I was amused that dad stayed out of the conversation between Megan and I but I sensed they disagreed on how to deal with the boy. I was guessing that the mom thing outweighed the stepdad thing. With that arranged I went to my room and changed into golfing attire, which was real Goff pants an Oakmont polo shirt and an Oakmont sweater vest. The temperature would be in the mid 60's and I was loving it. I wasn't showing off but it was what I brought for the trip. It didn't matter anyway as everyone would think dad was the member, for some reason that didn't bother me as I wanted to be under the radar as much as possible. The path to the Pro Shop took me past the putting green and there was Cole doing his thing and Liam was just standing around watching. I went up to Liam and asked, so how is he? Liam laughed and said well he is in golf mode and hitting it extremely well, yet all he does is bitch about how he doesn't get to practice enough. Liam, this is a charity event and he should be having fun. Another laugh and Liam said Mike, it's work and like he punched in. When he ends his day he is Cole again. I don't know how he does it as it is like a switch he flips. I went up to Cole and said dude, have fun but your mom and I have a cart and will be watching at least 9 holes. Cole laughed and said well she does need to see this up close as she watches me on TV. She is always at the events, just doesn't like to walk. With that I went to the Pro Shop.
Inside the Pro Shop I went right to the counter and introduced myself and there was instant recognition. The Assistant Pro working the desk was Adam and we chatted a while and he asked if I had played the course yet. I said that I hadn't and would be watching my brother Cole play a practice round and that I needed a cart so that his mother could tag along. Adam made a quick call and when he hung up he said Mike, there will be a new cart at the door in a few minutes. Then he said Mike your brother is getting a lot of attention and there will be a lot of people tagging along, hell I hope to see him play the back 9. I hear he is fun and has a game to kill for. I laughed and said Adam, I just want him to have fun as this is not a serious event. Adam laughed and said well his two playing partners are something else. The younger guy is a Tour rookie and has an ego the size of that ocean out there. The other guy is a 15 year veteran with a couple of wins but he always makes the cut and cashes checks, a real grinder. I laughed and said well by the time you see Cole on the back 9 he might be playing alone. Adam laughed and shook his head.
There was no sign of Megan so I looked around the shop and found it fully stocked with the usual stuff but when I looked at the prices I was astonished at how expensive they were. However everything was very nice but I had enough shit with logos from the clubs I belonged to and now there was the VT stuff. Hell, I was a walking advertisement. I saw Megan approach through the window and went right outside before she decided to shop. We got in the cart and she immediately asked no coffee? I smiled and said well after the first tee shots. She said Mike, that would be perfect. The first tee is not at all elevated and there were a bit more than a hundred people around the tee. Megan asked why are all these people here? I just shrugged and said Megan, I would bet to see you kid play golf but time will tell. I drove the cart to where we could see the players and even listen to what was being said. Tom Jackson was the 15 year Tour veteran and was about 6'3" tall and trim. Chase Wittmer was the rookie and he was about the same size a Tom. He was dressed the latest golf clothes and wore an orange hat gray shirt and trousers and an orange belt. Cole who is 6' was in his nickers and the outfit was in black and gold and he had on gold shoes. Megan said, damn that clown suit, I hate it. I stopped walking and said mom, Cole is in vintage golf dress right down to that hat and at the same time there is a shout out to his home town. There was no reaction. Back on the tee there was some conversation and Tom, looked at Cole and said, son how about you show us the way. Cole looked at Tom then smiled and said, well if you guys don't mind let's do this a way that is fair. He took off his hat and asked for a golf ball. Tom handed Coal a ball and he looked at it and dropped it in the hat. Then he turned to Chase and a ball was tossed in his direction. Cole easily caught it, looked at it and went over to a kid in the stands who was about 12. Cole asked the kid to pick a ball and the kid reached into the hat and handed Cole a ball. Cole looked at the ball and said Chase you are first, then he handed the ball to another kid in the crowd. Another ball was selected and Cole said, well I'm second and he handed the ball to the kid and retrieved his hat and gave Tom's ball to a girl in the crowd. When Cole returned to the tee, Tom had already put a ball on a tee and was ready to hit and Chase and his caddy were messing around in the bag for a ball and Tom patiently waited. Tom finally hit a very good fairway wood to the right center of the fairway. This hole is about 380 yards long and dogleg right with high rough on the right. I was wondering what Cole would hit and Liam simply handed him an iron and I knew it had to be a 3 iron. Cole stuck a tee in the ground and did the pre-shot routine and laced a shot that started along the right side and gently turned left and he was in the fairway and about 150 yards from the pin which was located left center of the green. Chad hit his shot, a long iron and it started down the center and also turned left and was in good shape in the first cut. Chase said something to Cole who ignored it but Liam said Chase, just hit another one. Oh if you need balls we can supply them, what are your playing I'll call the Pro Shop and have some delivered. There were no gallery ropes and Cole was walking and talking with the spectators. Megan asked Mike, why did Cole give those golf balls away? I shrugged and replied, why not, those guys don't pay for them and besides they make them every day. That kid will have a nice memory and if Cole hits it big it will be more awesome.
