Over the next four days, countless Canadians will clear their schedules and park themselves on the couch to tune into golf’s annual battle of attrition.

Only the select few that have been inside the ropes at the U.S. Open, though, can truly grasp what they’re watching.

“On TV, it’s tough to do it justice. Guys are so good out there, they make it look easier than it is,” said Nick Taylor, the former amateur star and two-time U.S. Open participant from Abbotsford, B.C. “Unless you’ve experienced it, it’s tough to explain how difficult it is.”

On Wednesday, Taylor teed it up at Bearspaw Country Club, a tricky private track just west of Calgary, to promote the upcoming ATB Financial Classic.

On Thursday, a couple of his Canadian Tour comrades — Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin and Calgary’s Wes Heffernan — will test their mettle at Congressional Country Club. Nationwide Tour regular Jon Mills (Oshawa, Ont.) is the third Canadian in the U.S. Open field. Mike Weir and Stephen Ames both failed to qualify.
Taylor, who fired a career-best four-day total of 18-under at the Canadian Tour’s Western Championship in Kamloops last week and still settled for a share of fifth, has first-hand experience at the USGA’s national championship.

He qualified for the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, missing the cut by three strokes in an event that Tiger Woods eventually won on one good leg. Taylor earned another invite in 2009, this time making some noise at Bethpage Black. The former University of Washington standout carded a record-setting 65 in the second round and was the low amateur with a four-day total of 8-over.

Now 23 and playing mostly on CanTour exemptions, Taylor didn’t qualify for a trip to Congressional.
“I think Wes played in the U.S. Open about 10 years ago, so he has a taste of it. Adam played in the Canadian Open last year and no offence to the Canadian Open, but it’s nothing compared to the U.S. Open,” Taylor said. “There’s probably 10 times more people at the U.S. Open than the Canadian Open. It’s just something you’ve never experienced. I’d never played a PGA Tour event and I made it to Torrey Pines, and you’re playing a practice round and there’s thousands of people around. You go to the driving range and you’re nervous to hit shots on the driving range. You hit a shot close in the practice round and people are going nuts. It’s something you’ve just never experienced.

“The feeling, the atmosphere, it’s just crazy. For me, personally, I love to play in it. I love to play in front of a bunch of people. Those guys, they’ll enjoy it. I wish I was there and hopefully I’ll be there next year and in the years after. But they’ll have fun. It’s something you want to go back to once you’ve been there.”