[noonan]

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.


 

Great post!

[Mike Schott]

Didn't find the course compelling although it may have been different had it played firmer. I did not enjoy the Fox telecast at all except that they went commercial free late in the day Sunday. Most of all, it felt like a PGA Championship, with a bunch of midpack players competing to win. That's not the fault of the USGA but again it emphasized the PGA feel.

[Carl Johnson]

Not particularly.  I liked the look of the course on TV (not one I could play, however), but I found the commentary generally mediocre, the editing (not sure if that's what you call it, but I mean the choices about which shots to show on TV) mediocre, and the play not compelling at the finish, which may be sort of a chance thing with the players involved or that the final holes were not the kind that would produce drama -- not sure about which of those, or something else.

[Kalen Braley]

This was the most non-compelling US Open I've seen in quite a long time.  Seemed more like the Quad Cities Classic than a premium tour event, much less a major....


There was no drama, and when Koepka went on that 3 hole birdie binge the fat lady started singing and that was that.


Perhaps it was just bad luck, but I suspect that a course like Merion, or Bethpage, or Shinny would always play tough, whatever the weather conditions, and that makes all the difference in the world..


P.S.  The boyz at Far Hillz established very clearly decades ago that their #1 tourney was going to be the beastie of all beasties, so they set the expectation, not us.  Many tune in to see these guys grind it out and perform under crazy pressure to get pars and survive...didn't see any of that going on.

[Garland Bayley]

I enjoyed it, except that the lefty finished 2nd again.

[Thomas Dai]

A BBC view from the other side of the 3,000 mile wide pond - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/40331735

Anyone happen to know what clubs BK used to play his shots on each hole - NOT "what's in the bag" - what club he actually used on each tee shot, each second shot, each third shot etc etc?

This, together with BK's yardages for each club, would make an interesting way of comparing BK's score/round etc with what clubs we humble posters would play on the same (length) holes - the historical Tiger comment that "a 10 hcp couldn't break 100 round here"

You could also backtrack the yardages and see what 7,800 yds would mean to you in overall course length terms if you in 18-holes hit the same clubs as BK did - I suspect the equivalent overall yardage would be in the 4,500-6,000 region for most of us!

atb

[Jim Nugent]

In my book the winning score was level par, not -16....there are no par-5's for these guys!
atb

Average scores the 4th round for the par 5s:

1:    4.971
7:    5.132
14: 4.912
18: 4.809

They barely broke par on 3 of them, and scored above par on the other. 

[Kalen Braley]

I'm genuinely not trying to be flippant or make fun here, but it sounds like this guy  enjoyed it immensely...a nice way to say goodbye!


https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/golf/man-who-died-at-us-open-spent-three-hours-of-bliss-at-erin-hills/ar-BBCTqo4?li=BBnba9I

[Ben Sims]

Sometimes athletic events, by their very nature, aren't exciting or close. The USGA is in an impossible position of trying to please one set of people asking for blood and another set that wants minimal setup shenanigans. The howling at Chambers Bay was deafening and yet it produced the most exciting open of this decade.

It seems to me that a conscious decision has been made by the USGA in recent times to slowly move away from the "brutal test" brand. I could be wrong, we will see what happens at Shinny. But after all the complaining at Pebble (broccoli), Congressional (easy), Olympic (lengthening vs par), Merion (same, and weird mowing lines), Pinehurst (brown and unfair), Chambers (browner and unfairer), and now Erin Hills (too long and too easy, huh?) I'm convinced that the only way to truly make people happy is to hold the US Open at Oakmont every year.

[Kalen Braley]

Sometimes athletic events, by their very nature, aren't exciting or close. The USGA is in an impossible position of trying to please one set of people asking for blood and another set that wants minimal setup shenanigans. The howling at Chambers Bay was deafening and yet it produced the most exciting open of this decade.

It seems to me that a conscious decision has been made by the USGA in recent times to slowly move away from the "brutal test" brand. I could be wrong, we will see what happens at Shinny. But after all the complaining at Pebble (broccoli), Congressional (easy), Olympic (lengthening vs par), Merion (same, and weird mowing lines), Pinehurst (brown and unfair), Chambers (browner and unfairer), and now Erin Hills (too long and too easy, huh?) I'm convinced that the only way to truly make people happy is to hold the US Open at Oakmont every year.

Ben,


I'm sure you already know this, but the idea of the far hillz boyz building a tournament course to host at every year has been tossed around in here several times.  Then they could tweak and try different stuff every year and perhaps figure out a winning formula.  I think that's a big thing Augusta has going for it...its rarely dull...

[Tom_Doak]

Whatever they do, they don't control the outcome, and sometimes one player just pulls away.  Chambers Bay was a train wreck according to many but it produced the most exciting finish of the decade; Merion second, and they have nothing in common really.


The one fault I'd find with Erin Hills is that when Koepka turned for home on 16 two ahead of the leader in the clubhouse, there was almost no way he would fall back because the last three were playing easy.  Often it's the other way around, and that's not ideal, either. 


The Old Course is the perfect finish, with the combination of a wild 16th, a brutal 17th and an easy 18th, anything can happen.

[jeffwarne]

.

It seems to me that a conscious decision has been made by the USGA in recent times to slowly move away from the "brutal test" brand. I could be wrong, we will see what happens at Shinny. But after all the complaining at Pebble (broccoli), Congressional (easy), Olympic (lengthening vs par), Merion (same, and weird mowing lines), Pinehurst (brown and unfair), Chambers (browner and unfairer), and now Erin Hills (too long and too easy, huh?)


