PGA Championship opens at Harding Park
Fans shut out, but some catch glimpses of holes through a fence, tiptoe around angry cops.
The Harding Park knothole gang had an eventful Thursday at the opening of the PGA Championship.
The folks peering through the fence along Lake Merced Boulevard got fleeting glimpses of the world’s greatest golfers, for free. They got to talk golf with one another and enjoy the beautiful weather. And they danced an awkward and mildly alarming dance with San Francisco police.
With no fans admitted because of the pandemic, the golfers played the opening round of this year’s first major in quiet and privacy — except for eyeballs peering through holes torn in the green netting hung on the chainlink fence for the tournament.
The only spot on the course where outsiders can peek in is from a 300yard stretch of fence running along the sidewalk that is popular with strollers, joggers and cyclists.
At least some of the golfers noticed the strange gallery. Jason Day said, “On 12 tee, they’ve cut the tarp or the actual screen that we have up, and they’re watching through the actual fence. It is unfortunate that we can’t have fans.” People watching the streaming telecast might have been surprised to hear shouts of
“Go Tiger!” from the rogue gallery off camera.
You could kind of see through the green netting, but not clearly. So by Thursday morning, about a dozen holes had been torn or poked, some peepholes, others big enough for a face. Lookyloos were afforded an upclose view of the tee boxes on Nos. 12 and 13, with golfers teeing off about 15 feet from the fence.
It was a mellow scene, with a Bay Area vibe reminding me of Tightwad Hill overlooking Cal’s Memorial Stadium, and Oracle Park’s free viewing arcade.
Let’s not call these folks freeloaders, though. Paul Watroba, for instance, has paid his way into all the big tourneys held at Harding, and he bought an allrounds ticket for this tournament for $458, refunded when the PGA had to lock out the fans.
“Then the fuel pump in my truck went out, so I broke even,” said Watroba, who had a view of No. 12, a par4 494yarder.
Watroba walks or rides his bike along the lake every day, “And I thought I’d stop and take a peek. You never know if you might see Tiger.”
The SFPD visited the area shortly after the first golfers teed off at 8:30 a.m. One fan brought a ladder and was perched above the fence at the 13th tee.
According to two men who were at the same spot, an unmarked police car pulled to the curb and two officers got out. One officer ordered the ladder guy to pack up and leave.
The two other men were watching through fence holes. One of them, Mark Milton, said the officer ordered them in a loud voice to leave. The other man, Taylor Moniz, saw that Tony Finau was teeing off, so he shushed the police officer.
According to Milton, the officer said, “You wiseass!” to Moniz, grabbed his arm off the fence and pulled him about 10 feet away from it.
When I arrived at about 11 a.m., the scene was peaceful. At No. 12, Joe Cruz and his 9yearold son, Ollie, were watching the golf. Joe said their favorite player is Gary Woodland, because five years earlier, they were at a matchplay tournament at Harding and Woodland gave Ollie a golf glove. If golfers only knew how easy it was to earn lifetime allegiance from fans.
A couple of portholes along the fence line, Tony Martin was snapping cellphone photos of the golfers for his wife, who was at work. She’s an avid golfer and fan; he doesn’t play because “I don’t have time.”
Jim McAfee, he’s a big fan. He said he can’t afford cable, so he couldn’t watch the day’s action on TV. So he took a bus from his home downtown and walked 5 miles around the lake to this viewing spot.
McAfee, rocking a brightly colored ball cap he painted himself, with a heart on the front, noted that you can’t see where the players’ tee shots go, you can judge based only on their facial expressions.
“They grimace or point if it’s a bad shot,” he observed.
McAfee was also at the fence Tuesday for the practice rounds. He said muscular sensation Bryson DeChambeau smiled and waved at the faces peering through.
Waymond Ong said he plays Harding every week and sometimes shoots in the 90s, but he took a break when the PGA started to set up the course for the tourney, drastically narrowing the fairways and growing the rough.
“We were losing too many balls,” Ong said. “You hit it in the rough, you can’t find it!”
As I was chatting with one man, McAfee, nearby, raised both hands in the universal golf sign for “QUIET!” Someone was teeing off. The knotholers even have their own volunteer marshals.
Suddenly, just before noon, there was a commotion and loud, angry yelling, “Get away from the fence, everybody get out of here!”
Three SFPD officers on bicycles moved quickly along the fence, one of the officers yelling loudly for everyone to leave.
“Aren’t we allowed to be here?” one man asked.
“Not if you’re making f—ing holes,” the officer growled.
“Can’t we just watch?” another man asked.
“No!” barked the officer. “That’s why the screen is there!”
The agitated officer moved down the sidewalk and was soon gone, leaving the other two officers to stand quietly at the fence. The knotholers quickly resumed their positions, peering in to watch golf in the cool gray San Francisco afternoon.