spontaneity: ryder cup 2012

well, it's been just over 4 days since i decided to fly to chicago to watch golf's biggest event.  

it was a whirlwind, but it was more than worth it.  here is the timeline of our adventure, and a few of my favorite photos from the ryder cup in chicago.

thursday:

lindsay came over for dinner and around 8:00 we started talking about how excited we were to watch the ryder cup the following day.  she joked about how she had tickets because she is a member of the pga of america as well as how she had a place to stay.  out of nowhere, i said, "well then, let's go!"  immediately, we started looking up flights and by 9:30, after talking to our bosses, we were booked for a flight to chicago the next morning.

friday:

after tons of packing and having to go into the office to finish a few things, lindsay got to my house around 2:00 am, and we slept for a couple of hours.  we got up at 5:00 am for our 6:50 flight out of hartford. 

[change time zones] 

we arrived at midway at 8:20 and took a cab to lindsay's college friend david's apartment.  we dropped our stuff, met david's family and started out on our 20 minute walk to medinah.  we got there, walked around to get our bearings and headed out to watch some golf.  we watched each of the 4 groups come through the 6th fairway and then headed to the 10th tee to get ahead of them.  [there were so many people there all weekend that it was impossible to follow a group for a whole round, we really had to plan well and get ahead of groups and wait to see action.]  we were only a few feet away from the players on the 10th, and obviously i couldn't contain myself and took a few illegal photos of the players.  one of the first ones i took was of phil mickelson.  as he walked by, i tried to snap a shot, and i hear him yell, "EXCUSE ME!"  i panicked, put my phone down, and looked at him.  then, he threw me the golf ball he had used on the previous hole.  "here you go, sweetie!"  how cool is that??? i was on cloud nine.  the rest of the day was spent watching groups on the 14th green with a lot of "u-s-a" chants.  on our way out, we stopped at the merchandise tent and bought souvenirs for our families, friends, boyfriends, and coworkers.  that night, we went to a great italian dinner with david and his family.

at the end of day 1, usa led 5-3.

saturday:

we woke up around 7:30 and headed to the course with a couple of david's roommates.  they had all worked at medinah this summer, and really knew the ropes, so it was great that they could show us around.  when we got in, we went to the 14th hole to watch the morning groups.  we watched phil and keegan win on 12 and the rest of the groups play 13 then 17.  for the afternoon matches, i watched everyone tee off on 1, and the spirit was like nothing i had ever been a part of before.  after grabbing some lunch, i headed out to 14 to wait for the groups to come through.  for the second day in a row, bubba watson and webb simpson won on the 14th and they were so entertaining to watch.  adjacent to the 14th green was the 12th tee, so we could also watch groups tee off there.  there was also a leaderboard and the roar of the crowd was incredible everytime that board changed in the us's favor.  the end of golf on saturday was spent watching groups play 17.  after that, was headed back to the apartment and talked forever with all of the roommates about how great the day had been.

at the end of day 2, usa led 10-6.

sunday:

tee times didn't start until 11, so we got there at 9, and did some last minute shopping.  we then headed over to the 1st tee to watch the singles matches tee off.  the funniest part of the morning was when everyone [including the entire european team] realized that rory mcilroy wasn't on site only 20 minutes before his tee time.  when he finally arrived, after thinking his tee time was at 12 not 11 because he heard it reported in eastern not central time, the chants of "glory, glory where is rory" and "central time zone" were hysterical.  after the groups teed off, we went and had some lunch and headed to the 17th green.  there were going to be close to 70,000 people there on sunday and we wanted to make sure we had a great spot to watch all the action.  there was also a huge television screen across the water from us on 17, so even when the groups were not there, we could still keep up with them.  well, sunday was pretty much a letdown.  the americans had a few leads, let them slip away, and the europeans just kept grinding.  we watched every group play through, and there was just a different feeling than there had been any other day.  we just had a feeling that we weren't going to make it happen.  and sure enough, the europeans won 14.5-13.5.  the walk back to the apartment and ride to the airport were hard, but we had a couple of drinks in the bar, and by 9:00 pm, we were headed back to connecticut.  we got back at 1:00, and now, a day later, i can finally say that even though they lost, it was the most exciting experience of my life.

here are a few photos and videos from the weekend, i will be sure to post a few of my other favorites soon.  now, i'm off to the golf course for a golf marathon.  "what is that?!?" you ask?  well, i'm going to play as many holes as i can in 8 hours to raise money for the organization i work for - wish me luck!

oh, and it's my birthday tomorrow, so i will be sure to post about my birthday festivities that started last night soon!

day 1:

day 1, walking in - it felt like disneyworld with the excitement and uplifting music haha

in front of medinah's amazing clubhouse

the golf ball i caught from phil mickelson

day 2:

some of the guys that showed us around on day 2 

14th hole: bubba and webb winning

day 3:

phil teeing off on the first hole

17 when we got there

and 17 when the first group played through

opening and closing ceremonies stage

first hole keegan vs rory

17 hole craziness