Course layout

It was nice to see exciting golf come back to a major championship. Maybe the PGA will realize that watching guys hacking out of the fairway rough is less interesting than watching a well hit 4 iron fly over a pond into a well guarded green.

MyBogey Golf Leagues

My Bogey is now approaching 1,000 leagues on the site.

British Open

That was the most exciting tournament of the year so far. Congratulations to Padraig Harrington. Here is a link to an interesting article from MSNBC about Sergio Garcia.

MSNBC Article

US Open Thoughts

Is it just me or do you find the US Open very dull this year? Nothing about that course setup encourages interesting shot-making. It is a recipe for caution. Here are a few suggestions for the USGA to improve the open and the tour:

1. Graduated Rough. Graduated rough is great idea but they should consider having it run it in a different direction. Instead of layering the rough from from the fairway they should layer it from tee to green. The closer to the green the more difficult the rough. Watching the best players in the world hacking wedges back into to fairway is a lot less interesting than watching them hit long irons from difficult but playable rough into a tightly guarded green.
2. Size of the greens. The greens at Oakmont (and most courses these days) were massive. Imagine if the greens were a third the size and were surrounded by heavy rough - see above - how much more shot making and pure drama would be generated on the course. Their knees would be knocking on the fairway at the prospect. It would also encourage more aggressive tee shots.. Not to mention it is more interesting on television when you cane see more than a golfer surrounded by a sea of green.
3. Length of the tees. What would happen if the players on tour where limited to using tees that have a maximum length of about 1-1/2"? How might that impact the way the round is played? They would lose length off the tee, requiring longer more interesting shots into the greens. It would also bring back into play some of the bunkers, trees, and other hazards that modern equipment have neutered.
4. Winners shooting par. Great golf happens when the field should need to hit almost every club in the bag, play draws and fades, hit bump and runs, demonstrate power, finesses and creativity. Great golf is not about the winner score.