The second shots were all good with Chase missing a 20' putt for a birdie and simply picking up is ball. Cole made a birdie from 15' and Tom had the same from about 10'. Tom and Cole walked off the green together and then saw us and Cole came right over gave his mom a hug and said thanks for braving the elements. Megan asked, so why did you give those balls away, they weren't yours? Cole smiled and said, mom I love you, just enjoy the day. I looked at Megan and said sometime tonight he will tell you the same thing I told you. Golf has to be more fun and he will add that people pay a lot of money to watch us and we need to be more involved.
The second hole for this event was a Par 5 but for the US Open it would be the second longest Par 4 on record at 504 yards and I knew Cole would be playing it as a Par 4. Everyone hit driver off the tee and Tom was in the center of the fairway but 215 away, Chas was about the same but in the second cut and right. Cole took a little more time and then blasted one about 320 leaving him around leaving him a bit less than 190. Tom hit the false front of the green and rolled off and chipped it close for a 4. Chase had a terrible lie in the rough and couldn't reach the green and his third shot was to 20 feet and he missed the putt and simply picked up the missed putt and smoke was coming out of his ears as he left the green. For some reason he stopped to see Cole's putt and the 20 foot putt just missed and stopped a foot away. Cole looked around and pointed to a kid about 14 years old and said hey dude, finish this for me. The kid took his time and tapped it in and the group following along went nuts. The kid took the ball out of the hole and handed the club and the ball to Cole and started to walk away. Cole yelled dude catch and tossed him the ball and again the fans went nuts.
It immediately became obvious why Chase stayed at the green as he made a bee line to Cole and he was right in his ear and it was obvious he wasn't happy. I was wishing I could hear what was being said. As for Cole he was looking straight ahead and showed no emotion. The problem was that there were spectators around and some of them were getting upset as they overheard what Chase was telling Cole. Then Tom started over and I wanted to hear that so I jumped out of the cart and was staying out of the way but close enough so that I could hear. Tom tapped Cole on the shoulder and gently guided him to his right and then he stepped between them and Cole simply moved out of the way. Tom started by telling Chase to leave the kid alone as he was having fun. Chase started to say something and Tom said shut up and listen. Cole has more talent in his back pocket than you have in you body and it's not because of ability it's because of those 6" between your ears. You are rude, put too much stress on yourself. You have watched Cole play two holes, have fun and is 2 under. From these tees and in this weather he could easily shoot 10 under. While all that is going on he has a couple hundred friends and you have a couple of hundred people who think you are an ass and Chase I'm one of them. Either settle down or go back to the locker room. Cole is the future and you my friend will be a club pro at a second rate club within 2 years when daddy runs out of patients or finds a better place to spend his money. Then Tom walked away.
The next 4 holes were played with no drama and Cole kept talking with the spectators but no balls were given out and no shots were taken by spectators. Tom and Cole were applauded on almost every shot but Chase was ignored, no matter what he did. Apparently word had spread about what Chase had said to Cole. As Megan and I drove to the 7th hole I told her she was about to see the most fantastic view from a golf course in the world. It is a downhill 109 yard pat 3 and one of the shortest holes ever played in a U.S. Open. The green is very small and the players have hit anything from a loft wedge to a 3 iron depending on the wind. The hole was a fantastic place for pictures and there were many taken. I took one of Cole and Liam then one of Cole and Megan and finally Liam took one of Cole and me. Then Cole looked at Liam and said your hole don't mess it up. Liam had a big smile as he selected a club. He hit it a bit short and it was on the fringe about 20 feet away. Tom seeing that let his caddie play the hole and his shot was on the green 15 feet to the right and just past pin high. There were some boos and some groans as Chase plated the hole and he was no better than the caddies. His caddie handed him the putter and a driver then waited on the tee. There were e pars on the hole and a spectator gave Chase a hard time about not being able to beat the caddies.
Starting with #4, 9 of the holes are on the ocean and the stretch starting with 7 are intensely difficult. From the 8th hole on Cole was very serious and yet he interacted with the growing crowd which doubled on the 9th hole. On the10th tee I asked Megan if she had enough? She said that she wanted to watch some more but a coffee would be nice. I laughed and said mom, you are speaking my language, I'll be right back. There was a line at the "snack bar" so went to the lounge. I was still far away from the cart and I noticed Megan had company in the cart. When I got closer I realized it was AP. At the cart there was a quick conversation, I handed over the two coffees and knew I was relieved of Megan responsibilities. I would have to wait to hear about this cart ride.
