Sunday practice round day at The Open

Even though I’m not finished sharing my thoughts and unloading all the tidbits from my notebook, I’m recovering from a major Open hangover, not to mention those voices chirping in my ear via talkback for about 12 hours a day. Huh? Yeah, I have a new appreciation of TV/radio people wearing an earpiece 24/7. I mean, I already have the voices in my head and then I had to separate those from the ones in my ear while I was working as a presenter/reporter for @The Open Live…GET OUT OF MY EAR. GO AWAY.

Sorry. Never mind.

It was weird not having time to post on WUP, but I was constantly thinking about it. (That’s kind of sick, isn’t it?) I’m not going to lie, though — I enjoyed being done for the day almost immediately after we were off-air. The days were probably just as long since we started super early in the morning. I didn’t spend much time in the media center until the end of the week, but I kind of relished in walking out as all the scribes were typing furiously around 7pm as I was hopping on a cart back to the TV compound (instead of slaving away for another 3-4 hours).

I can’t begin to express how grateful I am for the fantastic learning experience. Newsflash: being on-air — and being really good at it– is harder than it looks! Duh. (There are quite a few who make it appear so easy, though.) There was the mic, where to look, where not to look, the intro and the outro, reacting to the interviewee and your surroundings, not to mention the producer in your ear. Basically, you had to be absolutely perfect with a camera in your face.

I definitely felt like a fish out of water at times, but I loved the adrenaline rush of doing live interviews and commentary (and figuring out how to manage prepping and pure BS-ing in the moment). Now I’m thirsty for more! I want to apply what I learned, so I can get better. (Hint, hint!) I need reps! In the words of Tiger Woods, it’s a process! It truly is.

Many thanks to a number of players, caddies, managers, etc., along with the @The Open Live crew for their help and patience. I wish I could name everyone right now and articulately express how grateful I am to those who went out of their way to lend a hand to a rookie (me). I guess you have to start somewhere, right?

Anyway, when I showed up to check in on Sunday (a week before the final round), I took tons of pictures while I walked Royal Lytham. Hopefully you were following me on Twitter and Instagram, where I posted as much as possible without clogging everyone’s timelines, but saved most of it with the hope that I’d have time to publish them here.

I have more commentary on several of the photos (stay tuned!) and memorable moments, but for now, here are links to multiples outlets where I captured a special week at the 142nd Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

*First, from my Flickr feed:

*More of the same on the WUP Facebook Page.

*Next, 360 Panoramas (360-degree panoramic views of the scene that are interactive and my new favorite app — it really helps you feel like YOU’RE THERE)!

*Some selects shots below, along with a photo gallery. (I’ve gotten feedback from readers saying they can’t see Facebook from work, but surely Flickr can’t be blocked, too, can it?!)

Practice putting green = pretty backdrop

Par-3 No. 9

 

Greenskeepers prepping the course after overnight rain

 

Me interviewing Shipnuck on camera-soapbox after the first round

 

View of 18th at Royal Lytham from the tee

 

Someone get me my camera-box!

*Click on the thumbnails to enlarge.