There were cold beers, hamburgers on the grill and even fireworks, if you happened to see Tommy Armour`s or Rick Dalpos` holes-in-one Thursday morning. Nevertheless, the Western Open was not every golf fan`s choice for an ideal 4th of July setting, judging by the number of spectators at Cog Hill on opening day.
”We haven`t estimated crowds in two years and I`m not going to do it now,” said tournament director Peter de Young. ”But for 10 of the past 16 years, we`ve had a 4th of July weekend, and whenever it`s a holiday, it`s historically slow for us. I think more people stay at home with the family and barbecue.
”I had some people say, `You must be disappointed in your crowd.` We`re not disappointed. We have a new concession company and they did very well today. In fact, with the weather forecast and the advance ticket sales we have, I think we could have a crowd that would rival every crowd we`ve had at Butler National except for the year we had the baseball strike.
”We did more than 20 percent better at the gate today than we did in 1990 in cash receipts. We did more than 1989 and we had a better advance sale. And neither of those were on the 4th of July.”
Said tournament chairman Buffy Mayerstein: ”It may be thin because of the holiday, but Chicago people want to see golf and our crowds are excitable.”
In fact, Mark Lye and Russ Cochran, who are tied for the lead with Raymond Floyd and Mike Sullivan, think the fans at this Western might be a little more enthusiastic than the crowds at Butler National, which were heavy with corporate tents.
”It`s a little more broad-based crowd, a real ham-and-eggs type of group,” said Lye.
”There were some real golf fans out there,” said Cochran. ”We stepped on the tee at 7:30, and most of the time they say your name and you hear one clap. But there were about 60 people out there.”
Logistically, Cog Hill was a dream. Traffic flowed, parking is free (it had been $2 at Butler) and the recent lack of rain meant even Wednesday`s thunderstorms did little to soften the public parking lots.
Still, fans` reactions about the course were mixed.
”I like this better than Butler and Medinah,” said Norm Duncan of Des Plaines. ”Those are beautiful courses, but this is really set up for viewing. I`m a public links player, and this is my kind of course.”
But Diane Frame, of Naperville, cast her vote with Butler National.
”It was easier to get to,” she said. ”There weren`t enough signs posted in Lemont. I don`t know; maybe it`s just that whole aura” at Butler.
