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Most golfers will never be lucky enough to play on a course that’s hosted a PGA Tour tournament, and attending one in person tends to be the best opportunity the average person will have to get up close and personal with the guys who play in them. However, one man recently got to check both of those boxes by sneaking onto the links during a practice round before he exposed himself for the fraud he was.
The United States is home to approximately 16,000 golf courses, and only a very tiny percentage of those tracks are worthy of hosting the best golfers on the planet for a tournament organized by the PGA Tour.
A solid chunk of those venues are private country clubs with an initiation fee designed to keep the average person on the outside looking in, and the only way you’re usually going to be able to play them is by cozying up to a member.
The PGA Tour has made its way to many courses that are open to the public, but they tend to have greens fees that make them prohibitively expensive for many people who aren’t accustomed to dropping three figures on a round on a regular basis.
That includes the North Course at Silverado Country Club in Napa Valley, which will set you back around $150 for 18 holes on top of what you need to shell out to stay at the resort (a room on a Friday or Saturday night this month will run you around $500).
You won’t be able to land a tee time this week as Silverado welcomes the PGA Tour players who’ve flocked there for the Procore Championship. However, one member of the public was still able to get some holes in before he was detected.
A random guy snuck onto the course at Silverado Country Club during a practice round for the Procore Championship
There usually aren’t a ton of notable names in the field at PGA Tour events that are held in the wake of The Tour Championship, as the best players have usually opted to rest up while others hoping to earn more cash or the points required to maintain their card keep grinding.
That isn’t the case at the Procore Championship this year, as 10 of the 12 guys who will be playing for the United States in the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black at the end of September are using the tournament as a warmup.
According to Fox Sports, they hit the North Course at Silverado for a practice round on Tuesday that also featured an unexpected intruder, as the outlet reports:
“A local with a staff golf bag showed up on the edge of the resort, walked on and began playing. It wasn’t until he caught up with Seamus Power on the par-3 17th and shanked one toward the houses that the gig was up and he was asked to leave.”
He might have gotten away with it too—if it weren’t for that meddling swing.