Its US Open weekend and thousands of viewers will be watching some of the world's best players battling par and each other at Congressional this weekend. The second major of the year is somewhat unique as it is run not by the PGA Tour, but by the USGA, who feel that the winning score for America's open championship should never be much below par. Consequently, host courses are set up to be even more challenging than usual, as was evidenced last year at Pebble Beach when Graeme McDowell survived the final round to win with a score of exactly even par.
The USGA Rules and Competitions Committee issues strict guidelines to host clubs about how their course should be set up, and encourages local clubs to emulate these standards in their own contexts for their own open or club championships. These guidelines cover everything from parking arrangements to the positioning of ball washers and water coolers around the course. They speak to how the course should be set up, what equipment is to be used and even cover emergency and contingency plans should there be an accident or inclement weather.
Some of the more interesting guidelines deal with the physical set up of the course. For example fairways are to be no more than 25 to 35 yards in width. They are to be cut at an angle against the direction of play. Sand traps are to have sand to a minimum depth of 4 - 6 inches and have facing lips newly cut so as to prevent balls from plugging in the face of a bunker. Teeing areas are to be level, with markers set exactly six feet apart. Flag sticks are to be at least 6 feet in height and are to be clearly marked with flags of a uniform bright contrasting color for visibility, and greens must have sufficient area so that a cup can be placed in a level area where a ball struck with force at distance may come to a stop within six feet of the hole.
Perhaps the most famous aspect of a US Open course set up, or infamous if you prefer, is the attention paid to the rough. The guidelines state that rough should be "of a a sufficient height to be a significant problem." The USGA places a premium on shot making accuracy rather than distance, and feels that a foray into the rough should cost a player potentially half a stroke each time they miss the designated landing or target area. In order to get the proper height and thickness the USGA even recommends the specific type of mowers to be used (rotary rather than reel) and suggests that all vehicular and cart traffic be kept out of the rough for a week prior to the first round of play.
The thing about the US Open is its an equal opportunity major! Where as its virtually impossible to recreate the course conditions players find at The Masters at one's home course, the USGA actually encourages clubs to recreate course conditions found at the US Open. Their guidelines even serve as a template for grounds committees to follow. Of course the USGA's goal is to create conditions where the world's best players have to work hard to beat par. Local courses don't need to go to quite the same extremes when most members already see par as a very significant challenge!
Updating this posting this morning its apparent that Rory McIlroy has been up to the challenge so far, posting a new 36 hole record low score. It will be interesting to see if officials seek to beef up the course to "Rory"-proof it or whether he will be able to maintain his torrid scoring pace. If you read this blog earlier in the week you'd have also seen I referenced that US Open flags were to be yellow and yet the flags at Congressional are clearly red. I reviewed the guidelines and found out that my initial copy was out of date. They now read that the flags are to be" of a bright and vivid color" in order to maximize visibility for players.
Updating this posting this morning its apparent that Rory McIlroy has been up to the challenge so far, posting a new 36 hole record low score. It will be interesting to see if officials seek to beef up the course to "Rory"-proof it or whether he will be able to maintain his torrid scoring pace. If you read this blog earlier in the week you'd have also seen I referenced that US Open flags were to be yellow and yet the flags at Congressional are clearly red. I reviewed the guidelines and found out that my initial copy was out of date. They now read that the flags are to be" of a bright and vivid color" in order to maximize visibility for players.
As you play your next round at Links and find yourself in the deep rough or rolling through a narrow fairway don't get mad. Instead feel honoured that the grounds crew here think highly enough of patrons to set you up with US Open-like conditions! Maintaining an Open frame of mind, together with some careful course management, should help keep you feeling better about how you score next time out!
No comments:
Post a Comment