Is American Golf too American?

Another year of The Open Championship and I can always say that I love watching this tournament.  When you watch golf being played on links land, you just get a special feeling of that is how golf is meant to be played.  Maybe it’s because I’ve had the opportunity to play links golf.  I just find the game over there much more exciting.

You have to be very creative to play good links golf.  As we saw on the telecast, the conditions are constantly changing.  More angles come into play as you try to play away from hazards and judge the wind conditions.  We don’t usually see that here in the States.  This got me thinking that maybe golf here has gone beyond its roots.

Your first comment may be that we don’t have the similar land forms that we find on links golf.  There are few, such as Bandon Dunes, but most of our golf is played inland.  However, I have played the inland, or heathland courses of England.  You still get a special feeling when you play these courses.  Golf is just different over there and I’ve often thought that we are trying to do too much with our courses.  Here are a few examples of where things differ.

Green Speeds

The first thing that came to me on the differences is when they mentioned that they did not cut or roll the greens for Saturday’s round.  I wonder if they would ever do that for a tournament here.  I recall the US Open at Shinnecock Hills in 2004.  The USGA starved the greens of water and got them to a speed that was unattainable. 

In that tournament, Phil Mickelson three-putted from 4ft. Tiger Woods said, “This is our national championship and Shinnecock Hills is a great golf course, but they lost control of it. This is not supposed to be how golf is played.”  I thought maybe they had learned something until this year when rain caused them to double or triple cut and double roll greens to get a certain speed.  We saw what happened with Dustin Johnson at those speeds.

At Troon the R&A let the weather dictate how the course played.  They made the decision on Saturday not to risk having an issue on the greens and kept them slower.  Did this impact scoring?  Not at all.  Players were forced to adjust and most did, but they did not shoot the low round of the week that day.  All the players said that the course played great and nobody complained about the greens.  You might say that the course played easy as 20-under won and another was at 17-under.  That was only two of 156 golfers.  Next lowest score was 6-under.  That just shows that two guys played great golf for the week.  It was much more exciting to watch them battle to make birdies then struggle to make pars.  If the course setup is supposed to determine the best golfer, that happened.  Stenson and Mickelson were the class of the field and Stenson proved to be the best in the end.

Bunkers

Another thing to marvel at is how the bunkers played and set up the golf course.  In the UK, bunkers are hazards!  Players calculate their game plan to avoid them at all cost.  You would hear the announcers say that you need avoid them or you will have to pitch out without reaching the green.  Fairway bunkers were basically a stroke penalty.

You also saw many players, especially on the Postage Stamp hole, have to play sideways or away from the pin.  If they tried to play a bold shot, sometimes they ended up back in the bunker.  Players did not complain about this, they knew that is the how the game is played on this course.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve consulted with a course and they say they can’t get to the green from a certain bunker.  They expect to have a chance with every shot.  Give them a bad lie or poor stance in the bunker and it is the fault of the design or maintenance.  We have lost the art of the bunker being a hazard, something I may address in another blog.

Do we try to get everything too perfect?

Expectations of course conditions in the US is high when it comes to golf.  A lot of that has to do with the expense of the sport.  If you pay $100 for a round of golf, you expect perfect.  It amazes me that some of these same people don’t fix ball marks or rake bunkers.  Yet everything needs to be perfect.  Golfers in the UK still believe in the “Rub of the Green”.  Get a bad lie in the bunker and they learn how to play it.

Golfers here want perfect sand, fast greens, and acceptable rough where they can advance the ball to the green.  For the most part, our golf courses supply that type of course.  This is all a result of our golf course superintendents.

Superintendents today are the most educated we have ever seen.  They continue to take classes to learn about new innovations and use these in the most environmentally sensitive way.  Technology has advanced to supply them with excellent mowers, state of the art irrigation, and grasses that resist diseases.  If a member, committee, or patron asks about doing something on the course, they either find a way to do it or explain why it can’t be done.  Our superintendents are pushed to provide us with outstanding conditions, most often in difficult growing environments.  In some ways they are their own enemy by always supplying what is demanded.  I don’t envy them on a 90 degree summer day in Chicago.

Will there ever be change?

Will we ever lower our expectations of golf course conditions?  Not as long as golf is shown on TV.  Professional golf offers great exposure for the game.  Each weekend we see 12-15 hours of live golf on TV.  That is more exposure then the NFL.  However, it doesn’t help golf when we see ten or more mowers rolling down a fairway and a hundred volunteers raking bunkers and mowing greens.  For one week a year, these courses are in the best shape possible.  Local golfers see this and expect the same with a ten man crew.

Superintendents are getting better at explaining when expectations get beyond budgetary reasons.  More explanation is needed and it would be nice if the Golf Channel, or broadcast TV, would take 5-10 minutes each week to show how many people it takes to achieve these conditions.  Then they could relay that this is for this one week and your local course should not expect this every day.

Golf today is about sustainability.  The more sustainable we can make our golf courses, the better we can make the sport.  Even a slight adjustment in expectations will go a long way.  Let’s appreciate smooth greens over fast greens, don’t worry if you see a weed, and accept that bunkers are hazards.  Golf has been around for over 500 years.  It is our job to set it up for another 500.   

