COLORADO SPRINGS — The Broadmoor’s black bears are waiting to be adopted. Toy bears, actually. They’re available at the merchandise tent, priced at $33 apiece.
Smartly clad in a white knit sweater and khaki shorts, the toy bears wear a 2011 U.S. Open pin and carry a small-scale commemorative Open backpack.
Hoping to capitalize on TV coverage of a real black bear on the fairways during the 2008 U.S. Senior Open here, tournament merchandisers for the U.S. Women’s Open must have thought the toy bears would be a good seller. So far, that has been far from the case.
Diane Turner, a volunteer from Colorado Springs who is working in that area of the merchandise tent, estimated that only a handful of the toy bears have been sold each day.
“We need a real black bear on the golf course like we had before (in 2008),” Turner said. “That would help.”
Play it forward.
For the second round, the USGA used the front tee box on the par-4 second hole, playing at 265 yards (which was 74 yards shorter than the first round).
The first eagle came from amateur Stephanie Kono, who drove the green, then made her 35-footer. After an opening 7-over-par 78, the shot moved her to 5-over.
Watch for that hole to give up a few more eagles today.
New friends.
Mariel Galdiano, who turned 13 last month, is the youngest player in this year’s U.S. Women’s Open. She found a friend in Morgan Pressel, who qualified for the tournament at age 12 in 2001.
Officials at The Broadmoor wouldn’t let Galdiano’s mother, Marivic, accompany her daughter into the locker room earlier this week until Pressel, now 23 and the owner of one major title, intervened. And just like that, Galdiano may have found a new favorite player.
“We’re buddies,” Galdiano said.
Downtime.
While many players attempted to play two full rounds Friday, the players who completed, or nearly completed, their first round Thursday remained idle.
That came with its own set of challenges.
“I’m going to practice a little bit (Friday morning) because, you know, it could be 24 hours before you play again,” said Karrie Webb, who is tied for fifth after shooting 70 in the first round.
