Congressional '11: golf as an endurance sport?
How it was relegated from the front pages I’ll never know, but it’s worth mentioning that yesterday was Congressional Country Club’s US Open Championship Media Day. Defending champion Graeme McDowell, USGA head honcho Mike Davis and other assorted bigwigs, including the improbably named Rand Jerris, held a press conference in preparation for the preparation for the year’s second major in which they outlined the rational basis for the course set-up.
Amid a lot of talk about fairness, excitement and history lay the rather unsurprising news that this year’s lay-out will be extra long– a punishing 7,545-yard par 71, in fact– with green speeds most likely in excess of fourteen on the stimpmeter.
In spite of what would appear to be prohibitive conditions, then, Mike Davis seemed confident that the course can produce a fair and exciting outcome:
“This philosophy is, in short, the U.S. Open should be the most rigorous, the most difficult yet fair test in championship golf, an examination which tests both the players’ physical capabilities, including all shot making, also tests the players’ mental capabilities and tenacity… In conclusion, we want well-executed shots rewarded and poorly executed shots penalized…
“Everybody loves that back nine at Augusta National. Why do you love it? It’s not only pretty and it’s got some wonderful holes architecturally, but you can see eagles, but on the same holes you can see bogeys and double bogeys. We love that. That changes that leaderboard quickly. So to the extent that we can do that with our setup, we like doing that.”
Forgive my skepticism, but isn’t this the same sort of blather that precedes the US Open every single year, just before we’re served up another interminable 72-hole helping of unreachable par-fours, defensive putting and wedges up the fairway?
Mike Davis is a reformist in the same way that some religious leaders are; as even-handed and sensible as he may seem in interview, he’s still bound by the old ideological positions. In the case of the USGA, all talk of fairness and excitement fails to trouble the cult of Level Par as a Winning Score.
Just in case you had irrationally high hopes for Congressional, Davis dropped a big hint of what’s to come yesterday:
“It’s going to play every bit of its 7,545 yards.”
Yippee.
Conor
Sounds fairly brutal. I just don’t want to see tricked out holes with trick shots the order of the day. Penalty should fit the crime.
Just how it should be.
It seems that the USGA likes to dip its toe in the water when it comes to “excitement” over the last few years. It seems like they throw 1 or 2 drivable par 4′s (or shorten up a par 3 and give it an easy pin one day)in the mix and tell us that they are being daring.
7500 yards is long. I predict a bomber will win. No longer can a “bunter” like Corey Pavin win.
We’ll see how it plays. A lot of the time you hear plenty of moaning from the players, cautionary tales about how 8-over is going to win the thing and then someone comes in right around even par.
Personally, I think Davis has done a good job with the set-ups, and the notion that US Open rough is just hack a sand wedge back into play is out-dated. He’s given them more options, but kept the scoring conditions difficult.
If the US Open isn’t your style, that’s fine, but I think the notion that guys have to be able to birdie every hole for golf to be exciting to watch is a little close-minded. I think there’s been plenty of intrigue the last couple of US Open Sundays.
I for one like the Open when it plays tough. They need to toughen those pansies up with the pulled up collars and the sunglasses on the back of their head.
Sounds like it’s going to be a very tough US open. Greens with a 14 stimpmeter alone is going to test every player even the good putters.
After reading the story, I dropped a lot of players from my good chance to win the open list.
Looking pretty hard at Mahan, Westwood and Kaymer. If Tiger hits it like he did at Augusta and figures out the putter, well he likes the course.
Hmmm. Stimping fourteen. If the wind blows softly, there will be another situation like Webb Simpson from last week.
Actually, that picture is of old number 18 (used during the 97 Open and 05 Booz Allen Classic). It’s since been converted to play the other way across the pond and is now hole #10. In fact, the back tees are almost against the railing shown in the upper left of the pic above.
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