U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 2, 2023

Billy Andrade

SentryWorld

Quick Quotes

Q. Can you just give a quick recap of the week, how the course feels, what was the atmosphere like.

BILLY ANDRADE: It was a home run. I think this is a helluva venue. It's hard. It was set up very fairly, I thought, after playing practice rounds and seeing how hard it was with the rough. They kind of topped it off a little bit, which was really great.

The setup was fantastic. They moved tees up when they needed to. They did a great job on par-3s, where, if they're going to tuck a pin, they use an up tee versus a back tee.

I thought the USGA did a great job, and seeing the crowds that are out here is just tremendous. It's one of the best U.S. Senior Opens I've played in. I thought Del Paso in Sacramento was fantastic. I thought the crowds came out for that. They really supported it there.

But this is as good as Omaha. It's as good as a lot of the Senior Opens that I've been to. It's very well attended.

I just thought it was a great setup, and it was hard. This is what I think the -- they should do at the U.S. Open. They should make it hard like a survival, where par is good. You shoot -- you can be under par. There's only, what, four guys under par. It goes to show you how hard this place is. This is a great place.

Q. We also wanted to look forward to next year because we're going to your home state. What do Rhode Island and New England fans expect when they go to the Senior Open?

BILLY ANDRADE: It's going to be, I hope, another home run. The only thing with Newport, it's right out at the point. It's a tough place to get to.

I didn't go to the U.S. Amateur, the Tiger one. We were playing, I guess, when Annika won the U.S. Women's Open there in the playoff, but the crowds looked pretty good.

Rhode Island is great. It's become -- New England is a great sports place. Rhode Island is a great sports town. With golf, with Brad and I, the Quigleys, all the players that have played, have come out and played even regular TOUR, Champions Tour, people really support it.

I think it's going to be -- the golf course is phenomenal. The players are going to absolutely fall in love with it.

It could get really -- depending on how the spring is and how much growth they get, it could be a helluva test too.

Q. Do you feel history when you walk by?

BILLY ANDRADE: Absolutely. You get the first four or five U.S. Opens and amateurs, first one, right?

Q. Did they have multiple in a row or just one?

BILLY ANDRADE: Just one. Yeah, every time I drive down the driveway to go to the clubhouse, I just see it, the spectacle of it, knowing that every hole on the golf course you can see the clubhouse. It's just a gem. It's going to be a great Open.