I called JJ and when he answered I asked if he wanted to grab lunch? MJ, I'm with dad and his partners and we are eating and discussing things at the flight school, I'll see you tonight. Well l decided that I should hit some golf balls and rent clubs for the weekend. At the Pro Shop there was a different guy working and again I introduced myself and again the name was recognized immediately. I explained that I needed to rent clubs as I was playing the weekend. He laughed and said Mr. Simmons you clubs and your bag are here they were delivered with Cole's clubs. Oh, Cole asked that we tell you they are from South Hills. I grabbed the clubs and another cart and thought I would join Cole as they had three and I could be the 4th. I found them walking to the 12th tee and Tom and Cole agreed and Chase just shrugged and said whatever. I hit last all the time and tried to stay out of the way and watch and evaluate things. Tom actually knew who I was as I was on the USGA Executive Committee. In between shots we chatted about things and he said that Cole was a tremendous talent and that while he couldn't do it his way he relates and might rival that guy riding in the cart with Cole's mom. I laughed about that and asked about Chase. Tom said he was bred to be a golfer. He was the darling of everyone and made it to the finals of the Amateur. He lost to a kid from Australia 5 & 4. The kid and his buddy, caddie, was here playing golf for the summer. That loss astounded the minions at the USGA. Hell the spectators were rooting for the Aussie after 9 holes. He won't make it out here and he will be a terrible club pro. Talent wise he is limited by those 6" between his ears. The round finished and I had a couple of hours before the meeting.
At this point I was starving and went to the club restaurant and was immediately waved to the table where Megan and Arnold were sitting. With a full glass sitting in front of him AP called the waiter and said, I'll have another and a spiked Arnold Palmer drink arrived and it was given to me. I said thanks and ordered a club sandwich. I took a sip of the drink, then looked at Megan and asked Megan, so what did you think about your son? Well Mike did you two set me up? I laughed and said Megan, that's the Mike pivot and you can't get away with that, just spill it. Well it's obvious he can play. He drove that Chase kid nuts and Tom accepted him and his antic amused him. What I can't figure out is the costume and then how he can be chatting with a spectator and walk away, chat with Liam and hit a great shot. I still think that he would be better off with a college education. Well I like how Liam manages him on the course and how they both manage the fans. I noticed them chatting with some of the people who were giving Chase an especially hard time. So Arnie, would he be better if he didn't have to pay attention to that? Arnie replied Megan, tournament events are different as everyone isn't on top of you and I've seen you son manage the gallery. There are always cheers that occur when something happens on another hole. Cole and Liam do a great job with the people on their hole. Then he surprised us and said he is a modern version of me and every bit as good. I finished eating and said guys I have one more thing to say Liam has his college degree and he could make more money carrying clubs than he could working for me. With that I headed to my room for a shower and a change of clothes.
In my room the shower was the easy part and I shaved and blew dry the mop on my head. The real issue was what to wear as I was sure business casual had different meanings. All the other meetings I was at was business dress. What I wore was always important to me and it was almost always meant to send a message. Logos were another issue as I didn't want to send a message of support to any group especially one of the clubs. I finally selected black jeans, casual soft shoes, no socks and a mock light gray turtleneck. It needed something else so I flew to the gift shop and found a top with the Pebble Beach logo. In reality it was a very expensive soft white sweatshirt. At that point I was comfortable and I really didn't give a shit about the rest. With that I found the location of the meeting and walked in the room 5 minutes before it was to start and went inside. As soon as I got there some said David, now that we are all here can we start? People started to take their seats and David kept talking with the two guys he was with when I came in. There were open seats at the head of the table as well as two near that seat and one at the right side opposite the other open seats and I took that one. Right at 4:30 David took his seat and said let's get started.
David started by introducing me saying that they all knew me from the Oakmont meetings and the impact I had on ticket sales for the Woman's Open. Then he thanked me for the flight up saying that not only did I provide the flight and that I was the pilot in of a Cessna jet but I got to spend time with a young golfer who has at 17 already made a statement on the PGA Tour with a win, a second and a couple of made cuts. This kid could easily be the future of golf and he has very different views reflected not only with how he dresses but how the spectators should be involved. You should make time over the next few days and watch him play. Next there was a review of the financials. There was a lot of money until I discovered that the only tournament that makes money is the Open and that it finances it all. Attendance and TV money is vital. David then went into the men's tournament held here at Pebble Beach on Father's Day weekend and that ticket sales were up but not by a lot. The woman's tournament at Oakmont was a different story as sales were up 30% and that while we would continue to lose money it would be a lot less. Then there was a lengthy discussion on course selection for the various tournaments and everyone had an opinion, well except me as I sat quietly and listened. There were 15 people on the committee and 14 people had an axe to grind. Finally someone asked Mike, why are you so quiet? Well, I'm new and just listening. Everyone has a favorite course or some personal reason to promote a venue, I don't. What I will say that it matters to the players where these event are held. The courses need to be very difficult but fair. Good shots need rewarded and there is no room for average or poor shots. In my opinion there are 8 or 9 courses in the country that meet that criteria. We don't want 9 or 10 under winning our championship. That could happen in different weather conditions but it should be unusual. Great players win on great courses. You know what, the Brits do it right they have a rotation. With that I just shut up and the clamor started again. Then I was asked Mike, you think there should be input from the players. I smiled and said I can't believe that question could be asked as for the two largest tournaments played by professionals there should actually be an advisory committee and they should be listened to but not make any decision. The meeting dragged on till 6:00 and we all left for dinner.
