Now That He’s Made The Open, Courville Says The Rest Is Gravy

It took Jerry Courville eight qualifying attempts to finally make it to the U.S. Open.

But when he arrived at the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on Tuesday morning, making it onto the course proved to be almost as difficult.

“They didn’t think I was a player,” Courville said after his practice round Tuesday. “But the guy saw the badge and finally let us in.”

Courville, an amateur from Norwalk, Conn., encountered his problem when he arrived in the pickup truck of his caddie, Rit Mehan. But the experience did little to dampen his enthusiasm, not only for playing in his first Open championship, but for playing at Shinnecock - a course he hadn’t even seen until Sunday when he played it with three female members.

Courville is one of the most accomplished amateur players in the New York metropolitan region, a semifinalist at the 1989 United States. Amateur and the winner of the 1990 and 1991 Ike Championships. His father, Jerry Courville Sr., competed in the 1967 Open at Baltusrol and was the winner of many local championships.

But as one of only three amateurs in the Open, Courville is a realist whose aspirations are different.

“It is just a thrill to be here,” Courville said. “When you get to my age and being an amateur, your days are kind of numbered. I am coming here with the attitude of coming out, having some fun and, you know, see what we can do.”

Caution: charging deer

During Tuesday’s practice round, a gallery marshal, Bob Whitman, heard a rustling in the bushes to the left of the 18th tee.

“I thought a spectator might have fallen,” said Whitman, a Citicorp executive and a Shinnecock Hills member. “When I went to look, a deer attacked me. Knocked me down, then it ran off down the tee. It was about my size, but it didn’t have any antlers.”

Lyme disease watch

Golf balls won’t be the only things to be found in the rough at Shinnecock Hills this week. The high grass also hides deer ticks, many of which carry Lyme disease.

The infestation is serious enough that the U.S. Golf Association included a booklet on Lyme disease with ticket packages sent to spectators and handed out the booklet to the international news media contingent here to cover the event.

Woods clears the air

Tiger Woods attempted to bring an end to questions regarding his ethnicity by explaining his heritage in a statement he released to the media assembled at Shinnecock Hills for the U.S. Open.

“It is the final and only comment I will make regarding the issue,” the statement said. Woods, a Cypress, Calif., resident, qualified to play here by winning the U.S. Amateur last summer.

“My parents have taught me to always be proud of my ethnic background,” the statement read in part. “Please rest assured that is, and will be, the case… . The various media have portrayed me as African-American, sometimes Asian. In fact, I am both.

“Yes, I am the product of two great cultures… . On my father’s side I am African-American, on my mother’s side I am Thai… . I feel very fortunate, and equally proud, to be both African-American and Asian!

“The critical, and fundamental point is that ethnic background and/ or composition should not make a difference. It does not make a difference to me. The bottom line is that I am an American … and proud of it! That is who I am and what I am. Now, with your cooperation, I hope I can just be a golfer and a human being.”