The following is a summary of Nick's week at the US Open, with comments provided by Nick's Dad and his "old" high school coach, Tom Hall.

Nick arrived in San Diego on the weekend of June 7/8 and checked in at the USGA booth. He received the keys to his Lexus and drove it to the hotel.

His room at the Hilton has a balcony overlooking the 18th fairway and he and Josh (his brother who is his caddie and himself an excellent golfer on a scholarship at the University of El Paso UTEP in Texas) can walk to the course. It was early in the week and there were no big crowds yet, just a few superstars and in Nick's dad's words, "its just awesome."

After arriving and checking in, etc. Nick went into the players locker room where the lockers are assigned alphabetically.......T,U,V,W....as in Weir.....Woods!!

Then out to the golf trailers, where Nike, TaylorMade, Titelist, etc. are in a line by the players lounge. Again in dad's words, "we had very little sleep and the guys have returned to age 10 and 13. I feel like a single parent the night before Disneyland."

Monday, Nick had a practice round with Jon Mills, David Hearn (both Canadian Pros) and Ben Curtis (British Open winner) at 1:00. and then a player reception at 6:30pm.

Stephen Ames coach talked to Nick today about a practice round on Tuesday, and Aaron Baddeley emailed with a practice time for Wednesday morning.

Tuesday, Nick played a practice round with Jon Mills and Ben Curtis today. Nick played well, his 3rd shot was close to the par 5 18th and actually drew some applause. The crowds for a practice round are amazing, with grand stands around every green.

Funny story of the day: We were walking by the chipping range and passing Todd Hamilton and his caddie, and the caddie wheels around and says "Ledgeview!" (I was wearing a jacket from the boys’ home course) Turns out he's from the great white north. That turned into a brief conversation with Todd and a promise to line up some Husky football tickets for the fall. The world famous Ledgeview Golf and Country Club!

We went to the TaylorMade reception Monday night. I forget who said "Did you ever feel the world is a tuxedo and you're a pair of brown shoes?" I would guess 500 people, interviews by the Golf Channel, live entertainment, all the superstars, Mike, Sergio, Retief......all at a 16 million dollar mansion. Next time you buy a driver you know where some of the money goes.

Well it's after 12 again, and Nick's out with Stephen Ames tomorrow.

On Wednesday, no further comments from Nick's dad, but Nick was interviewed by Bob Weeks and the interview can be seen on the TSN web site at the following link. You have to put up with an annoying 30 sec. advertisement before the interview starts, but it is worth the wait:   Bob Weeks Interviews Nick Taylor on TSN

On Thursday, day one of the Open, Nick had a 12:41 tee time with playing partners Charlie Beljan and Rob Rashell. The group behind Nick were Stewart Cink, Sergio Garcia, and Vijay Singh.

On day one, Nick shot a good round of 6 over par 77.

On day two, Nick improved to a 4 over par round of 75, for a two day total of +10.

At the start of the afternoon round on day 2, it appears that the cut will be +8 or +9. Let's all hope for strong winds in the afternoon!

The afternoon round is well underway now, but two players finished the morning round at one under par. The US Open has a 10 shot rule, so any player more than 10 shots out of the lead, like Nick, will not make the cut.

After his round a disappointed Nick Taylor was interviewed again by Bob Weeks. Click on the following to see Bob and Nick's interview on the TSN web site:
Bob Interviews a disappointed Nick Taylor

Lorne Rubenstein also wrote an excellent summary of Nick's 2nd round in the Globe and Mail Sports Section. Click on the following to read Lorne's article: Canadian amateur faces stiff challenge.

A final thought!   Nick made everyone at his home course, Ledgeview Golf and Country Club as well as the whole community of Abbotsford feel very proud . Well done Nick.