I was one of the lucky folks milling around today on Pinehurst No. 2. No, I wasn’t covering the action, like intrepid reporter Jay Flemma. No fancypants media pass for me, complete with locker-room access and broiled salmon lunches. No ma’am, it was hot dogs at the concession stand with the rest of the hoi polloi, and I liked it, I loved it!

Meeting Jay was quite an experience. In my head, he didn’t quite exist on this plane, he was more of a tiny photo on a Web page, so it was almost jarring to realize that yes, he’s a flesh and blood person. A nice one, too. Morever, turns out he went to school with my husband’s brother. It’s a small, small world.

Golf tournaments are funny things. There’s always the big decision—should one find a grandstand and plant oneself, or pick a player and follow him around in stalker-like fashion?

My husband and I tried the stalking method first, first on Tiger Woods, then my personal favorite, Retief Goosen, but it was just too darn hot and crowded. To Pinehurst’s credit, it’s actually not that hard to get around, and there are plenty of throughways to keep things from getting congested. But it was 90 degrees, people! Better not to overexert.

Eventually we found comfy spots on the grandstand facing 16 and watched the carnage. Sixteen normally plays as a par 5, but the USGA, in their wisdom, turned it into a long, hard par 4 just for this weekend. It’s hard all right—it’s averaging 4.6 strokes among the players. Meaning we saw lots of bogeys, and unfortunately, only one birdie in the three hours we sat there.

Even more unfortunately, the singleton birdie was made by Colin Montgomerie. Darnit! So the gallery didn’t get a chance to subject him to any merciless heckling. Oh well, that just means fewer fans got ejected.

Turns out the hole produced 82 bogeys (or worse) today vs. a total of four birdies. Of course, when I played the hole myself a month or so ago, my score was something north of 4.6. Maybe even north of 6.6. And that was when it was still a par 5.

There’s just nothing like attending the U.S. Open, or any major golf tournament, really. The camaraderie of it all, striking up conversations with strangers, the heat, the sense of history being made, the conglomeration of all the world’s best golf talent right there in one small space, the heat. Did I mention the heat? Note to self: wear more sunscreen tomorrow.

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