[Peter_Collins]

I heard an interview yesterday conducted at Tom Watson's charity event in Kansas City.  (Paraphrasing) Watson said the set up of Shinnecock Hills was a strong and clear message that the USGA believes golf equipment has gone too far and it is either going to control the game (at least at its Championship) by reigning in equipment or making the Open course as hard as possible.  He expects Pinehurst to be set up just as difficult or more so  despite the public outcry.  

Davis Love added that if they are going to play on courses like Shinnecock with severe greens the greens should be kept at 3 or 4 on the Stimpmeter as they were designed to be played.  He also made a point that made sense . .  . they should slow the fairways down too.  He said not only is the ball flying much further than it was just ten years ago, it is rolling a lot further in part because the fairway grass was mowed so short and the ground was kept so hard.   He suggested Augusta would not have needed to add all the length it has recently if they would have just slowed the fairways down.

Peter Jacobson added a funny joke:  Johnny Miller comes to town for a golf tournament with $100 bill in one pocket and the Ten Commandments in the other and by the end of the weekend he has broken neither.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Peter,

It's hard to believe the comment.

If Watson thinks that the USGA thinks the equipment issue has gone to far, is Watson aware that it's the USGA that sets the standards and controls the extent equipment is allowed to influence the game ?  And, that if it's gone to far, it was the USGA that permitted it in the first place.

It sounds like convoluted logic to me.

[Bob_Huntley]

Patrick,

You expect logical thought from a Stanford man?

[Brad Swanson]

Pat,
   You took the words right out of my mouth.  

Do the equipment stds. folks at the USGA communicate at all with Tom Meeks and other USGA staff responsible for the championship venue preparations?

Cheers,
Brad Swanson

[A_Clay_Man]

despite the public outcry.

What public outcry?

All I see are agenda driven outcries.

[Michael Whitaker]

What about letting the grass grow. Couldn't that be an answer?

What am I missing here? Instead of speeding up the course with faster fairways and greens shouldn't the USGA slow the course down by raising the mower heights? It seems so simple an answer that there must be some reason why it won't work... OK, what is the reason?

[Bruceski]

Is it a given that slowing down fairways and greens would make the game harder? Wouldn't a slowed fairway allow the ball to essentially stop where it lands before reaching the rough? Aren't slower greens much easier in terms of both approach shot precision and putting?

[A_Clay_Man]

Bruce- No, it is not a given. It is a common assumption, but it is not a given.
Mike-
The game is easier on a soft canvas. That's why people want it. If Sunday's score didn't prove that, nothing will. After last weeks Westechester, one of the entrants acknowledged  that the old girl would've played tougher without the greenside bunkerside cabbage.

What short grass and firm conditions allow, is the opportunity to play a multitude of different types of shots, with all sorts of different clubs. Watching some of those guys awareness levels on Sunday, was as great as the heated conttest between Mick and Retief. Veejays play on 7, from short of the green with the putter, was creative beyond the field, and only missed the bird by a micro measurement of pressure.

If one watched faces closely, Thursday was an interesting day. Many of the best in the world, were fooled by the speed of the greens. Why? I suspect the poa got'em. These were perfectly struck putts, that came-up an inch or two short of the hole. The looks of incredulity on the faces of Els and Lefty were priceless. Friday, after the rain, the grass puffed up for most of the early times and the rolling and the holeing was easier, evidenced by the low scores. By afternoon Friday, the grass was getting that patina back, and Saturday I missed. I just assume it kept getting drier.

Sunday we had a dawn patrol toony. We were all salivating of what the day would hold on Lawng Island. We were watching the internet and saw the scores of the first few groups.

To steal a civil war quote, It was a great and (turning out to be) terrible day.

[sonofalawyer]

i don't understand why watson's comment (as relayed here) is so dumb.  i think he's right on the money.  

The USGA wants the US OPEN champ to shoot around par, but they don't want to curtail the ball or equipment.  Therefore their only option is too make the course more difficult.

If they're not going to regulate the ball or equipment more strictly, what other option do they have but to increase the degree of difficult presented by the course conditions.

am i missing something here?

[TEPaul]

The apparent firestorm of controversy around the USGA and the US Open set-up on Sunday aside, the fascinating head to head duel between Mickelson and Goosen most all day long was some of the most exciting and tenacious golf I've ever seen played. It's just sad to me in this frenzy of criticism, negativism, threatened lawsuits and God knows what else that fact which is pretty much the essence of the 2004 US Open at Shinnecock is getting lost and probably forgotten!

[Patrick_Mucci]

Peter Johnson,

YES.

Bruce Strober,

Slowing down fairways and greens makes it easier, it widens the margins of error.  Firm and fast demands more precision with every shot.

Growing grass long, while preserving firm surfaces, is a difficult trick, but why would you want those type of conditions ?

Am I hearing a quest for LUSH, GREEN conditions ?

You guys have opposed that for 5 years.

Do you know what you want ?

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