Golf World UK - August 2017

August 2017 Golf World 81

grasses – we took all the precautions we
could take this winter. It is really, really
cold there – there’s no place in the UK
which gets even close to how cold it gets
in Wisconsin in the winter – it can be
brutal, like Siberia up there! But that
said, they did cover all the greens, and
apparently they’ve come through the
winter beautifully.
But this is a little bit of a different golf
course, in that it’s the first time since 1992
that we’ve played on a par 72. And it’s a
wider golf course. And the greens aren’t all
that undulating. And they’re beautiful bent
grass. These things putt almost perfectly.
So, I think what’s really interesting is you
are going to see lower scoring at this US
Open than you typically see.

Is that a good or a bad thing, from the

USGA’s perspective?

It’s not bad. At the end of the day, we give

the trophy out to the lowest 72-hole score,

whether they are +5 or -15. I’ve heard

some people say ‘It’s a long golf course’.

But this is going to play relatively short, by

professional standards, because it is a par

72, so you kind of subtract 400 yards

right off the bat there. The other thing is

it’s a firm surface, so the ball bounces and

rolls. And the fairways, by US Open

standards, are definitely generous.

Because it is a bouncy surface, and it

does tend to get windy out there, because

it’s such an exposed piece of land. Every

time I’ve been there, 9 out of 10 days the

wind is blowing. I think that is going to

be part of the story. And, if it isn’t windy,

or if it’s just a light breeze, I’d be shocked

if it’s not several strokes under par. And

that’s not a negative thing. It is what it is.

You’ve been involved in setting up US

Open courses for nearly 30 years, and

been in charge since 2006. Would it be

fair to say you’ve made it a personal

mission to transform the image of the US

Open, by taking it to a wider variety of

courses, by looking at areas like

entertainment and birdies and so on?

I hate to ever use the word “I” because

there is a team involved here, but one of

the things we did way back in about 2005

was look at everything we were doing.

Some people love US Opens. Some don’t.

But it’s sort of been the ultimate test. It’s

going to test shot-making skills, course

management, your nerves, your patience,

maybe a little bit more than other weeks.

One of the other things we looked at is

do we always have to play the hole the

samewayeveryday?Orcanwemixitup

alittlebit?Andwhenyouaskyourselves

that, sometimes it turns out that the

architectwantsyoutoplayitthose

differentwaysandyouhavemoreoptions.

The R&A have just under a dozen courses

ontheirOpen‘rota’.Howmanydothe

USGA have on their ‘rota’?

I’ll be honest, sometimes we’re envious of

the R&A because with a smaller number

it’s easier to know those courses. It’s easier

to put some infrastructure long-term into

those. The players get to know them more.

We go to more golf courses, so neither we

nor the players know the courses as well.

On the flip side, our country is so big

and has so many golf courses, we can have

so much variation and we can be radically

different from one year to another. That

is both a challenge and a blessing.

Is there a cap on how many courses you

can consider, or could you just keep

expanding to new courses, if they were

good enough?

We really do not have a specific rota. But

I will say this. There are some great golf

courses which I cannot imagine we

wouldn’twanttogobackto–Pebble

Beach, Pinehurst, Shinnecock, Oakmont,

Winged Foot... because over time they’ve

proved to be such good tests of golf.

Others are retired because they simply

couldn’thostaUSOpen–placeslike

MyopiaCountryClub,northofBoston,

120yearsagoitwasagreatvenuebutit

doesn’thavethespacetoholdone

anymore.So,somedropoutbutnewones

come along, and that won’t change.

Chambers Bay

looked spectacular

but was heavily

criticised by players

and spectators.

THE NEXT NINE US OPEN VENUES

YEAR HOST PREVIOUS US OPENS FOUNDED

2018 Shinnecock Hills 4 (1896, 1986,’95,’04) 1891

2019 Pebble Beach 5 (1972,’82,’92,’00,’10) 1919

2020 Winged Foot 5 (1929,’59,’74,’84,’06) 1921

2021 Torrey Pines 1 (2008) 1957

2022 The Country Club, Boston 3 (1913,’63,’88) 1882

2023 Los Angeles Country Club 0 1897

2024 Pinehurst Resort 3 (1999,’05,’14) 1907

2025 Oakmont Country Club 9 (1927,’35,’53,’62,’73,’83,’94,’07,’16) 1903

2026 Shinnecock Hills 4 (1896, 1986,’95,’04) 1891

US OPEN