Taking It All In: U.S. Open Day 1 Blog By Coach Reehoorn
June 11, 2012
Oregon State junior men's golfer Nick Sherwood qualified for the 112th U.S. Open Championship by defeating Daniel Miernicki of Oregon in a sudden-death playoff at a sectional qualifier. Head coach Jon Reehoorn will be with Sherwood at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, Calif., through Wednesday and provide a daily blog leading up to the U.S. Open, which begins on Thursday. For more information, follow @BeaversMGolf, @JonReehoorn and @NSherwood14 on Twitter.
Nick wanted to get to the course when registration began at 9 a.m. on Sunday so as in his words, "he could take it all in." After meeting Nick and his dad, Bill Sherwood, at the player hotel in downtown San Francisco, we walked to Starbucks to make sure Nick got his usual intake of caffeine...me too and then headed off to The Olympic Club. As we pulled into the player parking lot, I think it began to sink in just how big this week will be for Nick when 2009 U.S. Open Champion Lucas Glover pulled up right next to us and began unloading his gear.
Not really knowing what to do next, we followed Lucas to the player registration area in The Olympic Club clubhouse. Nick was one of the first players to register. During registration you do a number of things, sign some memorabilia, get your player badges, buy player tickets for any guests coming (Nick might have close to 30 people here this week), etc. But most important is the tee time selection for practice rounds. As Nick stood in front of the computer screen, there it was Tiger Woods, Casey Martin, and Cameron Wilson. Knowing Casey and Cameron, Nick thought why not. He put his name in that group only to find out a few hours later that group would be limited to a threesome. Not a bad alternative though, Nick will be paired with Masters Champion Bubba Watson Monday morning and then Rickie Fowler and Ben Crane on Tuesday afternoon.
After registration and some breakfast in the player hospitality area we headed to the putting green and range to warm-up. As we got to the range, I watched Nick from afar hit some beautiful wedge shots and 8-irons that never left the flag. As he began moving up in the bag, the swings got a little quicker and he was moving quicker. After a few swings I told him to just slow down and take his time. Since the Pac-12 Championship, Nick has really focused on the process and what he needs to do before every shot to make sure he is prepared. I told him to go through that process every time on the range to help slow himself down, which was followed by a striped 4-iron that never left the flag and he was back on track. It is going to be very important for Nick to take everything in stride the next few days and control his adrenaline as it will be very easy to wear himself out before the tournament even begins on Thursday.
Nick hadn't planned on playing any holes today, but with no spectators and a handful of players in attendance, it was just too much to pass up for Nick. After about 30-45 minutes on both the range and putting green, we headed to the first tee for the first look at Olympic Club. Alex Cejka made his way to the first tee the same time as Nick and we ended up joining him. In another example of how small the world is, Nick had actually met Alex last year during the Peter Jacobsen Umpqua Bank Challenge when roles were reversed and Nick was caddying for his dad in the pro-am. The first hole at The Olympic Club is a 520-yard, par-4. Not the easiest starting hole in the world, but Nick stood up there and hit a perfect tee shot with a slight fade...the issue, it left 240 yards to the green and a hybrid. They are saying the first six holes at the Olympic Club might be the toughest start in major championship history. In six holes Nick had to hit three hybrids, a 3-iron, a 4-iron and a 5-iron to the green. The three hybrids came on #1 and then on #5 (498-yard par-4) and #6 (489-yard par-4), because the holes will force many players to hit 3-wood off the tee.
This year's U.S. Open will feature players starting on holes #1 and #9 because the 10th hole is a long distance from the clubhouse. As we finished up the eighth hole, Nick decided he had had enough and we headed up to the clubhouse for lunch. One of the best parts of this experience is being inside the Player Hospitality area and just listening to what the guys Nick has watched on TV talk about. It quickly becomes evident they are just like him. One example from today...as we walked in for lunch, Alex Cejka was talking on his cell phone in German as Zach Johnson walked by on his way out to the course. Overhearing Alex speaking in German, Zach quickly said something to the effect, "Alex, this is America; we speak English here." All of us, including Alex, got a good laugh.
After a quick bite, Nick wanted to get some short game practice in so we headed out onto the course and practiced some chipping and putting on the second green. With not many players on the course it was pretty easy to be out there for 30 minutes and not see anyone. After realizing we had been at the course for almost eight hours, Nick said it was time to get out of there. We headed back to downtown San Francisco to meet up with his brothers, who had just arrived with family friends and enjoyed a fun dinner at Buca di Beppo. If you ever have the opportunity to eat dinner with the Sherwood's, make sure you get your food passed to you before the youngest, Nate, gets a hold of it. The 6-foot-7, 16-year-old can eat enough for a small army.
We are headed to the course at 6:15 Monday morning for Nick's 7:15 tee time with Bubba. Should be fun.
Go Beavs!
Support Oregon State University Athletics by making your tax deductible donation to the Beaver Athletic Student Fund. For more information follow this link or call 541-737-2370. Former Student-Athletes are invited to join the Varsity O Facebook Page for upcoming Alumni events.
Follow Oregon State Athletics On YouTube.
