Cherry Hills Village – There were, no doubt, among the nearly 23,000 fans who flocked to the U.S. Women’s Open on Thursday, a few who had fled town four months ago during NBA All-Star Weekend.
And the NBA crowd was nowhere in sight here.
Think about it – two special sporting events come to this region, two that big cities clamor for and feel fortunate to get, and the crowds, the following for both in and around Denver, could not have been more divergent.
The contrast is as stark as black and white.
Regardless of who flocks and who flees, basketball has long been an inclusive game, and it is a good thing golf, too, has become a game for all. At this Open, the doors are open. The stories are precious. The people, the players are enticing.
Women’s golf has its own split brewing. It could turn into a scrap. It will be highlighted in this tournament.
There are so many teenagers and women barely out of their teens in golf, in this Open. Many of their competitors are peers strolling the fairways old enough to be their mothers. How the mix works is puzzling.
The young women are being promoted, celebrated and touted as the present and future of women’s golf.
While pushing the young up front, the mature players are being pushed aside. Old news. Sit down.
This U.S. Open, like several before it, is a great equalizer. It gives the mature women golfers a chance to keep the youth movement in check. You know, nice to have you around, but get back, take some lumps and get your sticky fingers off that cup.
This tournament is a reminder that young is attractive, but seasoned is often more productive on the Open’s challenging, grating courses. This course is no different.
The mid-day leader was Angela Stanford, 27, not Morgan Pressel, 17, who tore it up early and struggled late. And though 19-year-old Brittany Lang shared the first-round lead with Stanford, the leaderboard is balanced by the wise – by the play of a mature athlete such as Liselotte Neumann, who shot 1-under-par 70.
I asked her about the glorification of the young and the out-to-pasture regard for the old. You should have seen her smile twist. Of course, she was only 22 when she won her U.S. Open title back in 1988.
“There are so many young and talented players and it is right to put them in the front as the face of our game,” said Neumann, 39. “But the good thing about golf is you never get too old. Sometimes it is better to be older and more experienced. It helps when you have to navigate a course like this, one where you have to really golf to win.”
For her age group to make noise?
“Just hit and play well, and put our names on the scoreboard,” she answered.
Yes, that will do it.
And mature women golfers have traditionally done that in the U.S. Open. Only three golfers younger than 23 have won this tournament in its 60 years. No teenager has ever won it.
Pressel, who began with blistering 5-under play, finished at even par. That reduced her to tears. She stiffened, however, when asked about younger players overtaking older players in attention and focus.
“It’s about your golf game,” she said bluntly. “That decides that.”
It is about Annika Sorenstam and her bid for a third straight major. Beyond that it is about the older players keeping the younger ones at bay. Allowing youth to shine in pre-tournament banter but making them afterthoughts in post-tournament chatter.
About one of them making sure that if not Sorenstam, then one in their group. And, generally, they have fought off youth and Sorenstam in these Opens; she has not won one since 1996.
Sorenstam talked about her opening day, finishing even, about the magnitude of this tournament, the crush of people, the tough course and her mind being tangled.
Imagine sorting through all of that as a teenager.
Meg Mallon won last year’s Open and looks for a repeat at age 42. Her spunk characterizes the older crowd in women’s golf.
“The best thing about golf is we are never at the end of a contract and no one can tell you when you are done; you have the chance to decide that for yourself,” Mallon said. “I’m excited about the new, young players. For a while there it was looking dull. But I’d love giving them a lesson.”
Staff writer Thomas Georgecan be reached at 303-820-1994
