Official 2013 U.S. Open at Merion Discussion Thread

[Chilli Dipper]

I'm watching some of the practice rounds on TV. The fairways may be soft, but the greens appear to be holding up, and the rough is a jungle. I'm putting the winning score at 275, give or take a few strokes. Without much roll on the fairways, the longer hitters who haven't been much of a chance are going to play a larger role than expected, so long as they don't go too far off-line.

[Chilli Dipper]

this part is spot on, it is the rest i disagree - about those predictions every few years, when we the last time these discussion were had? when was the last time an open course 8 or 9 wedge holes on it with using a driver? when was the last ime you combined a soaked short golf course with several inches in rain the week of the open? think what you want but the first page of the leader board is going to look like nunbers you would see in the masters...plenty of -3, -4, -5 on Thursday.

It looked like scoring records would be annihilated after Friday at Bethpage in '09. Those scores couldn't hold up over four days, and rain softened that course far beyond where Merion will be if the current forecast holds. At the very least, the USGA had this course setup right where they wanted it before the past weekend's rain. At Congressional two years ago, they were neither able to grow the rough out as long as they wanted, nor keep the greens as firm as was planned prior to the event...and then it rained heavily early in the week, leading to the record-low scores that did come out of the 2011 Open. The USGA blew the setup two years ago before the tournament even started, but right now they've just caught a bad weather break.

[France46]

I don't mind that the course may be soft...sure, hard and fast seems to be a US Open tradition, but Champions should be able to score the best in whatever mother nature provides.

Some great stories out of the qualifiers including 54 yo Jay Don Blake being the only player to be playing in both the US Open and the SR US Open.  23 yo Zach Fischer beating pro Ryan Palmer in a 12 hole playoff for the final guaranteed spot out of Dallas, 18 yo Gavin Hall birdieing his last 4 holes and 19 yo Grayson Murray playing his last 6 holes -5  to get in are also impressive.  I wonder what went through the mind of 46 yo US Open rookie John Nieporte, whose dad played in a dozen US Opens, after he made a hole in one on his 30th hole and then beat 15 yo David Snyder in a playoff to earn his spot.

Looking at the field, there are definitely some guys past their prime like Michael Campbell, JM Olazabal and Mike Weir.  The last two got in via qualifiers which means their game may be on the upswing, but I don't expect much from them.

There are also some guys having pretty good years who will be watching from the sidelines including

11

Howell III, Charles

13

English, Harris

20

Walker, Jimmy

23

Kirk, Chris

26

Gay, Brian

27

Merrick, John

[phan52]

I was there today marshaling and, golf aside, this is going to be a major screwup. They have already closed one of the remote parking areas for at least through tomorrow. Anywhere the pedestrians can walk is already a mucky, muddy quagmire. Some crosswalks were unpassable early this morning, and I can only guess what it must be like now at 6:00 PM, with a hard steady rain coming down. They didn't allow the players on the course until 11:00 AM and it didn't look like a lot of players got any golf in today as they suspended play at around 3:30.

Tiger was the first one on the course today, starting on 14 right near the clubhouse.

Charting 16 green. Nice, juicy rough.

The rain is coming down harder as I write this.

[k14]

Sounds like it could be a bit of a debarcle! I have only got a ticket for Thursday. Looking at the latest forecast there are thunderstorms predicted? Do you locals think that will eventuate? Could that me a delay from mid morning or do you reckon the morning groupings will get through ok? I've travelled 10000 miles to get here and I'm so pumped but at the same time very nervous!

[phan52]

Originally Posted by k14

Sounds like it could be a bit of a debarcle! I have only got a ticket for Thursday. Looking at the latest forecast there are thunderstorms predicted? Do you locals think that will eventuate? Could that me a delay from mid morning or do you reckon the morning groupings will get through ok? I've travelled 10000 miles to get here and I'm so pumped but at the same time very nervous!

