Daily Independent Online.
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Friday, July 02, 2004.
Imoyo’s US Open experience
By Taiwo Alimi
Senior
Correspondent,
Lagos
It was quite
interesting to listen to Captain of Ikoyi Club 1938 (Golf Section) Tunde Imoyo
talk about the US Open Wednesday. As a first timer, the amiable administrator
naturally had a lot to share with this reporter. He spoke glowingly about the
organisational skill of the US PGA, the Shinnecock course, venue of the 104th
edition of the championship and the players most prominent among them the
biggest star in the history of the game, Tiger Woods, the champion Retief
Goosen and South African biggest star Ernie Els. And the thousands of people
that thronged the four-day major to cheer on the players.
Imoyo started with
the crowd, the spectators. “Watching the US Open on television is
basically different from what you experience when you are actually there live.
The crowd that you see on the screen at a particular hole is usually about one
fifth of the figure that are around that hole. And if you are aware that there
are 18 holes and that the number of people on each of the holes is about the
same with slight or insignificant differences between them. As a first timer, I
must say I was overwhelmed with the size of spectators who came from different
parts of the globe to see the US Open. Aside from this crowd, you meet on the
course there are numerous others that are watching the big screens scattered
all over the course and those outside the club. I am talking about those who
may have gone out to catch their lunch or at the driving range or just walking
around the club. I say this is an experience that every golfer must have and
one that would change your whole concept of the game, you would know that we
are really far from getting there in this part of the world”.
On organisation,
Imoyo informed that he has never seen anything like it before.
“Everything was just right. Even before we set out for the course, we had
to ditch our cars in a big packing space miles away from the club. It is like
say we are playing the Sagamu Open now and all of us have to park our cars at
the National Stadium. There were long buses, volunteer buses that took people
to the course. The amount of logistics that would have gone into that
arrangement is something I cannot begin to imagine now. Because everything was
so smooth. Just before the parking
lot you will pick the Open channel on your radio telling you what you have to
do and by the time you park there
are buses to take you to the course and drop you at designated places at
different parts of the course so that a particular area is not congested. At
this point your ticket is screened to ensure it is genuine and then you can now
enter the course and move around”.
Imoyo went on to
talk about the Shinnecock course, “The Shinnecock course has about two or
three courses but the one that hosted the championship was specially prepared
for it. You need to see the course.
When you’re
looking from the tee-box and can see about 200metres of rough. In some places,
you would see rough before a green and after the green the fairway and another
rough again around the apron. They were specially prepared and you can see that
these players put in a lot of skill to perform in such a course. It is a
marvelous course and one that a player would just want to play because it is
really challenging.”
Like all watchers
from this part of the world, the CEO of Faret Engineering just wanted to see
the prodigy Tiger Woods live and he had a fill of his desire as he joined
thousands of others to follow the Tiger’s tail. “I was longing for
Tiger and I followed him. I was quite delighted to see him live and Tiger is a
gentleman but like every other human being even though he is trying to conceal certain
things, that does not mean that he
is not human. Sometimes, when he plays badly, he gets angry and it shows in his
gesticulations. Aside from that, Tiger is a quiet person and easy person. An
incident actually happened that his caddie had to take away a camera from
somebody in the crowd because
everybody just wants to follow him
and if possible take his picture even when cameras are not allowed on the
course. He has a lot of pressure on him and for a young man like Tiger, he is
super unique to still be up there. Golf is like a sound wave, it can be here
today and tomorrow it is not here and Tiger is not an exception. No player I
say go through the kind of pressure Tiger goes through. Look at Phil Mickelson.
Americans were actually rooting for him at the US Open and calling his name and
praising his shots from hole to hole. But see what happened to him. He was
actually leading onto the 16th hole and the praises got onto him and he became
more careless to fumble the next hole. I don’t think Tiger would have
allowed such commendation get into him to jumble such a lead. Tiger is a great
player any day and I am so happy I met him live,” added Imoyo.
