Ryder Cup Adventure: The Difference Is The Atmosphere

Wow! 50,000 people watching 16 men hitting a dimpled white ball! Incredible when you sit down and think about it or in my case, write.

It's difficult to know where to start my dispatch because when I reflect on Day 1, there is much to contemplate and discuss. The organisation of the event is in itself, mind-blowing. The commercialisation. The behaviour of patriotic fans. The food and beverage offering which offers enough material for a whole Blog! And the atmosphere which for me made the trip so worthwhile.

Whilst the 6 hour drive from Chicago had been pretty tiring, the effects of the time difference at home meant that at 2am, I was sitting in my bed, wide awake, ready for my 5am departure to Canterbury Park, the spectator transport hub for the Ryder Cup. If you are a member of the public without special parking permission nearer the course, then your route into the event is through here. It's effectively a massive car park, 30 minutes bus ride from Hazeltine, which enables security checks to be done before you arrive at the course. I could be critical of certain aspects but my incredibly early start presented an advantage in parking the car close to the hundreds of shuttle buses and queuing for only a short while for the ride to the course. Heaven knows how long these queues become.

However, the atmosphere is tangible the moment you get on that bus, mine being filled with a mix of Americans and Europeans entering into friendly banter despite the hour! No animosity between fans, just fun and friendship. Probably not what you would experience If the bus had been full of Leeds and Manchester United fans!!

That atmosphere is carried onto the course and is the one thing you can't experience sitting on the couch at home, watching it through the wonders of modern tv sports coverage. It simply isn't the same and for me this validated just why I came. The sight of fans bedecked in patriotic outfits, some of which I would be embarrassed to wear behind closed doors, makes you smile and in some cases even laugh! It was great to see that Elvis had indeed left the building and in many guises was strolling the fairways of a Minnesota golf course! Priceless.

But where do you go when you first enter the gates? I was lucky when queuing for the bus yesterday to be alongside Brits, Bob and Jay, veterans of attending sporting events like this. In fact, Bob had been at Newlands stadium in Cape Town earlier this year, watching the same cricket match as me and experiencing the disappointment of losing on the last ball to the South Africans.

Poor Bob and Jay, finding themselves stuck with a limpet called Alistair who followed their every move until refuge was found in the grandstand on Hole 3. They had wanted to be on the first tee but quickly realised this to be a non-starter. Hole 3 was fantastic however and as a gesture of friendship and thanks, I bought the coffees and we chatted away to other fans in the grandstand until the first match arrived on the green. Atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere. You really could cut it with a knife at Hazeltine, particularly after the morning foursomes when the Americans were so dominant, they whitewashed us 4-0!

Far too early for the Europeans to get down and that indomitable spirit was ably demonstrated in the afternoon session which ended with us winning 3-1. This match, as they most often do could go to the wire.

The problem for me and Blogging is that I could write pages and pages which would only bore people to death. Fortunately, three days on course gives me the opportunity to come back to food, commercialisation and the American fan and as I sign off at 0321, I wonder what awaits today?

A few photos below of Day 1 at the Ryder Cup.