Golf-o-Rama

GREEN SCENE:  Today, the U.S. Open competition rounds began down at Chambers Bay, about an hour south of Seattle. We were lucky to be on the course on Monday, during practice rounds, and have been looking forward to watching the competition on television.

However, there is another option for those in or near Seattle - you can head on down to South Lake Union Park for the U.S. Open Championship "Open for All™" Fan Experience.  It's less than 10 minutes from our house, so we decided to check it out. 

We said 'hello' to our old friend, the US Open championship trophy, which we also saw at Chambers Bay on Monday.

I think they've shined it up since Monday!

Famous names grace its base.

The 'experience' was mostly a handful of vendors' tents and an overpriced beer garden, but there was one neat attraction all about the science of golf. We flocked to it like moths to a porch light.

Fortunately, the crowd was sparse and we were able to work our way through each of the science-y stations at our leisure. 

At the entrance, we had to guess how many golf balls were in this tank.  

What do you think?

Spoiler alert below the photo ... 

The kids started guessing around the 350 mark, but the answer is 505. Fooled me!

From there it was on to agronomy!

We learned about the turf (and what's below) at Chambers Bay. 

That same station had this informative infographic (you know you can click on it to make it bigger, right?)

Next up was a station about aerodynamics.

The kids tried the funnel experiment and played with the hanging ping-pong balls. 

I was especially interested in the volume and displacement display. 

So interesting to learn about the USGA's test for limiting club head size.

Angles are a big part of golf. This display really demonstrated that. ... 

There was an angle measurement device right where the golf club was, and so the kids could retract the club to X degree and see how far the ball went.

Fifteen degrees' retraction seemed like about the sweet spot.

Following this, there was a display with some of the greatest putts in US Open history.

There was one station that involved a video game about golfing in space (yes!!) Here's a link to a PDF about it: 

http://www.usga.org/resources/stemfiles/DRVG68/driving_activity_space_golf_MS.pdf

Of course, Alan Shepard was the first human to play golf in space. 

The final station was attempting to sink a putt from various markers along a fake green (the white USGA blocks along the right side in the photo). 

We need to work on our putting. :)

MAJOR DISTRACTION: While we went down to South Lake Union to see the USGA attractions, on our way into the site, we noticed sailboats racing across the pool in front of the Museum of History and Industray (MOHAI). 

We also noticed a cart renting said sailboats for a suggested donation of $5. Count us in!

 First came a quick lesson about how to trim one's sails and  sail perpendicular to the wind to get the most speed going (on our rudderless, unpiloted boats). 

The kids had lots of fun trying to figure out how to make their boat go. 

There was a lot of trial and error - and learning - involved. 

Sometimes the boat took on water and had to be emptied. 

The scenery wasn't so bad whilst they were learning. 

Other kids had boats, too. A race was inevitable. :)

 MPA's boat (#2), unfortunately, didn't fare too well today.

ON THIS DAY:  It was June 18 of 1983 that Sally Ride rocketed into space, America's first female astronaut. Can't you just picture her, in the nose of this craft, zooming toward the stars? Ride, Sally Ride!

Amazing!