Monday, July 23, 2007

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.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey I agree with this...sot of. The part about the graduated roughs especialy sounds great, but the smaller, more gaurded greens...not so much. The most exciting part of the gamne is those last 100 or so yards. The smaller greens would emphasize cation, causing players to make less bold shots and thus, make the game a bit boring in those most tense times.

bibunit said...

Great coments. They make the drivers so big these days, that you see three and more inch drivers out there. I call it T ball. Good side is I have not purchased tees in over five years.