2017 U.S. Open Discussion Topic

[colin007]

Am I the only one that felt that Chambers Bay was awesome?

[phillyk]

22 minutes ago, colin007 said:

Am I the only one that felt that Chambers Bay was awesome?

I thought it was great! I mean greens were tough to keep but everyone had to deal with them. 

[NCGolfer]

5 hours ago, ChrisP said:

But this is what gives the US Open its identity. If they took out the difficulty and the "tricks", then it becomes any other tournament. Let's face it...the complaint with the PGA is it has no identity. The Masters has Augusta. The British has the conditions. The US Open has the challenge....and that challenge involves fast greens, high rough and tough scoring. Take that away and the US Open and you take away its identity. The complaining, the whining, the carnage....I gaurantee most of golf lovers out there love that stuff because it's what makes the US Open the US Open.

 

5 hours ago, phillyk said:

The thing is, that is what the US Open has always stood for.  The toughest test in golf. It is not meant to be easy.  They aren't doing their job if the players are not complaining.  Eh @ChrisP beat me to it...

I think that "tricks" or "tricked out" is much different than "toughest test in golf".  Oakmont is not tricked out...neither is Pinehurst.  Still gives one of the toughest tests in golf without 2 foot fescue a few paces off the fairway.  Just saying.

[nevets88]

 

[Buckeyebowman]

5 hours ago, ChrisP said:

But this is what gives the US Open its identity. If they took out the difficulty and the "tricks", then it becomes any other tournament. Let's face it...the complaint with the PGA is it has no identity. The Masters has Augusta. The British has the conditions. The US Open has the challenge....and that challenge involves fast greens, high rough and tough scoring. Take that away and the US Open and you take away its identity. The complaining, the whining, the carnage....I gaurantee most of golf lovers out there love that stuff because it's what makes the US Open the US Open.

I absolutely agree! The US Open is supposed to be tough! And they've done it different ways. They've lightened up on the rough to give players a chance at the green, but also a chance to get into more trouble! I think the fact that this is basically a treeless layout is what prompted allowing the rough to grow so high.

4 hours ago, colin007 said:

Am I the only one that felt that Chambers Bay was awesome?

No, you are not! I thought Chambers Bay was spectacular, just that the USGA got to it a couple of years too early. Didn't seem like the course was quite mature enough.

20 minutes ago, NCGolfer said:

 

I think that "tricks" or "tricked out" is much different than "toughest test in golf".  Oakmont is not tricked out...neither is Pinehurst.  Still gives one of the toughest tests in golf without 2 foot fescue a few paces off the fairway.  Just saying.

Oh, but Oakmont was tricked up back in the day! My Uncle was a pro back then and he told me Oakmont used to "spot water" their greens,so you'd have slow spots and fast spots. They'd water down the bunkers, like the "Church Pews", and drag these rakes with 17lb heads on them with gigantic triangular teeth to cut furrows in the wet sand! This would leave the player in a bunker no choice but to pitch out sideways!

[Vinsk]

I agree with you guys. But I do understand some of the frustration the pros have with regards to 'tricked out' conditions. One argument intend to agree with is the luck factor. When you have greens so tricked out that that a modest wind moves your ball, or you hit a beautiful shot to the middle of the green and the ball slowly trickles all the way off. When these outcomes are based on the difference of a yard it becomes more of a game of good breaks (luck) and less on great skill. If the rough is next to impossible to hit out of, and it's only a yard away from the fairway...then a player who hits a drive one yard left has a clean shot and the other player has little chance of even advancing the ball all because he's one yard different than the other guy....seems a bit much and would certainly frustrate me. But I do agree that trying to curb the 'smash it long and don't worry too much about the fairway' style is part of what the US OPEN is identified by.

[NCGolfer]

1 hour ago, Buckeyebowman said:

Oh, but Oakmont was tricked up back in the day! My Uncle was a pro back then and he told me Oakmont used to "spot water" their greens,so you'd have slow spots and fast spots. They'd water down the bunkers, like the "Church Pews", and drag these rakes with 17lb heads on them with gigantic triangular teeth to cut furrows in the wet sand! This would leave the player in a bunker no choice but to pitch out sideways!

So you mean the bunkers were actually penal?  The gall of them!  

[onthehunt526]

6 hours ago, phillyk said:

The thing is, that is what the US Open has always stood for.  The toughest test in golf. It is not meant to be easy.  They aren't doing their job if the players are not complaining.  Eh @ChrisP beat me to it...

