One change from previous championships on the East Course is the absence of intermediate rough. In the past, due to the rope lines that quartered the gallery, golf balls wouldn’t reach the primary rough. This time anything yanked left or pushed right lands in the Jurassic Park stuff.

“The wind was crazy,” said Lee Janzen, who got around in a cool 1-under-par 69. “It was blowing out of the southeast and then north and east, it was just everywhere.”

The East Course doesn’t change all that much from daily play to a national championship — except for the frequency of when it’s mowed. It’s usually four times per week. Leading into the Senior Open it was 10-14 times per week.

“This place is unique because we have members and guests of the hotel. So you have folks who play it every day and those who play it once a year,” said Michael Sartori, the greens superintendent of the East course since 2003. “You want that play-ability. It’s that balance. It’s a really fine line. I want the average person to come out and have a good time. I don’t want them to shoot the highest score they’ve ever shot. That’s no fun.”

Rookie mistake for Smoltz

John Smoltz wanted to look nice for this once-in-a-lifetime appearance. Big mistake.

Smoltz, the Hall of Famer pitcher who qualified for the Senior Open in Georgia, wore new shoes during his round Thursday and paid the price with painful blisters on his feet.

“Nice-looking shoes, and they’re one day going to be very comfortable,” Smoltz said. “But I broke them in out here. Live and learn.”

Bear still topic of discussion after 10 years

The black bear that bounded across the No. 13 fairway at the 2008 U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor is still such a major topic of discussion that Fox Sports One dedicated an entire segment on it and other wildlife from the area during Thursday’s first-round broadcast.

Footage of deer and a fox were also shown on the course in a public relations coup for the famed resort and Colorado Springs as a whole.

And speaking of black bears, some apparently wanted to make an encore performance, as two were removed from the course Thursday.

Tiger still topic of discussion after 10 years

Funny, it’s been a decade since Rocco Mediate took Tiger Woods into a riveting playoff at the U.S. Open — and it’s still the No. 1 question wherever Mediate goes.

“Every single day,” he said. “I get it every day since then.”

Woods won in sudden death after an 18-hole playoff. OK, one more, for old time’s sake: “I remember everything about it. The smells, the people, everything,” said Mediate, who’s in the hunt again at 2-under par.

Calculated conclusion

Kevin Sutherland doesn’t know if his calculation to account for the altitude’s impact on his distance is entirely accurate, but he knows he can do it in his head.

“I’m going to be honest with you, it’s easier math,” said Sutherland, who finished in a four-way tie for second at 68 after the first round, two strokes back of Jerry Kelly. “Ten percent of 150 is 15, I got that wired. Eight percent, I’m like, ‘Oh God, let me think about this a second.’”