach shots. Shots would bounce once and just stop.
• Pace of a putt isn’t typically why they miss putts.  We didn’t see a single putt left short or one that went further than six to twelve inches past the hole.
• Be careful taking pictures of the players.  Even at the range.
• Pat Perez’s hair is out of control.
• Snedeker plays incredibly fast.  To the point where I wonder if he would be better if he took a little more time with some shots.
• It’s never actually quiet while guys are taking shots.  There is always this constant white noise of activity.
• Of all the athletes that play professional sports, golfers look the most like us.  Sure, some are in better shape than others, but for the most part, they’re just guys.
• Finally, the cameramen at these events work harder than anyone else.  They will set-up their camera on a tri-pod to broadcast each player’s drive, then breakdown and run down the fairway to set-up again for second shots, then run down to a spot just off the green to get video of everyone putting.  Imagine doing that for more than eighteen holes for four days in a row.

All photos by Kris McEwen