Saturday, January 31, 2009

FBR Open

So the big thing in Phoenix every February is the FBR Open - currently being shown on CBS as I type this.   Last year I knew several people who attended, but since it was my first February in Phoenix, I kinda thought, oh, that's nice, watching golf, huh.  Okay.  

This year I attended, and I found out why this tournament is called the rowdiest on the PGA Tour.  It's so. much. fun.  For one day, I was glad to live in Phoenix.  

First off, FBR means Mel is in town to work the event for one of her clients.  Yay for old college roomates!  I think we survived the sophomore year apartment debacle maybe the best out of everyone.  Thankfully all of Henle 8 remain friends now.  I hadn't seen Mel in years, so it was great to catch up.  We had dinner at Cowboy Ciao on Monday (they have Dr Pepper in bottles, made with real cane sugar.  Kind of my dream drink!), hit Greasewood Flat on Tuesday and Wednesday at FBR I took a really funny picture at her booth which I'll post when I receive it!

So...the actual event.  My coworker received an invite from one of the corporate sponsors which equals a tent filled with free food and drinks all day and great seating on the 17th hole.  Sure, I walked around a bit, but didn't stray too far.  Beautiful sunny day, sitting near a pond, chowing on delicious chocolate mousse cake and watching the Pro-Am go by - totally worth not going into the office.  And since it's Chinese New Year and work was slow....yeah.  That worked out well!
George Lopez played in the Pro-Am, I guess he does most years.  We caught him putting while Luke Wilson looked on.  Sadly, I missed Josh Duhamel.  Oh well...... the celeb team ended up winning that day.  What a life.  
Below is the infamous 16th hole, probably the loudest hole of any course in the country.  This year it's fully enclosed by seating, so there's no escaping the noise.  

Hottest player in the tournament, Camilo Villegas. 
After the day wrapped up, we grabbed our VIP passes and headed to the after party at the Birds Nest. More free food, drinks, bands, DJs and amazing people-watching that goes on til all hours of the night. We called it a day around 10pm. I'm already scheming for next year, cause it's totally awesome. And maybe I'll work on my golf game now.....this could be good. 

2 comments:

Todd said...

This is the single greatest post you have ever written.

LaurenHoya said...

Todd, I knew you'd be the biggest fan of this post. I almost called you out when I wrote it too. Glad you commented. Golf is a great game!

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