Do We Have a Big 3 in Golf?

Last week I saw the David Feherty episode with Rory McIlroy.  This concluded three episodes this year that also included Jordan Spieth and Jason Day.  At the time it was recorded, Rory was #3 in the world behind Day and Spieth.  Rory was asked about them being the Big 3 in golf today.  He said there are many great players today.  Feherty’s question it got me thinking about the same topic.

Some would like to think we have a Big 3.  In the TV and Tournament market it helps with them marketing the events.  If you can promote one, two, or all three of these players at your tournament, it helps with ticket sales and viewership.  That’s not a bad thing.  The mores eyes we get on golf, the better chance we have to grow the game, or at least keep it stable.

To others, they say it slights all the other players out there today.  You have Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Masters Champion Danny Willett, and new US Open champ Dustin Johnson who are great players and big draws.  You still have tour veterans like Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia, and Phil Mickelson that bring people out to watch.

From my point of view, none of this is bad for the game of golf.  I enjoy seeing all of these golfers play.  Most of them have already won a tournament this year.  Mickelson and Fowler are the exception so far.  If people want to label a Big 3, that’s fine.  It seems that when another young player wins a big tournament, such as Fowler winning the 2015 Players and Dustin the recent US Open, talk of a Fab 4 always surface as well.  It just reinforces the depth in pro golf today.

What we need to take from all of this is that golf is in a good spot.  These players are all good ambassadors for the game.  Jordan, Jason, and Rory are down to earth players who interact with the fans, and carry themselves well, both on and off the course.  Rickie, Dustin, and Bubba are adored by the younger golfers.  Rickie more because of his Puma relationship and stylish clothes, Dustin and Bubba because they hit the ball a mile.  All these guys put eyes on the TV and fans on the grounds.

With all of this, I’m not saying Tiger is done.  He will come back, and when he does it will be the most hyped tournament of the year.  I’m sure Tiger will even win multiple tournaments, maybe even a Major going forward.  All good for the game.  How exciting would it be to have Tiger compete with any of these golfers in the final round of an upcoming Major Championship?

The game of golf is strong and I think some of the stronger days are still ahead.

DJ, The USGA, and Green Speeds

The conclusion of the US Open at Oakmont was a stirring finish to a great tournament.  First, we had Dustin Johnson winning his first major.  We also had a bizarre rules fiasco going on during the final round.  And then we had some of the most treacherous greens on the planet.

Before we get into that let’s look at the golf course.  Oakmont is my favorite inland course I’ve played in the United States.  I’ve walked Augusta, but I have never seen Pine Valley, so I can’t judge those right now.  Cypress Point is my favorite US course, but it is hard for any course to compete with that setting of ocean, dunes, and woodlands.  They could play the US Open at Oakmont every year and I’d be happy with that.

DJ

Dustin went out and won this tournament.  He played great the whole week and bounced back from any bad holes.  I think he learned a lot from last year’s lost to Spieth.  He kept in the moment, even when the rules infraction was brought up on the twelfth tee.

I don’t know if anyone would have picked DJ to win a US Open at a course like Oakmont.  Tight fairways and fast greens.  He can bomb it out there, but most thought he wouldn’t be able to keep it in play.  It just shows that with talent like that, you can always put it together for one week.  He did that.

The USGA

I waited an extra day before writing this to see more reaction on the ruling put in place for DJ’s ball moving on the fifth green.  I’m now glad I did.  We have heard many pundits reaction, fan reaction, and now even the USGA reacted again.  Their latest stance was that the ruling they made was correct, but they should have enforced it right away instead of waiting until the end of the round.

I can agree with that.  Why have all of this hanging out there for all the golfers.  What I don’t agree with is that the movement of the ball warranted a penalty.  Yes, he soled his club on the side of the ball.  So how does that cause the ball to move backwards?  I think it was more a result of the course conditions.  I'm sure everyone is glad it didn't impact the final result.

Green Speeds

Oakmont is known for fast greens.  They are some of the best around.  When I played there you were put in awe with the slopes and speed.  You do get used to the speed, but you are putting defensive all day.  The saying is true that when putting at Oakmont, you worry about your second putt before you hit the first one.

But are we at a point where speeds are getting out of control.  Nicklaus said when he won there the speeds were 10 and that was fast.  In 2007 there were at 12.  This year they tried to get them to 14.  If you are triple cutting and rolling each green to achieve a speed, you may be letting your ego to protect par get the best of you.  I hope we are not heading down a slippery slope on these speeds. (Pardon the pun.)

I think these speeds and conditions are what caused DJ’s ball to move.  When you have them that smooth and fast there is not much there to keep your ball in place.  I’m surprised it didn’t happen more out there.  Perhaps if it hadn’t rained on Thursday.

In conclusion, it turned out to be a great US Open.  We had many in contention at the end, most of whom have not won a major.  It came down to the guy that kept his head.  My only regret was that the rain impacted the play of the course.  It would have been a lot of fun seeing these golfers play on firm and fast Oakmont.  Maybe that will happen when they return in 2025.