Fond memories of previous U.S. Senior Open’s played at the Broadmoor
Rob Namnoum
Bernhard Langer knows the Broadmoor well. It’s probably hard to forget after a bear ran on the course during the 2008 U.S. Senior Open, “I was walking down the middle of the fairway with Tom Watson, and we hear this commotion. So we look over there and about 100 yards away, this bear was coming straight at us. And I’m thinking, What am I doing now? You know, do it. So what if I run away from him? He’s faster than me. I don’t want him to jump on my back and maul me apart or whatever. He literally walked, ran ten feet from us into the trees next on the other side of the fairway and went up the tree,” says Langer.
Now that he lives in North Carolina, Langer is used to seeing black bears in his neighborhood, “I’m fine. Unless they have little ones, I’m not worried. Are you faster than your caddie? As I said, I would never outrun a bear, so I’m not even trying,” says Langer.
As scary as Bears are, the course at the Broamoor is even scarier. It’s one of the most challenging courses golfers will face, “The greens. The feel, and reading the greens, and trust, there’s gonna be some puts that make you look silly,” says Stewart Cink.
Padraig Harrington adds, “There’ll be a few positions that we all go, Oh, that’s a bit much. But you know, that’s the nature of this, these type of greens.”
The Broadmoor may have the toughest greens anywhere. Obviously dealing with the altitude, the wind. It’s playing very long, and very challenging.