I'm convinced that the only way to truly make people happy is to hold the US Open at Oakmont every year.

+1 !!

[RDecker]

I think the U.S. Open should be very difficult and played on a "Classic Era" course.  Fox's coverage leaves a lot to be desired. Just one person's opinion.

[Ira Fishman]

I enjoyed it quite a bit if only because for all of the discussion about how long the pros hit it, there was demonstration after demonstration of how great they are with two clubs for which the technology has not changed that much: wedge and sand wedge.


Ira

[Tommy Williamsen]

I didn't enjoy it much at all and I'm not sure why. I got bored. The course seemed interesting and the play was splendid. It just didn't hold my interest. I think I like the Open played on a venerable old course.

[Peter Pallotta]

As others have suggested, genuine "drama" is elusive, and especially in the world of sports it can't easily be manufactured. (When announcers try to manufacture it, it usually comes off as "melodrama" - forced and unconvincing.) Koepka played a magnificent round of golf, and if it was all/only about the golf that would've been enough. But for many, it's not only about the golf; and the drama we seek he could not on his own provide -- there's not enough history there, no compelling narrative. (That's not his fault).

If it had been Rory in the lead, they could've spoken about his "steely determination to regain the No 1 world ranking"; if it had been Dustin, the story would be that "no golf course no matter how long can withstand his overpowering game"; if it had been Justin or Rickie, it would've been about "making a case for a Big 5 - the start of a new post-Tiger era in American golf". 

The reason many of us like the venerable old courses is that the course itself becomes the drama, or at least serves as the underpinning for that potential drama -- e.g. what Jack did there, or Hogan, or Jones, or Tiger.

I guess it might come down to that: will the USGA decide to focus on the ready-made drama (Merion, Oakmont, Shinny, Pebble), or continue to risk trying to create, from scratch, new drama, at new courses. And as I ask that, I think I know the answer....       

[Garland Bayley]

.

It seems to me that a conscious decision has been made by the USGA in recent times to slowly move away from the "brutal test" brand. I could be wrong, we will see what happens at Shinny. But after all the complaining at Pebble (broccoli), Congressional (easy), Olympic (lengthening vs par), Merion (same, and weird mowing lines), Pinehurst (brown and unfair), Chambers (browner and unfairer), and now Erin Hills (too long and too easy, huh?)


I'm convinced that the only way to truly make people happy is to hold the US Open at Oakmont every year.

+1 !!

The last thing I want to see is Oakmont every year. I would take Erin Hills or Chambers Bay every year before Oakmont.

[Rob Clisdell]

For a major, and US Open, it was very underwhelming. For me the US Open conjures up ideas of a champion overcoming adversity and triumphing over 1) his competitors 2) the course, and most of all 3) his mind. I'm sure Brooks would disagree but watching at home it felt like the champion only had to overcome 1) this year. I enjoyed watching but in a week or two I doubt I'll be able to recall much about the golf course or the shots played.

[Mike Schott]

.

It seems to me that a conscious decision has been made by the USGA in recent times to slowly move away from the "brutal test" brand. I could be wrong, we will see what happens at Shinny. But after all the complaining at Pebble (broccoli), Congressional (easy), Olympic (lengthening vs par), Merion (same, and weird mowing lines), Pinehurst (brown and unfair), Chambers (browner and unfairer), and now Erin Hills (too long and too easy, huh?)


I'm convinced that the only way to truly make people happy is to hold the US Open at Oakmont every year.

+1 !!

The last thing I want to see is Oakmont every year. I would take Erin Hills or Chambers Bay every year before Oakmont.

Wow, not me. My post tournament impressions of Erin Hills are that all the long holes seem the same. Long par 5's with huge greens, lots of heather, elevated green complexes, uniform look throughout. It's not really the case but that's the picture in my mind. There' are no definitive features, as opposed to Oakmont which has true character as do most of the classic US Open venues.

[Sean_A]

I didn't enjoy it much at all and I'm not sure why. I got bored. The course seemed interesting and the play was splendid. It just didn't hold my interest. I think I like the Open played on a venerable old course.

Is that because you are venerably old    I think for most part pro golf has passed me by.  As Pietro says, human interest creates drama and I don't have much interest in pro golfers these days.  The only way to grab my interest is through the courses and the odd unknowable story which may come along.  To me it was night and day compared to Chambers Bay.   

Ciao

[Jim Franklin]

Brooks Koepka

[George Pazin]

Brooks Koepka

  Now that's funny.


Before the event, the pundit consensus was EH would be in the unofficial rota for a long time. Has that changed at all? I hope not.

[Phil McDade]

Brooks Koepka

  Now that's funny.


Before the event, the pundit consensus was EH would be in the unofficial rota for a long time. Has that changed at all? I hope not.

George -- I'd be surprised if EHills doesn't get another Open, and probably sooner among the open dates than later. Mike Davis loves the place, loved the crowds, works well w/ the EHills staff, and knows that it's much easier to get the required months-out access to the place than asking the membership at a venerable older club to do the same. Physically (other than the long commutes for spectators via remote lots), it's a near-ideal piece of property for holding a tournament the size of the Open.


Ratings? Davis is savvy enough to know that weekend leaderboard wasn't drawing a bunch of eyeballs. There's no dominant player out there in golf these days, no great rivalries (yet), and a bunch of really good players had a bad week of golf.


It'll be back.

[Patrick Glynn]

.

[Kalen Braley]

Brooks Koepka

I'm not even sure he did, his reaction seemed like another ho-hum day at the gym after holing the winning putt on 18 and knowing no one was gonna catch him.

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