[Photo: Warren Little]
The alarm was set for 4:10am, but James Nicholas figured he probably wouldn’t need it. Sure enough, at 3:55, he woke up “a little bit antsy” as he mulled what lay ahead.
Can you blame him for being restless? The 29-year-old New Yorker had made it through final qualifying for a second straight year to earn a spot in the US Open. This time, though, he had been given the honour of hitting the first tee shot at Shinnecock Hills. The only downside? It meant needing to be prepped and ready to go for a 6:35am tee-time.
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Before getting on his way, Nicholas had to attend to something unique to the modern-day pro. “I actually had my Meta Glasses on, and I made a little video,” said the Korn Ferry Tour member. “I have a YouTube channel. I’m trying to film some behind-the-scenes of what it’s like to play in the US Open. I put them on and talked to myself, talked to the fans, and try to share this with everybody else.”
(Remember when Arnold Palmer was doing that before teeing it up at Cherry Hills in 1960?)
By 4:45 he was out the door, arriving at the course at 5am for breakfast before starting his warm-up at 5:20. Come 6:35, the applause from locals excited for play to begin was washing over him.
“You dream of hitting the first tee shot under some pressure,” he said. “I didn’t hit the best one, but I ended up making a par and just to kind of continue the day with a lot of grit was pretty cool.”
Nicholas handled his nerves, shooting a one-over 71 to sit within three shots of the early lead. [Photo: Mike Mulholland]
Waking up that early is something tour pros frequently do. But it doesn’t make it easy. Caleb Surratt, a member of the LIV Golf League, joined Nicholas and Taylor Montgomery in the first group off the first tee. Playing in his first major championship of any kind, let alone a US Open, Surratt made sure to get ahead with his “little prep” the night before, getting his golf bag in game shape so that was taken care of and he could “get as much sleep as possible”.
On Thursday, he was up at 3:30, left the house he’s staying in at 4:10 and was at the course by 4:20am. And just in case he was still a bit groggy, shortly after his arrival, he took a jump into a cold plunge bath “so I could get a jolt of energy”.
(Remember when Arnold Palmer was doing that before teeing it up at Cherry Hills in 1960?)
Surratt was also starting his official warm-up at 5:30, and when he rolled up to the first tee, he was impressed by the number of fans already there.
“There was certainly more people than I thought there would be,” he said. “I didn’t think there was going to be a lot of people around that tee.”
The anxiousness of an early tee time in the US Open is magnified at Shinnecock Hills, where getting to the golf course can be as much of an adventure as playing it. The club is situated on the eastern end of Long Island, only tiny Tuckahoe Rd (two lanes on each side) feeds into the course, and it’s snarled with traffic every morning even when the US Open doesn’t come to town. (The “Trade Parade” is the nickname for all the commercial trucks and vans servicing the beach homes in the area.)
High winds play havoc with Surratt’s shots – and hat – on the opening day at Shinnecock Hills. [Photo: Warren Little]
USGA officials have been quick to remind players about the potential for delays in getting to the course. Text alerts have gone out daily, and each participant was given a special pass to display in their cars that allows them access to a specially designated lane reserved for shuttles on the main road coming to the course. Meanwhile, golfers staying in the players hotel in Southampton have the option of driving themselves in their Lexus courtesy cars or having a driver take them to and from the course (about a 15-minute drive one way) as if signing up for an Uber.
“Everybody has been made very aware of the issues here,” said one USGA official. “If something happened, we can’t say we didn’t warn them.”
No doubt helping emphasis the urgency in urgently getting to the course is what happened to Garrick Higgo at last month’s PGA Championship. Mind you, he was at Aronimink Golf Club with plenty of time to spare, but the idea of a two-shot penalty for being even a few seconds late can certainly have a chilling effect on others.
“Luckily, at 4 in the morning, there isn’t any traffic,” Surratt said.
The bright side of an early tee-time means you get the rest of the day off. Unfortunately, though, it wasn’t quite as much time as they had expected, a two-hour fog delay creating another wrinkle in play. Nicholas joked after his round that the added time on the course was “going to throw a wrench in my afternoon beach plans. But you know, it’s OK, it’s OK.”
It’s definitely OK when you shoot a one-over 71 and sit just three shots off the early lead.
Nicholas knows he’s got a big Friday ahead. A year ago he opened with a 69 at Oakmont to sit tied for sixth only to shoot a second-round 78 and miss the cut. This time he’s looking for something more. And he’ll be able to sleep in, knowing he doesn’t tee off until at least 12:30pm.
