Golf World UK - August 2017

August 2017Golf World 79

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otsolongago,thesecondmajorof

theyearwasaone-dimensional,

boring,slug-fest;dislikedbyplayers

andcrowdsalike.Inrecentyears

however,USGACEOMikeDavis

hasalmostsingle-handedlyreinventedtheUSOpen.

The engaging, enthusiastic and hugely intelligent

Davishasbroughtinconceptslike“gradedrough”

and“architecturalintegrity“,whicharenowbecoming

commonplace concepts, borrowed by other major

championships.Byhisownadmission,he’sgotafew

thingswrong,too–mostnotablyatChambersBay

in2015–andhissanityhasbeenquestionedon

morethanafewoccasions.But,heregardstheseas

“battles” and they are certainly not going to stop

himexperimenting,andultimatelywinningthewar.

After the problems you encountered at Chambers

Bayin2015,thescorchedearth,theunplayable

greens, the compromised spectator ‘experience’,

howbigariskisErinHills?

Ifwe’rebeinghonest,Ithinkwe’dprobablyhave

likedtospreadthosetwonewsitesoutabit.Itmight

havebeenpreferable,inanidealworld,nottohave

twonewcoursesinthreeyears.But,whenwelooked

at those two sites, we saw two new, dynamic markets,

whichwehadn’tbeentobefore.Bothofthemare

public golf courses and both have their own story. If

wecouldhavehadseveralyearsinarowoftriedand

tested historic courses, in between the two new ones,

wewouldhavedonethat.Yourpointiswellmade.

Therearecertainpartsofthischampionshipwhich

wejustdonotknowwhattoexpect.Whenwegoto

aShinnecockoranOakmontoraPebbleBeach,we

knowwhatthosecoursesarelikeifit’swindy,ifit’s

wet.Youkindofknowwhatthevariablesare.And

that’sforinsideandoutsidetheropes.So,insome

wayswe’regoingtolearnaswegoalong;whetherit’s

parkingandtraffic,orhowthegolfcourseplays.

Isthatariskyou’rehappytotakeagain?

Well,wewouldn’tbegoingthereifweweren’t.We

taketheUSOpentosomeolder,historical,traditional

venues. And as we move it around the US, the thing

wealwaysfocusonfirstisthequalityofthegolf

course.Mostofthemare‘Top50’courses,and

although that’s obviously very subjective, we ask

questionslike‘Isitgoodenoughtotesttheworld’s

best?’DoesithavetheinfrastructuretoputonaUS

Open? There are questions that will only be answered

oncethetournamentbegins,butwe’reconfidentErin

Hillsanswersyestoallthequestionsweasked.

WhenwasthemomentyounotedErinHillsasa

potential US Open course?

Probablybeforethe2011USAmateur.Alotofus

had visited the club, walked and played the course

and everyone came back very impressed. It’s been on

RISK

TA K E R

Two years on from the calamity of Chambers Bay, Jock Howard sat down with

the USGA’s Executive Director and CEO Mike Davis to discuss the merits of Erin Hills

and the risks of taking the championship to another untried and untested layout.

US OPEN

(^) THE LEADER