Okay, so I'm not the biggest golf fan, but I've never claimed to be. The odd time that I have gone 
golfing, I did enjoy it and once actually won. It was beginners luck, of course. Honestly, I'd rather watch paint dry than watch golf on the sports channel on Saturday. But this... this... was different. The 24th PGA Grand Slam 2006 starts today and Tiger's in town. Oh yeah, and Canadian Mike Weir, Geoff Ogilvy and Jim Furyk. Who are these last 2 guys anyway? Oh well, normally I wouldn't really care, but someone gave us free tickets for the whole 3 days and who couldn't resist, to see in person.... the famous Tiger Woods. So off I go (with my friend Maya in her silver BMW convertible) to the Poipu Bay Golf Course by the Grand Hyatt. Maya ditches me with the ho-hum excuse that she has too much work to do, and I'm off hunting Tigers alone. I arrived at 10 am in time for the Pro-Am but realized that (erg...arg...and general "nuts"!) I had just missed the Champions Clinic where photo opportunities and autographs were available. Oh well, who's to know? After all, this has been my only PGA experience so far. Upon entering the greens of the golf course, I stumbled upon the 1st hole. Not a bad place to be, I thought and grabbed a prime spot for the perfect photo. The crowd (of course) was at the 1st tee and it seemed that that was where all the action was. Cheering, laughing, clapping and general excitement could be 
felt all the way down the fairway. Should I walk down that way, or should I stay put? The risk was that as soon as I got halfway or further, the crowd would descend upon me on their way down to the hole. I'll stay put. Okay, so apparently I missed all the tricks and stuff at the tee, but I stood my ground and waited for my first glimpse of the Tiger. My friend Maya had seen him earlier on Sunday at the pool at the Grand Hyatt. She had said then that he was "Tiger-licious". We'll see about that. I was however, pretty excited to see him for real and in person, after all he does have celebrity status. Slowly he and his team made their way up the fairway and my relatively short wait was 
rewarded and my expectations had been fulfilled. There he was. Tiger. It's really him. But to my surprise, there were no flutters or jitters, no butterflies at being in the presence of Tiger, just...well, he IS after all just a guy. Okay, I know he's Tiger....celebrity, fame, fortune and whatever else. But he still is just a guy. I started to feel sorry for him that he probably couldn't go anywhere without being called out to, or photographed. I do have to be honest though, I did get caught up in the excitement! Flowing with the crowd from tee-off to hole, tee-off to hole, waiting for a glance toward the crowd and a perfect picture of the famous golfer. At one point, Tiger DID turn to the crowd and started calling out to....me?....who ME?...he WAS looking my way...why is he looking my way?....was I stunningly beautiful in my brand new shirt and sun visor, or was it the fact that I had 2 tickets around my neck and looked like a moron? ( Maya had ditched me and I had her ticket)...was he calling out to me?... 
Me...Tiger? ME?? Alas...sadly...it was not me but the guy walking behind me. They seemed to know each other and bantered back and forth for a minute. Oh well, at least he flashed his pearly whites in my direction. He was still far enough away though that I didn't get a photo of the exchange. But he did look my way!! HE LOOKED MY WAY!! I followed with the crowd flowing like a river along the secured off area, until the end of the 3rd hole. We then had to stop and allow the teams to enter through an enormous culvert while we (the crowd) were held back for security purposes. On the other 
side of the culvert was the 4th tee. By this time, I had to say goodbye to Tiger and ditch out as well. It was nearing noon and my ride home (Ed and his motorcycle) was coming. Ben was sick at home and after all, I guess I really should be there with him. Alas, my time with Tiger was short, but there's always tomorrow and Wednesday!And if you are sitting on the edge of your seat wondering, he is a handsome guy as we all know, but I don't know if I would call him Tiger-licious!
1 comment:
Hey, Laurie!
An old friend here... I've been trying to call you (Skype actually) on that old phone number still burned in my brain, and was told it was not in service. I did my P.I. thing (Hawaii/Magnum style!) and found you! First I heard you were "in the Bahamas or something" and thought that sounded like you. Hawaii works too. You all look great... took me an hour of reading to find a pic of Ed. What's up with that!?! I question the wisdom of this, but can you send me an email at HeatherN@RosslynAcademy.com and give me an email I can write you at? I'd love to have a chance to ask you a few ?s and tell you a bit that's on my mind (that I don't want to post on your blog!) Hope to catch up with you soon!
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