[cary lichtenstein]

I for one did, but every thread I read seems to indicate that the majority did not, i never heard so much criticism from so many.

[Jon Wiggett]

Unfortunately not even highlights as far as I was aware on terrestrial TV here in the UK.

[Tom Fagerli]

I did. I would have liked to have seen more wind and less rain but nothing to be done about that. I saw some wonderful shots and plenty of disasters too. Golf should not always be played single file with a 1 iron.

[Steve Lang]

   Cary,


I enjoyed watching the play that I was able to catch+ the USGA live streaming feeds, but I don't pretend to be able to relate to anything more than an unaided 250 yd drive or 150 yd 6-iron for swings...


does seem that the appropriateness of a treehouse analogy is long gone... 

[Mike Sweeney]

I did and I thought David Duvall made an interesting point about Brooks Koepka and this new/extended/evolving era of professional golf.


Basically Duvall thought the era of long careers in golf dominance is over. Koepka mentioned more than a few times in post-round interviews about his work in the gym. These guys are totally different than the golfers of the pre-Tiger era. Koepka is a baseball player first, and that was mentioned in the post-round interview. Duvall thinks, and I agree, they will have 3-5 year burst, and then be gone.


Technology + Agronomy + Fitness + Swing Mechanics = 7800 yard courses looking like 6400 yard courses for me.


Next year's US Open at Shinnecock is really interesting. I know they added some new tees, but it will be a short course for them. The greens are all very precise to hit into the right position, so what do you do with the rough?


Me as the Shinnecock setup guy would use the normal fairways, and make most of the place 1 1/2 inch rough, hopefully have some firm greens, and let's see where it takes us. I would have them go for those greens (really 1/3 of each green to score at Shinnecock) out of the rough, rather than have them chop out of the long stuff back into play.


It may mean that bi-furcation is upon us, and that would be a good thing. I think.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Yes, but funny how the 123 9th and 356 yard 15th were among the toughest holes. Hopefully that will be a trend.


As to the OP, yes I enjoyed it a lot, but know the architects, played the course with Whitten, know a bit more than most about its creation, and actually like the idea of new courses holding majors.  While not part of the original question, I think it is the trend of the future - build a limited rotation of US Open courses, not unlike the British rotation, but newer, longer, more designed for pros, TV, corporate tents, etc.


Then, at the expense of some of the charm at the US Open, we can leave all the other classic courses at their current length, and have them host US Senior/Women's Opens and major amateur events, played as they were meant to be played.

[BCowan]

Yes, but funny how the 123 9th and 356 yard 15th were among the toughest holes. Hopefully that will be a trend.


As to the OP, yes I enjoyed it a lot, but know the architects, played the course with Whitten, know a bit more than most about its creation, and actually like the idea of new courses holding majors.  While not part of the original question, I think it is the trend of the future - build a limited rotation of US Open courses, not unlike the British rotation, but newer, longer, more designed for pros, TV, corporate tents, etc.


Then, at the expense of some of the charm at the US Open, we can leave all the other classic courses at their current length, and have them host US Senior/Women's Opens and major amateur events, played as they were meant to be played.

+100

[George Pazin]

I enjoyed it quite a bit, though I too wish we had seen more wind and less rain.


I was kind of in and out on yesterday's broadcast, but it was a little weird glancing in and seeing Fowler with an iron in his hand for the second shot of a 681 yard par 5 and flying it onto the green...

[Blake Conant]

I wasn't a fan of this US Open.  The course is fine, but it's not US Open worthy.  I felt like I was watching the Milwaukee Open just with more money on the line.  The strategy of the course was solid, and you saw guys thinking off the tee.  Lots of credit to using a course with width.  However, the greens were not hard to figure out, and as a set, they did not test the players as US Open greens should. 


More alarming is the inability of the USGA to realize that length doesn't test these guys.  Either find a course you can stretch to 8500 yards, or admit you let things get out of control.  Maybe they know playing an 8500 yard course would essentially be admitting such a thing.  Creating difficulty with length is antiquated and ineffective, time to think of new (old) ways to challenge these guys. 

