US Open query: Would it be wrong if...

a golf reporter, male or female, print or otherwise, tried to qualify for a US Open (or a British Open for that matter)?

Dont know if this has ever happened, but i do know that several golf writers and TV people (and i dont mean the former players turned analysts here) are pretty good. I know you need to carry a 1.4 or less to even attempt to play, but i was thinking about it the other day.

it's an "open" - so what if someone gave it a shot? would that be wrong?
should they advance to sectional qualifying or even (gasp) the tournament itself - do they pull out because they cover the sport? Can they take a "vacation" to do it?
Could they write about it as a first person account of what the qualifying stages are like?

I know this is a crazy thought, but some wandering thoughts tend to creep in when you watch hours and hours of coverage on a Thursday and Friday....

golf is such a different sport in that that the people who cover it can play it...i was just thinking should something like this ever occur, that person's standing within golf circles would increase a little bit. I know we went on and on once about whether you have to be a good golfer to cover it, and that's not what I'm saying ... but should a journalist qualify for an Open, they'd be in the locker room, players only areas, things like that...could make for either a very lonely existence that week, or be lead to greater access to players down the line.

 

As a former editor of mine, bless his heart, once told me about something I wanted to do: Go ahead and do it, but get me a story out of it.

 

If they actually made the Open, I'd think it'd probably be best if they only played in it. And took a break from their writing duties for a week. They'd probably want to focus exclusively on golf for that whole week anyway.

But after the tournament, it would make for a great column.

 

If you were good enough to qualify for an Open, why would you be writing for a newspaper?

 

First off, if I had the game to qualify for the Open and was a golf writer this would be a no brainer: tee it up. This isn't the dress rehearsal, this is the show and I'll be damned if I'm gonna' wake up one day in an old folks home saying, "yup, I coulda' played in that Open, but I was afraid of compromising ethics." Eff that. Live life so that you die with the least regrets.

Secondly, that would probably be an editor's dream. They'd probably assign another writer just to chroncile your every move. Most of these papers have little or no local angle. I'm sure they'd love to have one of their reporters not just inside the ropes, but inside the tournament itself. They'd probably just ask you to keep a daily dairy/blog for print.

 

Isn't this kind of the same thing as Verducci, Tom and Blue Jays, Toronto? Or, for that matter, Plimpton, George, and (name your sport here)? I know there are some differences, but I just don't see it as a problem. If you win the U.S. Open, you may want to consider a career change anyway.