Agreed. It's not tricked out, it's designed that way.

The USGA sets it up the course to be the toughest examination in golf. They are testing your entire game, that's the point of a "tricked out". Yes the Open turns into a craptacular festival of crap, when player's hit bad shots, and get a terrible lie. They want to see if you'll gamble out of marginal lies as well. As I said you will see some unplayable lies out of the fescue. (Yeah I know you have to find the ball for that). 

I know players in the field will complain, but it is a fair test, it always is. You don't see +12 winning the U.S. Open. If that was the case it would be unfair. But the winning score is usually within a couple strokes of posted par.

If we get significant rain on Thursday or Friday... Erin Hills will play very long.

I will stand by my prediction of -4 winning. Here are my top three U.S. Open picks, for fun.

1. Dustin Johnson, kind of been a weird year for him in my opinion, but he is the defending champion. This course isn't a bomber's paradise per se, but with wider than normal U.S. Open fairways... I like his chances.

2. Jason Dufner: He's coming of a win at Memorial on a tough layout. The 2013 PGA Championship, has played well in the past on difficult layouts. With a decently warm putter, and the amount of greens he hits... He'll be a factor.

3. Sergio Garcia: Though he's kind of struggled historically at U.S. Open's, he finally got the lid off the jar at Augusta. Besides, there is only one player that can still win the Grand Slam in 2017. If Sergio hits GIR, and the putter is reasonably warm, he'll be a huge factor.

Honorable Mentions: Jordan Spieth and Jason Day. 

I'm holding out hope for a weather delay on Thursday, I want Phil to win... I can only hope. 

[ChrisP]

Looks like the rain the next few days is gonna take the fire out of the course. This is a course that needs a firm track to play really tough. The slower track should mean lower scores and help out the longer hitters. With the softer conditions and given four par-5s, I think it's reasonable you could see a lower scoring US Open than normal.

[boogielicious]

23 hours ago, phillyk said:

I wonder where the spectators will stand because if they stand in that fescue, that could help create better lies for off-line shots.  I'm definitely interested to see how it plays out though.

I hope the spectators and Pros wear plenty of bug spray. This is the worst tick season in recent times! Ticks love fescue!

[rehmwa]

16 hours ago, colin007 said:

Am I the only one that felt that Chambers Bay was awesome?

Loved it.  So much fun watch.

[iacas]

16 hours ago, colin007 said:

Am I the only one that felt that Chambers Bay was awesome?

I liked it.

[nevets88]

Google - way more people than usual. No sh** Sherlock.

[Wally Fairway]

16 hours ago, colin007 said:

Am I the only one that felt that Chambers Bay was awesome?

Nope - I enjoyed it, both for the play on the course and because I was a TST pick'em winner on that one.
But I do appreciate that it was not the most spectator friendly venue.

[jsgolfer]

16 hours ago, colin007 said:

Am I the only one that felt that Chambers Bay was awesome?

I think I'm the only one who didn't like it, at least on TST.  

 

[ChrisP]

13 hours ago, NCGolfer said:

 

Oakmont is not tricked out

Did you watch the US Open at Oakmont in 2007? Tell Phil Mickelson it wasn't tricked out. It didn't look tricked out last year at Oakmont because it rained so the greens weren't out of control, but if they got the conditions last year like they did in '07, you'd think otherwise. I remember watching Oakmont in 2007 and watching Mickelson tap the ball from 50 feet away and end up flying past the hole and into the rough. Guys at number 3 were hitting great shots into the middle of the green but the ball wouldn't stop and it kept on going down the hill over the green. It was fun to watch, but players were pretty miffed.

Conditions at the US Open usually dictate the difficulty. Guys this week may get a break. Erin Hills relies on firm, fast conditions to make it tough. If it continues to rain, then I suspect you'll see some pretty good scores.

Edited June 13, 2017 by ChrisP

[Wadess]

51 minutes ago, jsgolfer said:

I think I'm the only one who didn't like it, at least on TST.  

 

You're not alone.  I liked the setup except for the greens.  The randomness of the green surfaces made luck a major factor.

[nevets88]

There was streaming yesterday? Couldn't find it, nothing today. The streaming coverage is sub par compared to The Masters. FB videos are not playing. Lame Fox, very lame.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8xoB1Nr3gU