[Jay Mickle]

Enjoyed what I saw towards the end of the round on Saturday period was looking forward to the DVR replay on Sunday but the DVR failed. Woe is me

[John McCarthy]

With the softness of the fairways there was little penalty to bombing away with a driver.  Koepka had it in the bag for the last hour. 


So did the USGA president get hammered again this year?

[Steve Salmen]

Despite the scoring, I enjoyed watching the tournament. There were no controversial holes, nor any unfair outcomes. The USGA seemed to stay out of the way. I'll pull for Fleetwood at Birkdale, but I'm really glad a American won our National Championship.

[Jim Nugent]

More alarming is the inability of the USGA to realize that length doesn't test these guys.  Either find a course you can stretch to 8500 yards, or admit you let things get out of control.  Maybe they know playing an 8500 yard course would essentially be admitting such a thing.  Creating difficulty with length is antiquated and ineffective, time to think of new (old) ways to challenge these guys.

If the weather/conditions don't cooperate, many top courses are pretty defenseless against the world's best players.  e.g. the last 4x the R&A held the British Open at TOC, the winning scores were -14, -15, -16 and -19.  At the last Open Championship there, ten guys finished double digits. 

Of course the USGA could have set up EH much more narrow.  Scores would have skied. 

I enjoyed the tournament, marveled at how far the top players hit the ball, note that one of the shortest-hitting players in the field tied for second, and am looking forward to a return visit there, when hopefully wind and F&F will challenge the players even more.   

[Thomas Dai]

Enjoyed many of the posts herein about the event. Many made me laugh or chuckle.
As to the event, no trees and tall swaying grass was nice, blind shots, bunkering and roly-poly terrain also.
Closing ceremony was laughable....as was length of the course, green-to-tee etc walks.....roll back the ball and clubs soon, the game is being ruined.
In my book the winning score was level par, not -16....there are no par-5's for these guys!
atb

PS - it would have been interesting had the course and greens had been firmer.

[Tom_Doak]

I enjoyed the tournament a lot, but as always it makes me wonder about all the energy expended on "setup".  No matter what they do, eventually they have to turn it over to the players and to the weather - so why do they have to do so much before?

[A.G._Crockett]

I did and I thought David Duvall made an interesting point about Brooks Koepka and this new/extended/evolving era of professional golf.


Basically Duvall thought the era of long careers in golf dominance is over. Koepka mentioned more than a few times in post-round interviews about his work in the gym. These guys are totally different than the golfers of the pre-Tiger era. Koepka is a baseball player first, and that was mentioned in the post-round interview. Duvall thinks, and I agree, they will have 3-5 year burst, and then be gone.


Technology + Agronomy + Fitness + Swing Mechanics = 7800 yard courses looking like 6400 yard courses for me.


Next year's US Open at Shinnecock is really interesting. I know they added some new tees, but it will be a short course for them. The greens are all very precise to hit into the right position, so what do you do with the rough?


Me as the Shinnecock setup guy would use the normal fairways, and make most of the place 1 1/2 inch rough, hopefully have some firm greens, and let's see where it takes us. I would have them go for those greens (really 1/3 of each green to score at Shinnecock) out of the rough, rather than have them chop out of the long stuff back into play.


It may mean that bi-furcation is upon us, and that would be a good thing. I think.

Mike,
I didn't hear Duval's comments, but I've heard and read this discussion elsewhere, including here.  I have several "issues" with this idea.

1. I think a 3 to 5 year "burst" is actually the norm in ALL professional sports; when you see careers that are at the highest level in their sport for significantly longer than that, you are seeing the exception rather than the rule, and golf really isn't much different. Guys like Nicklaus, Woods, and Mickleson are the outliers. 

2. The argument somehow seems to presume that the gym work is somehow imposing a limitation on longevity, which is not only counter-intuitive to me, but has a fair amount of evidence AGAINST it.  Though I hate going from the instance to the generalization, Dustin Johnson is a case in point; he has now won on Tour for 10 years in a row (and counting) joining ONLY Woods and Nicklaus in that regard.  So two of the three guys with decade-long winning streaks are/were gym rats...

3. The argument also presumes that players of the past who had long careers but did not work out had no injury issues, and I don't think that's necessarily true, either. 

