SPRINGFIELD, NJ – On Wednesday, July 27, I traveled to the Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey to attend a practice round for the PGA Championship (the fourth and final major of the PGA 2016 season).

I’m not sure exactly how I came up with the idea but two weeks prior I looked at the remaining schedule of events and saw the Championship was close and that cameras were allowed during the practice rounds so I purchased my ticket and off I went.

Heading out at 4:45 AM I had hoped to park near the course in someone’s yard for a few bucks, unfortunately there were many roadblocks and I couldn’t find the residential area I was looking for. I had to hop on the Garden State Parkway and drive about 25 minutes to the free public parking area and hop on the shuttle back to the course. As we were approaching the entrance I found the residential area, and they were all selling their lawns as parking spaces!

I picked up my ticket at the Will Call window and entered the grounds around 8AM. I took a quick look at the lineup of golfers out on the course and it appeared the back nine was the place to be – as I assumed it would be since most of the participants played the front nine on Tuesday and took part in the long drive contest.

The first few minutes were awesome and made me realize the rest of the day was going to be excellent. The first golfer I witnessed on the 15th tee was Champion Golfer of the Year Henrik Stenson.

Stenson went up the fairway and here come John Daly and Billy Horschel off 14 green. Daly, wearing bright blue pants with stars all over, stopped and signed a bunch of autographs on his way to the tee while Horschel was more reserved but did bring a small boy out on to the tee box and signed his flag for him.

Watching Daly tee off was something special, he can really smack the ball! I followed their group up the fairway for the second shots. Daly was drinking some type of drink out of something similar to a pint glass, then he lit up a cigarette. His caddy was complaining about the lack of bunker rakes and how cheap they were. Daly’s drive found the fairway bunker – he proceeded into the bunker and took his shot with the smoke hanging out of his mouth. The ball lifted very little off the sand, caught the lip of the bunker and dribbled a few feet in the rough… leaving at least 165 yards into the green; Daly was not impressed with his performance.

I continued to hang around holes 14 and 15 as groups continued to come through including a group featuring McIlroy, Fowler, Walker and Snedeker who were quickly followed by Daniel Berger, US Open Champion Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka.

Attending the US Open at Oakmont earlier this summer, I witnessed how far these guys can hit the ball and how awesome they strike it. The ropes seemed to be much closer at Baltusrol and because it was Wednesday there were many less spectators present. Being so close and going through all of my photos I was able to see that these guys are spectacular athletes and freaks of nature. The way the twist and bend to gain club speed is unreal! I now understand why I can’t hit my 8 iron 185 yards or my driver 350+; my full swing is equivalent to half of their swing.

One of the best parts of attending a practice round was to see these professionals in a very relaxed state. They were all communicating with each other and with the fans. Many were laughing and appeared to have a good time. Most of the guys were good with the fans, except the big names – there was so much hoopla surrounding them it would be impossible to get a round in and sign autographs or shake hands – they all politely told the fans they would sign their items after the round.

However, the smaller names were more than happy to stop while they were walking and sign items, many even stopped and took photos or selfies with fans. It was really cool to see.

I spent about 8 hours walking around the course and hit every spot at least once. I would recommend anyone wanting to check out an event to go to a practice round. While I had a great time attending the weekend of the US Open and witnessing DJ win his first major, it was so much more relaxed and enjoyable to watch these guys when the crowd isn’t 4, 5, 6 even 10 deep at the ropes (unless you were walking with Day or Spieth). Another bonus, it is much cheaper. It cost 44$ total to get in to the practice round compared to 125$ for the weekend rounds.

All in all it was a great experience. This content is a little different compared to what is usually posted on this site but I hope you enjoy my photos I captured through the day. It would be awesome to be able to capture photos at events like this for a living (if you happen to be reading this and want to offer me a job, email me!).