This morning at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club started like most days at the golf course – the quiet hum of lawnmowers and leaf blowers filled the air, players made their way to the driving range to warm up for their rounds and the first tee was relatively uncrowded. It felt much more like the start of a weekly LPGA Tour stop than the first day of the Solheim Cup. Fans were expected to fill the first tee grandstands before 7am, but unfortunately, they were nowhere to be found. So where did the crowd disappear to?
It turns out they were 5 miles away, stuck in the parking lot of Jiffy Lube Live, a nearby music venue being used as a parking lot for spectators. Thousands of fans waited hours in the parking lot as too few buses made their way to the golf course and back. On the ground, fans were furious. Almost every conversation overheard in the galleries mentioned the morning’s logistical nightmare. “There’s only one opening day, and they blew it,” said one angry fan. “It was a total failure of the organizers,” another chimed in.
While the morning’s operations were disastrous, the beginning of the afternoon session brought much-needed electricity to the event. The grandstands were filled, and the music on the first tee sounded like the inside of a nightclub as American players teed off. Each group was introduced to thunderous roars and many ‘USA’ chants.
Capping off the afternoon session introductions was an appearance by former president Barack Obama. The U.S. team came out of the gates firing, feeding off the energy from the crowd. All afternoon, a packed golf course erupted each time an American player holed a clutch putt. The scene on the ground quickly turned from a dud to an unforgettable Four-Ball session.
To remedy the situation, the LPGA Tour announced that gates will open at 5:30am ET and fan-specific shuttles will begin running at 4:30am ET to ensure everyone can make it to the first tee on time.
Team USA Assistant Captain Brittany Lincicome also shared, “We have pre-loaded two complimentary ‘any-day’ general admission tickets to your SeatGeek account to come back this weekend or to bring a friend if you already have tickets.”
Here’s to hoping Saturday morning gets off to a smoother start and fans don’t spend their morning at Jiffy Lube Live.