All of that said, I watched this Open every day, but never could get excited by what I was seeing somehow.  I don't think I found Erin Hills to be particularly compelling; it certainly didn't make me long for a trip to Wisconsin and a $300 green fee.  And maybe the cast of characters was lacking somehow; I don't know.  And I must admit that I probably start EVERY US Open with a chip on my shoulder because of my distaste for the USGA. 

But for whatever reason, the US Open has become the least "must see TV" for me each year.  This one was no exception.

[George Pazin]

Enjoyed what I saw towards the end of the round on Saturday period was looking forward to the DVR replay on Sunday but the DVR failed. Woe is me

Check Fox Sports 1's lineup this week, they will likely rebroadcast it a few times. If not, it's probably on their app.


A G -


Interesting thoughts about players and working out. Sample sizes aren't really big enough for these things. For every guy who works out that has injury problems, you can probably find others that aren't known for working out with similar problems (Freddie, DLIII, etc). And you can always throw out Gary Player as a fitness fanatic who has had a fabulously long career. It's like most things in life, people seek confirmation bias, rarely look for things that oppose their beliefs.

[Peter Pallotta]

Someone has a tag line, a quote from Donald Ross: something like "There's the golf course; play it any way you please".


*There* was Erin Hills, during *these* 4 days, hosting *this* edition of the US Open, under *those* weather conditions.


Stricker did his best playing the course one way; Koepka played it another; Rory didn't play it well; Ernie hung in for a while.


Most of us say we approve of minimalism, value the variability of the weather, appreciate the random aspects of the game, celebrate its many different fields of play.


But apparently, only when the course and the weather and the outcome is exactly what we wanted it to be in the first place.


 

[Carl Rogers]

The Erin Hills routing has too many of the holes that are back and forth, requiring not enough shot making variety from various wind directions relative to the line of play.


The number of ads is awful.  The USGA should demand no ads when the final pairing gets to the back nine.


Fox has so many commentators that they all have to say something and they all say too much.

[Jason Topp]

I saw a wide variety of tactics employed to play different holes, some terrific recovery shots, some epic failures and a player grab the event by the throat and win it.  I enjoyed the event very much. 

[jeffwarne]

I enjoyed the tournament a lot, but as always it makes me wonder about all the energy expended on "setup".  No matter what they do, eventually they have to turn it over to the players and to the weather - so why do they have to do so much before?

ding ding ding


Pick a course and play it-of course then they'd either have to go to a modern course or admit technology is out of control


What's interesting is that they have a "setup" guy on premises at least a year before, yet nearly every year there's a setup snafu
(not this year so much)
My other comment would be that the greens were perfect, contributing to lower scores, which has been quite rare at recent Opens-due to "setup" destroying the quality of the turf


I enjoyed the event

[David Grady]

Basically Duvall thought the era of long careers in golf dominance is over.

This may be true, but have to think Duval's perspective on this is tainted by his own experience.

[JJShanley]

The Erin Hills routing has too many of the holes that are back and forth, requiring not enough shot making variety from various wind directions relative to the line of play.


The number of ads for the USGA is awful.  The USGA should demand no ads when the final pairing gets to the back nine.


Fox has so many commentators that they all have to say something and they all say too much.

Edited that for you.     The R&A do it right when it comes to branding.  The iconic trophy, for their centerpiece championship, is almost always the focus of attention.

[Steve Sayre]

The Erin Hills routing has too many of the holes that are back and forth, requiring not enough shot making variety from various wind directions relative to the line of play.


The number of ads is awful.  The USGA should demand no ads when the final pairing gets to the back nine.


Fox has so many commentators that they all have to say something and they all say too much.

Totally agree. Actually surprised USGA didn't negotiate advertising limits in final round coverage when they did the big deal with Fox. And the non-stop commentary very annoying. Seemed to me like no more than a few seconds of letting the visuals tell the story in the whole broadcast.

[Kevin Robinson]

If I want to see guys shot 63, 64, 65...I will watch the Milwaukee Open...


The US Open that I grew up watching (and being interested in literally every shot) featured guys grinding their guts out, and only one survivor keeping it together while the rest of the field fell apart...

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