us open program

Got home from work last night and the USGA's US Open program was in the mailbox. Just another piece of the puzzle coming together that makes the whole US Open experience. Based on what I saw, the USGA is planning on playing the course as a par 71 (1 par 5 on the front and 2 on the back). The first par five (#9), is over 6O0 yards and will be a true three short hole. The first par 5 on the back is also very long with a carry of 240 over the canyon. However, they have a more forward set of tees that they can use to make it more interesting. The last par 5 is 18 and is clearly going to be hole in which players can attack and go for in 2. This hole is the only one on the entire course with any water and will certainly be an exciting one to watch. I can just imagine someone coming down the home stretch and needing to make eagle and then having to hit a super shot over the lake.

From a course setup standpoint, I want to see a mixture of really hard holes and then holes that give you an opportunity to make birdie, but you have to hit a really good shot. I would like to see a winning score right around par or just a couple under. To me that shows who the best golfer is during the week.

The Players

Just finished watching the Players...and a few thoughts. First, Paul Goydos showed extreme sportsmanship over the last four days. The guys was always upbeat and had a smile on his face, even when he made a bogey. He played his heart out for four days and had a put to win the thing at 18. That was a tough putt to make and knowing that a bogey gets him to a playoff, I was not suprised that he hit it a little short. So he goes to 18, and unfortunately the wind kicks up and he hits it in the water. The ball was right on line..it just balloned up into the wind and it came up a bit short. Sergio then steps up and hits it stiff. Goydos showed a true respect for the game and his fellow competitors in his comments to Roger Maltbie. The guy is all class. I don' t want to bash Sergio, but the first thing he should have said was to mention Goydos and what a first class guy he is. But no, what does he do instead, he starts thanking Taylor Made and mentioning their new wind ball and his Burner driver. Has golf turned into NASCAR? That was very disappointing to see. The only reason Sergio even mentioned Goydos in his talk with Bob Costas is because Costas continued to mention him and Sergio finally realized, hey, may I should mentioned the classiest guy in golf. I really wanted Goydos to win, simply because he is a good guy, and good things should happen to good people.

The Olympic Club - Lake Course

I was in San Francisco last week and got the opportunity of a lifetime...to play the Lake course at the Olympic Club. The Lake course has been the home of 3 US Amateur Championships, 4 US Open Championships and the upcoming 2012 US Open. We played it from the blue tee boxes, which are marked at 6,530 yards, and this is all the golf course you could ever want. The course was in fantastic shape and is extremely challenging. There was only a slight breeze when I played it, but it was still enough to make you think on every shot. The thing that amazed me the most is that there is no let up on this course from the very first hole. The other thing is that you have to think about every single shot. There is no standing on the tee and just hitting driver to the middle of the fairway.

You really have to work the ball off the tee because all the holes, except for the par threes and the 18th, have some sort of dogleg. This is tough because the course is very tree lined and if you don't move the ball in the right direction, it will generally run through the fairway. To make it even tougher, most of the fairways are sloped, such that even a good drive might find a slope and run into the rough. This was one of the hardest parts of playing...you hit what you think is a good looking shot and it ends up in the rough. That was the story of my day. Hitting fairly decent shots the just missed the fairway or the green by just a little bit and end up in the rough or in a bunker. Needless to say, the battle scars are still a bit fresh. That being said, it is just a fantastic track and I had a very ejoyable round with some recent acquantences in the San Francisco area.

No discussion about the Lake course would be complete without mentioning the 18th hole. From the blue tees, it measures 322 yards, but it is up hill to the fairway that is just absolutely tiny. I hit my 3 hybrid into the wind and kept it in the fairway with 135 yards to the green. To say the the green is elevated is an understatement. I hit 6 iron to the green and was pin high to the right. The green on 18 is super small and still has some pretty significant slope to it. This is after they leveled it off a bit after the 1998 US Open when Payne Stewart barely touched the ball and it rolled off the green. The 18th is just a great short finishing hole.

Well, that's my story from the Olympic club and just want to give a big thank you to Dave, Joe and Pete.