Aronimink officials can't wait to show off course

The calm before the storm.

That's how tournament chairman Mike Higgins described yesterday at Newtown Square's Aronimink Golf Club, some 60 hours before the first ball was scheduled to finally be struck in earnest at the AT & T National, the first PGA Tour event to call the Philadelphia area home in 8 years, and just the second in 3 decades. It's also the tournament in which Tiger Woods will be making his Philadelphia-area golfing debut.

Other than that . . .

"It's hard not to be excited," said David Boucher, Aronimink's president. "You watch the infrastructure get built, and you see how big the event is, and all the excitement that goes with it. We had an event for the members last night, at the merchandise tent, just a preview party. It was so well attended, people were so happy about having this here."

So much so that in 2 hours, $30,000 worth of shirts and hats and whatever got taken home.

"We've been working on this for a couple of years now, starting with the first meeting with [president and chief executive officer] Greg McLaughlin, of the Tiger Woods Foundation. We've been working up to this point. Now we get to see it play out.

"You want to be able to play your golf course again. But we don't want it to go too fast."

Actually the storms arrived last Thursday, knocking down many trees around the grounds. But there weren't any signs of the damage yesterday. You know what they say about timing. If it happened this week it might have been, as Boucher put it, "disastrous."

Anyway, not much happens on the Monday of tourney week. There was a pro-am, featuring 28 guys who will be teeing it up on Thursday with Tiger. But the only people allowed to watch were friends and family. There were no Tiger sightings, which is what many folks obviously care about the most.

The main attraction will appear today, at a 2 p.m. news conference. While nobody will confirm for sure, chances are he will play a practice round before that. Perhaps even with Aronimink member Sean O'Hair. This much is known: Woods is heading out at 6:40 a.m. in tomorrow's pro-am. The starting times for Thursday's opening 18 holes will be announced today.

Tiger, of course, was the host the first 3 years of this thing, when it was held at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md. Then, late last year, he lost AT & T's sponsorship after his personal issues became public. Still, his foundation remains the main beneficiary. So the defending champion is here. And he figures be the story line, even if he's yet to win in five appearances this season, all in the last 2 1/2 months. He's coming off a tie for fourth at the U.S. Open, his second tie for fourth in as many 2010 majors. This is his final tuneup before the British Open at St. Andrews (July 15 to 18), where he won by eight in 2000 and five in 2005.

"The buildup started 60 days out," Higgins said. "The next thing you know, it's Monday. It's really been fast. Fast and furious. You see everything going along, and it's on us. It's all in the preparation.

"So now we'll see."

In other words, Thursday morning can't really get here soon enough.

"The greens were [rolling] at 11-and-a-half [on the Stimpmeter] today, and they haven't rolled them yet," Higgins went on. "If they're at 12, and the pin positions are tucked away, Sean O'Hair thinks 12 or 13 under [par] wins.

"His best score is 65, and he's played like 50 times. Not in tournament conditions, either."

Two amateurs who test-drove those conditions yesterday were Temple basketball coach Fran Dunphy and his Villanova counterpart, Jay Wright. They played in a fivesome that included Maryland coach Gary Williams and Steve Elkington, who won the PGA Championship 15 years ago.

"There's a lot of great golf around here," Dunphy said. "But this is a unique place. I'm not sure any place else could handle this. Merion will have to do some unbelievable things to hold [the 2013 U.S. Open].

"The greens are really difficult to handle. If you can just keep your ball below the hole . . . if you knew what you were doing and were able to stay below the hole, that would be a great thing.

"What's neat is, the people here care. They want to have this tournament. Some other clubs might say, 'I can't believe we're having this, it's going to ruin the place.' That's why they'll do a great job. I hope it continues after [next year]. If Philadelphia could get a [permanent] stop on the Tour, that would be awesome. I'd love to see it."

He would hardly be alone. But first steps first.

"I can't wait to see the spots [Tiger] gets to, that I'll never see [today]," Wright said. "It's real humbling. You're like a kid, being part of this. You know how great these guys are, but when you play a course right before they do, then you really get it.

"It's so much different than watching on TV."

And on a whole other level than anything fans in these parts have been able to digest in quite a while.

When you've waited this long, what's another day or so? *