Sedalia
The folks at Bud’s Bar, wedged between the two sets of railroad tracks in what there is of downtown Sedalia, are optimistic.
“It’s usually a busy week for us,” the bartender said Sunday, moments before sliding the baskets with the cheeseburgers, for nearly 60 years the stuff of Colorado legend, in front of us.
One measure of the evolution of both The International and the Denver area over the past 20 years is that in the era before Jack Vickers built Castle Pines and began the renowned PGA Tour event, Sedalia could seem about halfway to Gunnison.
In 2006, the little town on U.S. 85 -the natives’ secret way to avoid traffic on the way back to Denver -is close enough to Castle Pines, you almost expect an errant Titleist to come bounding down the street.
The International is part of a big sports week in the area.
Most of the big-name golfers will be at Castle Pines, and the Champ Car drivers will practice and qualify before taking the green flag in the Denver Grand Prix on Sunday on the Pepsi Center grounds.
There are simple ways to tell them apart, and not just at Bud’s, where even the golfers have been known to belly up to the bar for a burger -or walk out with one or more to go.
If a visiting competitor is driving like a maniac, darting from lane to lane on Interstate 25?
That’s a golfer.
The PGA pros get free use of nice new cars for the week – remember the last time you hung a U-turn over a median, saying, “It’s only a rental car”? – and such things as angst over missing 3-foot putts can affect the golfers’ driving.
Let’s just hope Jake Plummer doesn’t cut one of them off.
Besides, Champ Car drivers likely will remain around downtown, because they’ve been briefed about T-REX construction leading to headaches worse than a jam-up on the first turn.
In the evening, if eight men and women surround a restaurant table, raise their arms and plead for silence as a visiting competitor is about to order dinner?
That’s a golfer.
In the morning, if a visiting competitor is asked, “How was breakfast?” and responds with, “The Quaker Oatmeal was perfect, the Orowheat toast was just right, the Minute Maid orange juice had just enough pulp, the Starbucks coffee was worth every penny of that $4.95, the crew in the kitchen and the waiter did a great job, and it all was as smooth as a Ford-Cosworth engine riding on a Lola chassis and Bridgestone tires”?
That’s a driver.
If a visiting competitor is heard thanking a stately, silver-haired gentleman in a green coat for the hospitality and the milkshakes?
That’s a golfer, talking with Vickers.
If a visiting competitor is heard thanking a stately, silver-haired gentleman in sunglasses for his support of the sport -and maybe even adding that his performance in “Empire Falls” never got the acclaim it deserved?
That’s a driver, talking with Newman/Haas Racing co-owner Paul Newman.
If a visiting competitor explodes and says, “TIGER ISN’T HERE, GET OVER IT!”?
That’s a golfer.
If a visiting competitor explodes and says, “NOT ONLY IS DANICA NOT HERE, SHE’S NOT EVEN ON THIS CIRCUIT!”?
That’s a driver.
If a visiting competitor grouses about running out of gas because the course is so rough?
That’s a golfer.
If a visiting competitor laments running out of methanol because the “geeks” in charge of keeping track of such things on the rough course miscalculated?
That’s a driver.
If a visiting competitor says he’s having problems with “Big Bertha”?
That’s most likely a golfer talking about what he uses off the tee, but it also could be a driver talking about the Champ Car circuit’s supervisor of child care.
If a visiting competitor says (in private), “If Dr. Frank Stableford was so darned smart, how come this is the only place we use his ridiculous system?”; but adds (in public), “Oh, shucks, the Stableford System is a nice change of pace”?
That’s a golfer.
If a visiting competitor says (in private), “This course ain’t fit for Go-Karts”; but adds (in public), “It gets better every year and, besides, it’s the same for everyone”?
That’s a driver.
If a visiting competitor asks, “Where can I get a really good burger?”
Send him to Sedalia.
No matter who it is.
Staff writer Terry Frei can be reached at 303-820-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com.
