WGT Golf News

  • Guest Blog from BolloxInBruges

    22 Jun 2011

    This is a Guest Blog from top World Golf Tour player BolloxInBruges, who won the 2010 Virtual U.S. Open and a trip for two to the U.S. Open. WGT asked him to share his experience on his recent trip to Congressional. In this year’s Virtual U.S. Open, he was the top qualifier with a 54, and just posted a 59 in the first round of the championship, 1 stroke behind the leader with 18 holes to play.

     

    Watch BolloxInBruges tee it up in real-life at the Pete Dye course Big Fish in Hayward, Wisconsin

    First off, for those that don't know, I'm Sam from Duluth, Minnesota. I joined WGT back in Feb 2009 as BolloxInBruges and have played over 3,000 virtual rounds.

    I just returned from a long weekend watching the U.S. Open at Congressional. This was my grand prize for winning the Virtual U.S. Open on WGT last year. Getting ready for the trip, it was nice to pack some shorts into the luggage, it has not been above 75 degrees yet this year on the chilly shore of Lake Superior so I hadn't had a chance to experience summer until the trip.  I took my dad with me who is a lifelong golfer and even an occasional WGT player.  Was a great way to spend Fathers Day weekend.  It was a very fun trip for him also as he had not even been on a commercial jet in a few decades.

    Onto the highlights from the golf action, Rory’s shot on 10 on Sun that nearly went in has to rank at the top.  From my vantage point behind the green it looked as if it were hanging on the lip.  The crowed reaction was awesome as it became louder and louder as it trickled back down to the cup.  We also had a great view of Charl Schwartzel's 105 foot putt from the fringe on 3 on Sat, and Ryan Palmer’s 70 foot double breaking putt from the back fringe on 17 on Fri, just to mention a few.

    It was also cool taking in the scene at the final hole as Rory finished up. It’s a pretty awesome finishing hole for the spectators, all of the tens of thousands of us that stuck around had at least a decent view of the action on the 18th green. Not like most tournaments where you have to stake out a spot all Sunday afternoon on the 18th just to see the winner finish.

    Just experiencing Congressional in person was almost as fun as seeing all the Pros. As good of a job as WGT did on the course you really can't appreciate the elevation changes without being there. There were lots of spots where I thought "ahh, so that's why the ball does that on WGT in that place". It was especially fun when the pin positions were in similar places to the WGT locations. The  caddies or even the Pros should really be playing the course on WGT for a month before the tournament just to learn the subtle breaks of the greens.

    Aside from the golf action trip went smooth except for a rush to make our connecting flight in Minneapolis only having around a 15 minute layover due to our first flight being delayed out of Duluth.  Definitely got to see plenty of Bethesda on the 30-40 minute shuttle commute each way to and from the Montgomery Co. Fairgrounds and Congressional,  real nice neighborhood.  The hotel was also quite nice aside from the lack of a hot tub, sure would of felt nice after walking all those miles around the course!

    One extra day would of been nice to do a little more sightseeing with so many touristy things to see in DC.  We did get a nice view of the Lincoln Monument, and the Washington Memorial on the way to Bethesda.  Then spent the day on Monday at Mount Vernon, and got to take a tour of the inside of George Washington's house and all the other buildings on the property.  It's 8,000 acre estate on the banks of the Potomac River where George spent most of his life, and still contains many of the items that he used every day.

    As far as this year’s Virtual U.S. Open, I'm very excited to tee it up this week at Congressional.  Have to admit being a little discouraged seeing FunkieJunie3000's awesome 58 as I checked up on WGT from the DC airport. Just hoping for something around 60 or 61 in the opening round to stay in touch with the leaders. There are many more players this year capable of winning the big ones, so it is really going to take some solid play to contend again in the Virtual Majors this summer.

    BolloxInBruges

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