Greetings! So I'm attending my first US Open and am hoping to get some advice on the best way to watch from the gallery. I'll be attending on Friday, and plan to get to the course when it opens but where should I begin? Are there things I should not miss? Find a spot on the course or hit the range? I know there are a lot of variables and I don't want to take anyone's trade secrets, but I'm open to suggestions, tips, or past experiences from folks who have experienced a US Open! If others have attended the Buick or played Torrey Pines, I'm open to your suggestions as well.

I've attended other PGA events in California (Nissan LA, Pebble Pro Am) but not an Open so I'm already expecting a much larger gallery. I can already say that I'm not going to bother with the Woods, Mickelson, Scott gallery unless I'm at the right place at the right time.

Thanks!

IMHO having been to several tourneys there are two options:

If you want to follow only one or two players/groups divide them evenly and hang for 9 or more holes with each depending on starting times.
If you want to keep the overview on the whole tourney stay at home and watch on your TV ;-) Nothing beats that!

As for Torrey, a good spot to hang around is near the 3rd tee. Short distances to 6th and 4th tee, as well as 2nd and 5th greens. But at the Open there will be way more people there than at the Buick, so I can't really say how much you'll see and how well you'll be able to get from one to the other.

As for Tiger grouping...the only way to watch Tiger is get three holes in front get a nice spot, watch the groups come through and see Tiger play, than skip another three holes in front, and so on...

at torrey pines, its all about course knowledge and being able to watch the most holes without running around too much. I personally prefer to hang out aroudn holes 14&13. They are in the middle of the course and you are fairly close to the tee box of hole 12, 11,. the 13th green is right next to the 14'th tee box and right next to 14 is the 16th tee box.

Get yourself one of these and plan your hike accordingly. Have fun Friday. I'll be there Sunday with Corporate Pass. Hopefully, I'll get a nice view along 18th fairway.

http://www.torreypinesgolfcourse.com/southcourse.htm

Strategy for seeing everything??

Watch it on TV.....

Don't forget the binoculars. They are very important.

For me, I like to find a couple of spots where I could walk ahead of key groups and wait for them to come to me. Trying to walk with Phil/Tiger is going to mean seeing the backs of a lot of heads.

Personally, I like to look for a spot that has holes going out and back. By standing in between the holes, you can see groups coming and going.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! We ended up hanging around 13 & 14 in the morning and then camped on the 1st fairway to wait for Woods/Mickelson/Scott. Tiger's Ball landed 15 yards behind us so I got to see him up close and make an incredible birdie. Of course after this, I got caught up in the momentum of the crowd and saw them again on 4 & 5 before heading in.

I admit that I was not planning to follow the group (especially since I had seen Woods at other events), but this was the US Open and it was just impossible not to to get caught up in the wave.

Thanks again for the great suggestions (of course I watched it on TV for Sat/Sun)!