That’s where I lived after finishing high school; I spent a year trekking the country in a Subaru Outback, exploring faraway places with the overarching goal of playing a round of golf in every state in the lower 48.
On Sunday afternoon I began the trek from my apartment in Seattle down the coast to Torrey Pines for this week’s U.S.
It was the perfect place to begin the journey, not just because it’s arguably the best course in Washington but because like Torrey Pines, it’s a municipal course that doubles as a major venue.
Happy to announce I am getting back to my roots — by driving to Torrey Pines this week from Seattle, living from a van.First stop: Chambers Bay.
One thing remains the same: the freedom to finish up the night’s drive, roll into the backseat and go from behind the wheel to under the covers in mere minutes.
Garrick Higgo won the inaugural Palmetto Championship at Congaree when the rest of the field seemed to fade in unison at the end of Sunday’s round.
Matilda Castren won the LPGA’s Mediheal Championship at Lake Merced.
Jonathan Caldwell had an emotional victory at the inaugural Scandinavian Mixed, where a combined field of men and women vied for the title and Caldwell emerged with his first European Tour crown.
On the Korn Ferry Tour, Mito Pereira earned a battlefield promotion with his third victory of the season.
Other notable non-winners at the PGA Tour event: Tyrrell Hatton, who entered the week among the favorites, Bo Van Pelt, who finished T2 despite zero top-10s since 2016, and Dustin Johnson, who got to 11 under with three to play before a horrific triple-bogey 7 at No.
The Scandavian Mixed was an awesome format and a simple, clever way to get men and women competing on the same golf course the same week in the same tournament.
In fact, he didn’t even finish two rounds; Mahan was among the eye-popping eight pros to WD before the cut was made on Friday — Congaree is not for the faint of heart.
What do we make of the transformation? Koepka missed the cut immediately thereafter, but maybe this is part of his major championship prep.
“These weeks before the majors, I start thinking about next week instead of where I’m at,” Koepka said, stressing that the tournament reps in South Carolina were more important than the result.
While Higgo left the week with the trophy, fellow South African Nienaber turned just as many heads in a T14 finish in which he was able to showcase his prodigious length.
And Nienaber isn’t some long-drive macho man; he’s 6’2″ and slender, and doesn’t even look like he’s swinging particularly hard to create this ridiculous speed.
I’ll be watching from the roving Monday Finish offices, which this week means the back of a camper van.
Dethier is a 2014 graduate of Williams College, where he majored in English, and he’s the author of 18 in America, which details the year he spent as an 18-year-old living from his car and playing a round of golf in every state.