I had no idea where dinner would and I followed along and everyone was standing in front of the elevator. I finally asked and was told that we had a private dining room on the second floor. I just looked as we were on the first floor. I spied the stars and walked up the one flight. I got there as the elevator door opened and about half our group got out. I simply followed along and there was this room with three tables, 5 seats at a table, a bar and a fantastic view. Then again there were fantastic views everywhere. Everyone went to the bar and I found a table and sat down. I claimed a seat early as I wanted to see how quickly the other four seats were filled and who sat down. There was a reduced menu at each seat and I quickly decided on a salad wedge with blue cheese and bacon and the California salmon, whatever that was. Just then someone asked Mike, is it ok if we join you? I stood up and said sure and there is no need to ask. With that Trent, Colin and Mark sat down and Mark was this year's tournament director. All three were "younger" members, well slightly older than dad and I would say mid to late 50's. The final seat was taken by one of the most veterans on the committee and now my radar was beeping so loud I was sure everyone could hear it. I got up and went to the bar basically to have some time to think. At the bar I ordered an Arnold Palmer. Back at the table the older guy everyone called "Red" asked Mike, as a high school senior how do you have the time to fly all over the country? Well Red, I don't fly all over the country as for school I am a second semester Senior who could have graduated in January. I take 3:AP classes and sign out for work release. The waiter appeared and everyone but me ordered a steak and I stuck with salmon and the salad wedge. Then Mark asked what I thought of the course? Well Mark it is set up perfect for this event. The tees are up the greens are a reasonable speed the rough is cut and in this weather it doesn't have many teeth. I can't wait to see it in June. Mike, ho does it compare to your club? Mark, which one I belong to three? Red said, three and a jet just how much money do you have? I laughed and said Red, a little less than God but I'm working on that. The table erupted in laughter and people at other tables looked. Then Trent asked which other clubs I belonged to. Trent, South Hills and I grew up there and I could walk there from home. Pretty much I use it for business. The other is Latrobe and that is for obvious reasons and for Cole. The king has a big shadow and that impresses a certain type and I like the course.
After dinner Red came up to me and said Mike, I hear you played a few holes today with Mr. Wittmer what did you think? Red, what's you interest in Chase? Well Mike, some of us have watched him for along time. Ok Red, what do you and your friends see now. Well a young guy who hasn't adjusted to Pro golf. Red chuckled and said, well now that you got me to tell you what I think, what do you think? Red, I think he has lost his support group, has an ego problem and doesn't want to be here but he has talent. Red just so you understand Cole doesn't need a support group he is doing fine. With that I went downstairs and ran into Cole. He said he was hungry and I asked where Liam was and Cole shrugged and said I don't know and he has stopped watching me practice after a round unless we have something specific to work on. Well Cole, how about I buy you dinner as a payback for shipping my clubs and he smiled and said that would be awesome. Damn the dude was hungry as he ordered a dozen wings, a burger and fries and we both had an AP to drink. So Mike thanks for dragging mom around today, what did she have to say? Well Cole not much except that she didn't like the clown outfit. Cole laughed and said well I find a red nose for tomorrow. Hell, even I laughed at that.
The wings came and Cole almost swallowed the first three wings whole, then he said MJ help yourself. So Cole, what did you think of Tom? MJ, he is a good dude and he actually asked to play with me. MJ, he has a lot of friends on the Tour and everyone respects him. He simply gets up and goes to work, he won a few events and earns a great living, hell he rarely misses a cut. It's a shame as it's his last year, he was offered a job at a great job, the money is good and his wife and kids want him home a lot more. MJ, I don't want to talk about the other jerk and I did my best not to make a scene. MJ he called the fans my minions. Some heard that and Liam and I had to defuse things. So MJ, did mom and Arnie have a nice chat? Cole, you mom saw and heard a lot today just don't push it and give her time. Once Cole finished eating and he left to shower and cleanup I called JJ. When he answered he said, my room and I got beer. I smiled and headed that way.
Thanks for reading and for the comments. There was a lot of research into this about the course and it took time. Thanks for the patience.
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