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Every golfer knows the cry – “fore!” The announcement means that a golf ball is heading your way and you should be on the lookout. Those of us in the Lehigh Valley now know that many, many golf balls and professional golfers are headed our way. The 2022 USGA U. S. Senior Open will be at the Saucon Valley Country Club the week of June 21-26.
At a time when there is not much, if any, LIVE sporting events to attend, knowing there is one on the horizon, no matter how far away, is certainly good news. It is especially good news if you were one of the thousands who attended Saucon’s three previous USGA events: the 1992 and 2009 Senior Opens and the LPGA’s 2009 US Women’s Open.
I attended all three with memories of having interviewed Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Jack Nicklaus, and others in the beautiful setting that is the Country Club. I remember what it was like to watch the best women players, not only play exceptional golf, but make themselves accessible to the fans. And I remember the crowds that brought tens of millions of dollars to the area, a boom that certainly will be welcome again especially now.
Only 13 clubs in the country have hosted more USGA events than Saucon Valley. This will mark the eighth. The complex covers 850 acres and has 60 magnificent golf holes – three 18-hole courses (the Old Course, Grace Course, and Weyhill) and a pristine 6-hole course for junior golfers to prove their skills before taking their talent to the 18-hole courses. Just to be able to walk these grounds is a feast for any nature lover.
2020 is the actual 100-year anniversary of the club, but 2022 is the 100-year anniversary of the club’s completion. This event will mark those two occasions.
The other exciting news is which golfers will turn 50 between now and then, making them eligible for the Seniors’ tour. Those expected to be at Saucon for the Open are Phil Mickleson, Jim Furyk (who is a native Pennsylvanian), Ernie Els, Darren Clarke, Thomas Bjorn and those currently on the tour like Fred Couples.
I know it feels as if 2022 is a long way off, especially when the days right now seem longer than usual as we scratch our heads trying to come up with safe things to do. Mark your calendar, knowing good times have to return at some point.
Golfers have described the game as “a good walk spoiled”, but for those attending the 2022 US Senior Open, I can pretty much guarantee it will simply be a good walk.
ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
- Do any of you collect baseball cards? Did you see where the Mike Trout rookie card became the highest selling sports card of all time? The 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft Prospects Superfractor signed rookie card sold for $3.12 million. The card had been purchased from a Taiwan seller in 2018 for $400,000. Someone made a very nice profit.
- Last week, I was feeling pretty good about the Phillies, but warned that they needed to get better performances out of their bullpen. This week the bullpen failed them again. They lost five straight before winning Sunday and are in last place in the NL East. The Phils have added three new names to the relief corps, but so far, that has not helped.
- The Flyers take on the Islanders in Round two of the NHL playoffs. They finished off Montreal this past week and now play a team that beat them in their only three meetings this year. On paper, this series looks about as even as they come. This one will be very defensive and the team that solves the other offensively will win.
- It had been 63 years since the Celtics completed a playoff sweep of a Philadelphia NBA franchise. The Celtics did it on Sunday and beat a Philadelphia team for the fifteenth time in the playoffs. Expect some shakeups in the 76ers organization.
- Nazareth’s Marco Andretti sat on the pole position for the Indianapolis 500, scheduled in May, but postponed to this past Sunday. I never watch racing, but, since Marco looked like a potential winner, I watched – for four hours and 45 minutes! Marco was never in the race and the last four laps were under the yellow with the cars going about 65 miles an hour. It was like driving on Route 22! I wasted a Sunday afternoon.
