Back in 1991, as a recent high school graduate, Greg Hiller attended the U.S. Open at Hazeltine National Golf Club in suburban Minneapolis. He remembers standing outside the ropes -- straining to lean over the ropes, actually -- begging and pleading for an autograph from superstar Nick Price.
Sunday, when Hiller arrived at Olympia Fields Country Club near Chicago, he discovered his clubhouse locker was directly across the aisle from Price's locker.
Welcome to the big leagues, Greg.
"It's an adventure," Hiller said Tuesday via cell phone from Chicago. "Being inside the ropes at the U.S. Open is a little different than being outside the ropes. There are just so many factors. Now instead of being one of those kids asking for autographs, I'm the one signing them."
Hiller is the Glen Ullin, N.D., graduate who attended North Dakota State for a couple of years before moving on to Texas Lutheran in Seguin in hopes of advancing his golf career. He was a frequent
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competitor in area amateur tournaments before turning pro and still plays the Dakotas Tour, including the North Dakota Open at Fargo Country Club.
Hiller works frequently with Oxbow Country Club pro John Dahl and claims Oxbow as a kind of second home course, behind San Antonio Country Club.
Hiller qualified for his first U.S. Open last week, winning a sudden-death playoff in sectional qualifying in Texas.
He arrived in Chicago Sunday and has spent the time since then practicing and preparing for the 103rd Open, which begins Thursday. Hiller tees off at 7:10 a.m. in the first round. He is paired with Sean McCarty and Roy Biancalana.
After playing practice rounds by himself Sunday and Monday, Hiller played with European star Colin Montgomerie on Tuesday. Hiller said he enjoyed his time with Montgomerie, a frequent target of hecklers in U.S. galleries who has a reputation for being a grouch.
"I looked at the tee sheet and I was supposed to play with Colin, Bernhard Langer and another guy. But the other guy never showed and we waited for Bernhard and he didn't show up," Hiller said. "So it was just us two and we talked a lot during our round. Colin is a very nice guy."
Hiller said the north course at Olympia Fields is what he expected a U.S. Open course to be -- difficult with long rough and a premium on accuracy. He said rain has made the greens softer than usual U.S. Open greens, but that has also caused the rough to grow even longer and thicker.
"At the course where I qualified, if you hit the ball in the rough you could hit it to the green. You couldn't control the spin, but you could advance it to the green. Here, if you hit it in the rough, you can only hope to advance up the fairway and then hope to save par from there. It is very severe," Hiller said.
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Still, the 29-year-old Hiller said he is not overwhelmed. He said he is confident, yet still feels a twinge of nervousness about playing on golf's grandest stage.
"Obviously I feel like my game is good and I have confidence in myself," Hiller said. "But you're still a little nervous wondering whether you are good enough and whether you belong. Now I want to prove that I do belong here."
For Hiller, that would mean making the 36-hole cut and playing the weekend. Either way, however, he is appreciative of what he has accomplished.
"I've come an extremely long way. I didn't start out with a club in my hands, playing AJGA events and going to a big college," Hiller said. "I've worked hard. I've been beat up and polished. In that respect, that makes this even more special. I've earned my way up here."
Readers can reach Forum reporter Mike McFeely at (701) 241-5580
