June 16, 2005

PINEHURST, N.C. -- Former NC State All-America Tim Clark is playing in his third U.S. Open. He shared insights to his first round of play with gopack.com's Tim Peeler. Even though Clark shot a 6-over par 76, with a double bogey on his final hole of the day, he found reason for optimism in his play. He was one of the few people to make and eagle on the difficult par-5 fourth hole and he made a 20-foot putt for par on No. 5, which is generally regarded as one of the toughest holes ever in the US Open.

I started the day out poorly, but I began to play quite a bit better on the back nine. But then I doubled the last hole, which really hurt. Had I finished the day at 4-over par, I would have been pretty happy with that, considering the way I played early in the day.

Making the double-bogey hurt, mainly because it was my own doing. The ninth hole is a par 3, and I hit one club higher than I should have. I hit a really good shot that went straight over the flag and then off the green into an area where you just don't want to go. Overall at Pinehurst No. 2, you don't want to be long on any of the holes. I just put myself into a very bad area.

Friday's U.S. Open tee times Carl Pettersson, 7:11 a.m. (No. 10 tee) Tim Clark, 1:43 (No. 1 tee)

There was a bit more wind than I expected today, which did have some affect on how I played. Had there been no wind at all, it would have been a little easier to pull the right club out of the bag. That happened to me a couple of times today.

I have really enjoyed the week here so far. I have had a lot of support from friends of mine from Raleigh who have come down to watch me play to and spend a little bit of time with me. Luckily, the people I know here know to give me my space and let me get on with my business when I need to.

There has also been quite a bit of support from NC State fans here. I remember on a couple of holes, right after I hit my tee shot, I heard some people shout "Go Wolfpack!" I can always pick that out of a crowd.

Unfortunately, when you are out on the golf course, it is pretty much you against the course out there and all the support in the world can't help you a whole lot. But it's nice to have.

One of the fun things about this Open is to be able to watch Carl Pettersson play in it for the first time. Carl and I lived together for a year, right when he came to NC State. I was already out of school at the time, but we still shared an apartment. We have spent some time together this week, though he has spent more time with his family. His parents came over from Sweden to watch him play and his wife, Deanna, and their daughter, Carlie, have been here every day. I think it is nice for everyone here with him. He is starting to play better here lately and it would be nice to see him have a good tournament.

I also got some valuable help from another former Wolfpack golfer. Kelly Mitchum, who is on the Pinehurst teaching staff, walked 18 holes with me on Tuesday and told me some things I needed to know about the course. He has great experience around this course and to have him give me some insight to help me execute some shots.

It's time for me to go to practice a little bit with my caddie and try to sort out what needs to be sorted out. Actually, today is the first time in a while that I felt like my swing was actually coming around. So I don't feel like I have a whole lot of work to do, because I want to keep swing that coming around. But I will spend some time on the practice green working on my putting , because in the US Open, you are always going to have to make putts.

After that, I will go home and watch the tournament on television, like everybody else.

But tomorrow, if I can go out and play like I did the last few holes on Thursday, I think I can go out and shoot and even-par round.

You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.

--30--

Back to ACC Home

Email this article

Printer-friendly format