Stuart Appleby rips Whistling Straits

[golfro]

Spoken like a true 12 Handicap. Tear down our Gods. I bet your favorite Major is the US Open.

lol. oh mighty +0.5, please tell us THE TRUTH.

[Paradox]

Awful lot of whining here from a lot of people who didn't even have to play the course. Why is it so terrible? I've had to play from foot prints before... human, deer, elk, coyote.... what makes those guys so special? When you hit the ball that far off the track, there SHOULD be a penalty for it. Then he is stupid enough to ground his club after they were informed of the special rule??? Sorry, but I have no sympathy whatsoever for any of them who were foolish enough to make such a dumb mistake.

There is a penalty for being that far off track..its called having no shot.

[sean_miller]

They could just put up bleachers on that hole (and others) and give people a drop. Just like the do at other major venues.

BTW - I think Pete Dye is an arrogant tool, but since I'm only a 7 capper, I'll keep that to myself.

[Fourputt]

Spoken like a true 12 Handicap. Tear down our Gods. I bet your favorite Major is the US Open.

What has my handicap got to do with anything? My "god" is the Rule Book, and for any competition the Rules include any special instructions to the players. That information was available to all players. DJ chose to ignore them. If that isn't the definition of stupid, then I don't know what is. It has nothing to do with my handicap or yours. I has only to do with the players following the Rules of Golf, including any local rules or conditions set down by the committee.

And no, I pretty much like all 4 majors equally, but in different ways because each has its own charm and its own challenges.

[Clambake]

He has a right to be upset. It is an insult to every player in the field.

Except for OOB, the whole course is in play, and spectators get to stand all over other inplay areas. In many cases it benefits the player because heavy rough gets tramped down. In this case it really had nothing to do with the play either - Dustin didn't get screwed because he was in a shoe print or anything, he simply didn't have the situational awareness to look around and determine if he was in a bunker, and then grounded his club when he shouldn't have. There wasn't some giant bunker controversy leading up to the final pairing on the final hole of the final day...a whole field played the course for a full four days before Dustin's unfortunate incident, and the airwaves and forums weren't burning up about all the unfairness of spectators around bunkers until the last couple shots out of many thousands.

Hey, I feel bad for Dustin, I really do. But the rules folks had been very clear before and during the tournament in their declaration that every bunker on the course was still a bunker. It is sad that neither Dustin or his caddy thought to ask "hey, is this one of those bunkers they've warned us about?". It wasn't rocket science to figure out.

[StricklandPropane]

My question for WS is, how do people play there regularly with no crowd and camera crews? It seems like any shot off the fairways would not be findable. I'd shoot 1000 there.

[pittpanther]

My question for WS is, how do people play there regularly with no crowd and camera crews? It seems like any shot off the fairways would not be findable. I'd shoot 1000 there.

All the rich guys at that club play to scratch, so they never hit off-line. They're rich, so have nothing to do all day except work on their game.

LOL! In reality, they bring lots of extra balls. They use their foot wedge if they happen to find their ball. If not, they drop a new ball and scream loudly "I found it!"

[Slammin' Sam]

No, they could have declared them waste bunkers. You hit a bad shot into a waste bunker and are in effect penalized by their unkempt, rough condition, but you are clearly alllowed under the rules of golf to ground your club in them.

I read that when the Open was played there in, I believe, 2004, they were. Apparently the rules committee decided to change it for this year. With the kind of controversy that ensued, I'm inclined to believe it will be a long time if ever before Whistling Straits gets selected to host the U.S. Open again.

[Shindig]

My question for WS is, how do people play there regularly with no crowd and camera crews? It seems like any shot off the fairways would not be findable. I'd shoot 1000 there.

I don't think the rough is up to that level for daily play. The only course I've played that has hosted a professional event is Empire Lakes in Ontario, CA; the rough when I attended the tournament was much heavier than the rough when I played it. And that's just a Nationwide Tour event, not a major.

[james joule]

I read that when the Open was played there in, I believe, 2004, they were. Apparently the rules committee decided to change it for this year. With the kind of controversy that ensued, I'm inclined to believe it will be a long time if ever before Whistling Straits gets selected to host the U.S. Open again.

The PGA's being held there again in 2015. Ryder Cup in 2020.

[pittpanther]

I read that when the Open was played there in, I believe, 2004, they were. Apparently the rules committee decided to change it for this year. With the kind of controversy that ensued, I'm inclined to believe it will be a long time if ever before Whistling Straits gets selected to host the U.S. Open again.

Straits has never had the US Open. And never will, based on this past weekend.

They had a previous PGA Championship, and a US Senior Open. Time will tell if they get another PGA...

[Varsity_Golf]

Amen, Mr. Appleby. It is absolutly moronic that all those bunkers have to be walked through and trampled by the crowd. As he said, if they did that at Augusta three armed marshalls would come out and shoot the guy, take his body, then rake the bunked ten times until it was 100% pure sand again. It really was ridiculous. Way to go Whistling Straits..........

Varsity

[BruceMGF]

Apart from the walking-in-the-bunker issue:

Did anyone think an unusually large number of spectators were hit by balls at Whistling Straights? Apparently there's nowhere to stand without a hefty chance of being Titleisted.

[Spencer]

i agree but rules are rules
think about all the other guys who have had bad stuff happen just like tiger when his ball had a bad bounce onto the roof a couple years back

[O.B. Right]

At first I was impressed with Whistling Straits (didn't watch the 2004 PGA) but, by the end of the weekend it started to seem "gimmicky" and "tricky" instead of truly challenging.

Anyway - I thought Dustin got robbed. Fair application of a stupid rule. Dustin got caught by one of the course's little "tricks" instead of failing to rise to one of it's challenges. Lame.

[Plox]

Has anyone on the PGA got the balls to challenge these rules, or, as someone said above, will they stick to the jobsworth "rules are rules" mantra? COMMON SENSE. You don't see that type of craap at your local muni, let alone the final major of the year.

[JerseyThursday]

Apart from the walking-in-the-bunker issue:

I certainly don’t recall a gallery so close to the players when hitting from outside the ropes. The way the crowd swarmed in front and around DJ right after he hit the infamous final approach was obnoxious. All in all, pretty sloppy for a major.

[Slammin' Sam]

Straits has never had the US Open. And never will, based on this past weekend.

Right...I meant PGA championship and said U.S. Open.