We've gotten about 6 inches of rain over the last 6 days. There is a 70% chance of rain on Thursday but I can't imagine that it could rain like it did today and last Friday.

They are going to do everything they can do to play golf on Thursday. As messy as it was today, they did let players go out and play.

[BostonBrew]

With how wet the course will be, depending on the tees for certain holes, I have a feeling we won't see too many short-hitters towards the top of the leaderboard. Maybe they'll reserve the big carry tees like the back teebox of 18 for the weekend when it'll be slightly dryer.

[9iron]

I watched some of the play today and the greens, despite all the rain, were still fairly fast. That is a tribute to the slope of some of these greens. On 18 Tiger hit a very high approach shot and it moved a good 15 feet left due to the slope of that green. He then tried a downhill 25 foot putt and ran it 15 feet past the hole.

One challenge to these players will be that as the course dries out Friday thru Sunday, it will play differently every day. The player that can best adjust to the changing speeds just may end up the winner.

[dataris17]

I'll be there Sunday! Hoping it's not too wet that the whole place turns to mud, but it really poured here today..

[k14]

Originally Posted by phan52

We've gotten about 6 inches of rain over the last 6 days. There is a 70% chance of rain on Thursday but I can't imagine that it could rain like it did today and last Friday.

They are going to do everything they can do to play golf on Thursday. As messy as it was today, they did let players go out and play.

Well that is a bit more reassuring, thanks! I guess the main concern is if there are any thunder storms then they will be fairly conservative when it comes to calling off play, but I guess usually they pass fairly quickly. Fingers crossed!

[Motley01]

Just watched Live from the US Open on the golf channel. They talked about the wicker baskets on the flag sticks. I had no idea, very cool though, and apparantly a long tradition there.

The folks at Marion can send over some of that rain and cool weather over here to Denver. Its friggen too hot and dry. Record setting 99 degrees today. I hate it.

[BostonBrew]

Originally Posted by Motley01

Just watched Live from the US Open on the golf channel. They talked about the wicker baskets on the flag sticks. I had no idea, very cool though, and apparantly a long tradition there.

The folks at Marion can send over some of that rain and cool weather over here to Denver. Its friggen too hot and dry. Record setting 99 degrees today. I hate it.

Just moved back to Virginia from Greeley, CO. I was telling a buddy that I haven't seen this much rain in years. Never thought I'd be so happy to see rain, but after living in CO, I understand now.

[bobsuruncle]

too bad the course is going to be soft and wet ... maybe that'll bring out the best in Rory ... he seems to play best in such conditions !!!

[Zwick]

With no lift, clean and place (the USGA hates it), this could become a real game of pure chance. A few mudballs a round more or less with this rough around the greens could be very crucial.

[Spyder]

They are calling for terrible lies due to the wetness from the reports I heard this morning. Though it is expected that more greens will be easier to stick and the speed of typical US Open conditions will be lacking, thick wet rough and sub-par lies are going to tip the scale back up on the difficulty meter in my opinion. This will definitely be fun.

Unfortunately, I will not get to watch much of it. I'll be on vacation in upper Michigan... golfing on Arcadia Bluffs dealing with my own links dream/nightmare lol. I will for sure do my best to stream it on my phone during downtime though.

[newtogolf]

The course is going to be tough but not for the reasons the USGA intended.  The greens are going to look like golf balls (full of ball marks) if this rain keeps up.   I still can't imagine playing a 260 yard par 3, but with the wet weather, the pro's will be sticking their drives on the par 3 greens.

[Spyder]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

The course is going to be tough but not for the reasons the USGA intended.  The greens are going to look like golf balls (full of ball marks) if this rain keeps up.   I still can't imagine playing a 260 yard par 3, but with the wet weather, the pro's will be sticking their drives on the par 3 greens.

Absolutely. The greens are definitely going to get pounded.

[colin007]

This is looking like it could be a mess, more rain Thursday...