I don't think the USGA wants to overcorrect from last year's soft standard, but I suspect it'll be very firm, with the greens/fairways on the verge of death come Sunday afternoon.
7422 yards (on the card), playing to a par of 70.
Wide us open fairways
I think there might be more complaining from the players about the traffic than the course conditions. Read somewhere on golf channel where Tiger said a couple of players told him that it took them over 2+ hours just to get to the course from where they were staying for the week.
mikeintopeka this what I heard as well, they were literally ripping out grass and bringing in fescue to deal with narrowing the fairways and having more rough. Seems so extreme to me and costly! And are they going to redo it back to pre US Open conditions after and rip out the fescue and put.the fwy grass back?
Last open at shinnecock was Retief at -4 winning, and I believe only one other golfer under par for the tournament. I think +10 was still in the top 10. those days are over as you'd have to really trick out the course to accomplish that. IMO just not worth it!
I'm good with -10 and several guys being under par and still considering it a tough test. It's all relative!
Links golf will always be King in my book as mother nature still plays the biggest role re: the score relative to par.
Looked like there was enough rain up that way this spring that the rough and greens should be whatever they want them to be. Here in Memphis last week they had to mow the Bermuda rough lower than normal since it grew in so thick. It was playable, but penal. Any longer and they wouldn’t have been able to do more than hack it back to the fairway like in normal U.S. Opens. Hoping for a good one.
They actually took out fairway sod and sent it to NJ sod farm to be brought back after the open. They then took fescue from places where tents and such where going to be and damaged anyway and used it to tighten fairways. I’m just wondering why they didn’t tighten up to old standards.
Tinker - I know the Crenshaw-Coore renovation added a lot of distance to the pro tees so 7450+ yards played a part in it. If 4 days of par golf is going to be competitive, can you imagine the wailing we'd hear if narrower fairways took driver out of their hands on even more holes? Grass has been cut short in a larger area around the greens that will result in havoc for approaches that barely miss the putting surface. I think we are going to see some good old Open struggles where someone has the midas touch with his short game and rises to the top.
I believe this is going to be a great tournament to watch.
As of right now, only 4 players are hitting 70% or more fairways this season. So, I'd say width of fairways on the PGA tour is irrelevant. At any venue, any setup.
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Phil called that (2004) carnival golf. Everyone is praising the course, so I expect to see a tough, but fair test.
Sneakylong Phil called that (2004) carnival golf.
I love it! Once a year, an extreme test. Everybody plays the same carnival......last man standing. Bring it!
sdandrea1 Everybody plays the same carnival......last man standing. Bring it!
Exactly. If the winner is +8, they still completed four rounds in fewer strokes than anyone else. Those courses are awful for regular guys like us who are genuinely competing against the course, but when competing against other humans the difficulty of the course is not a factor - just play it better than the other humans. Suck less, and you can still win!
ZWExton Exactly. If the winner is +8, they still completed four rounds in fewer strokes than anyone else. Those courses are awful for regular guys like us who are genuinely competing against the course, but when competing against other humans the difficulty of the course is not a factor - just play it better than the other humans. Suck less, and you can still win!
Glad to know someone else shares my opinion on this. Once a year these guys face an unfair (compared to most setups) test of physical and MENTAL skills. The guy who hits the most fairways and middle of the greens just might win. 72 pars could do it. They are so trained by the regular tour to bomb and gouge and shoot at pins, that many are not mentally skilled at preparing and executing a conservative game plan.
