I can't believe it's already the end of October. I've been all over the place, so much that I've "saved" up loads of things I want to post, but haven't had the time to actually post them!
Anyway, I wanted to take a break from the posts about my parents' visit to post about the 2011 Bridgestone Open, which I went to see last week! The Bridgestone Open, held every year at the Sodegaura Country Club in southern Chiba City, is a pro tournament on the Japan Golf Tour.
I don't have very many photos because photography was forbidden during play, but I'll share what I've got!
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| Tournament pamphlet, tee times, and official hat you get for free if you take the shuttle bus from JR Kamatori Station! |
This was my first time ever going to see a professional golf tournament! I'm not a huge golfer or anything, but I used to play just a little in high school...I started playing again after some friends in Kamogawa found out that I had experience, and invited me to play with them. So for about a year now, we go to the driving range and play on the course together every once in awhile.
Some of the members of our merry group decided that they really wanted to see Japanese golf sensation Ryo Ishikawa (aka ハニカミ王子/Hanikami Oji "bashful prince"...does anyone else remember all that fuss about him?) play live. Then, we found out that he would very likely be joining this tournament, which was going to be held super close by! How could we pass this chance up??
On a slightly random note, it was neat to find out that Chiba Prefecture apparently has the 2nd most golf courses in Japan - only coming second to Hokkaido.
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| Sponsor booth area. |
Perhaps because of the intense rain that morning (so bad that it stopped the trains for a couple hours and I had to get my friends to pick me up!), there wasn't so much of a horrible crowd. There was still what we called the "Ishikawa Army"...a horde of people trailing around Ryo Ishikawa around the entire time. We were able to see him super close up a few times because we would wait 2-3 holes ahead of him until he came around.
Article about the tournament results:
http://www.iseekgolf.com/news/42033-taniguchi-too-good-at-bridgestone-open
It was super awesome to see the pros go at it! If only I had 1/20 of their ability...
Plus, I'd never heard of anyone but Ryo Ishikawa (and also the Miyazato brothers, but only because their sister, Ai Miyazato, is so famous), so I was able to remember a few players. I think I may have to be a fan of Sushi Ishigaki, because 1) his name is "Sushi" (obviously not his real name, but he does play under this name...it was on the score boards and everything; 2) apparently he always wears flashy knickerbockers; 3) overall he seems like a really cool, chill guy!
And last but not least, group photos are an absolute must for our jolly golfing group:
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| Take 1. |
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| Take 2! I really enjoy how Tomoya Nagase looks like he is saying something to us in the background... |
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