2026 U.S. Open Round 1, Gallery Hub Updates & MSFT Stock
Posted by Pat Hathaway | June 18, 2026
It’s Thursday morning, the coffee is black, and the television in my living room is already dialed into the opening rounds of the 2026 U.S. Open. The coastal wind out on Long Island is picking up, and Big Boy Dan is officially in panic mode.
Round One at Shinnecock Hills
If you remember from earlier this week, Dan was convinced he had the Shinnecock Hills formula figured out. He put a small fortune on
Scottie Scheffler and a handful of sleepers, assuming the tight fairways would favor pure ball strikers.
Well, the first groups teed off a few hours ago, and that fescue grass is already taking prisoners. The wind off the Atlantic is absolutely merciless. Dan is sitting on my couch, furiously refreshing the
CBS Sports U.S. Open leaderboard, watching his sleeper picks chop their way out of knee-high grass.
I told him to hedge his bets, but Dan doesn’t understand the concept of a safety net. I haven’t laid down a single dollar yet. I am perfectly content watching the morning wave get battered by the elements before I dip into my Golden Tempo winnings from the Belmont Stakes. Patience pays at the U.S. Open.
Silver Prints in the Hub, Plastic Computers in the Mud
While Dan is losing his mind over golf scores, I am feeling incredibly productive. I finally finished archiving the last of the Ilford HP5 silver gelatin prints from our Eastern Sierra trip.
There is a massive sense of relief in getting those physical scans permanently cataloged. You can go look at the final, high-resolution analog results over at the
California Views Gallery Hub. The rust and grit of those ghost towns translated beautifully onto the film.
But enough about the 19th century. Judge Roy Bacon can celebrate my analog return all he wants, but this weekend, the Sony α1 II is coming back out. I’m loading up the ATV and taking the “plastic computer” up the coastal ridges. I want to see how the AI autofocus handles tracking hawks against a cloudy sky while bouncing over dirt ruts.
Tech Stocks and Diamond Hands
As always, the real peace of mind comes from the portfolio. You can’t enjoy a Thursday morning watching golfers suffer if you are stressed about your bank account.
The AI infrastructure boom is doing exactly what I predicted it would do. My core position in
MSFT is holding steady, absorbing whatever minor volatility the broader market tries to throw at it. The global demand for massive AI data centers isn’t a short-term trend; it’s a fundamental, historic shift in computing infrastructure.
I’m holding these positions with diamond hands. They pay for the film developer, the ATV fuel, and the inevitable bailout Dan is going to ask for when Shinnecock Hills officially bankrupts his sports betting account by Friday afternoon.
Comments
BigBoyDan: It’s just the morning wind, Pat. The greens will soften up this afternoon. Scheffler is going to dominate.
JudgeRoy: I was just about to compliment your Gallery Hub uploads until you mentioned the digital toy again. You take one step forward and two steps back, Patrick.
Video Recommendation
If you want to understand why Dan is sweating bullets on my couch right now, just take a look at what the fescue at Shinnecock Hills does to a golf club. It’s brutal.
The Brutal Fescue of Shinnecock Hills (YouTube)
