Schadenfreude and the USGA

[Tim Martin]

Eveybody loves to hate the USGA and many are reveling in the setup problems inherent with this U.S. Open. They seem to get maligned at every turn whether it’s the equipment debate, rules issues or course setups for their championships. Did they bring all this on themselves or are the critics too tough?

[George Pazin]

To quote Gabriel Byrne in The Usual Suspects, "Bit 'o both."


Mostly I think they brought it on themselves by believing their own press, that they can now dial things in and 2004 would never happen again. It's such a shame that it's now happened twice at such a magnificent venue.

[Lou_Duran]

To err is human.  Things are done on the margin at this level and any missteps are magnified.  Yep, the setup didn't hold for the entire day.  But, nevertheless, look at the leaderboard.  It should be a compelling final round. 

And BTW, isn't this the site which promulgates "brown is beautiful", F & F baby/the aerial game sucks, randomness/quirk/variety is the spice of life, and that par is mostly a meaningless affectation?  Seems like we are getting close to what we want, including a bone for the Phil haters.  Happy Father's Day!

[Thomas Dai]

Have a look at this USGA published video aired in the run-up to the event sub-titled “- What we learned” -


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NtaLpB1Vs-s


As a somewhat ironic aside, note also the left handed player featured at 25 secs into the video.


Atb

[Terry Lavin]

IIRC, they have a Competition committee that reviews every event and then they use that critical review to come up with the strategy for the next iteration of that particular championship. That sounds like an informed way for an organization to function, but they ave an undeniable tendency to get too close to the edge when it comes to hole locations, turf conditions and green speeds in the US Open.


As noted elsewhere, the USGA occasionally veers in the other direction and they’ll have a setup that produces low numbers. Those situations continue to be the exception to their usual rule where they really take chances. This has produced some unwatchable golf, where almost everybody chops, hacks and three putts their way toward 80.


Redesigning a redesign based solely on making the course much more demanding is another issue this year. The USGA bloviates about great architecture then they bastardize it for the championship. Add baked turf and punishing hole locations and you get days like yesterday.


I’ll be at the pool this afternoon. I can thank the USGA for getting me off the couch.

[Tim Martin]

I’ll be at the pool this afternoon. I can thank the USGA for getting me off the couch.

I can’t wait for it to start and hope the USGA finds the right balance today. With the names in the mix it should be compelling.

[Terry Lavin]

There is a 60” TV near the pool locker room...

[Steve Lang]

   I'm with Terry L, will be doing something else, no need to watch the USNASCARGA event, will see the highlights if there are any, and celebrate the winner's grit and character or dumb luck at a later date...

[Tim Martin]

Catch the Neilson ratings when they come out guys and get back to me. Polygraph tests will be administered free of charge by Michael Avenatti for all those that say they didn’t watch.

[John Kirk]

Everybody loves to hate the USGA and many are reveling in the setup problems inherent with this U.S. Open. They seem to get maligned at every turn whether it’s the equipment debate, rules issues or course setups for their championships. Did they bring all this on themselves or are the critics too tough?

Ultimately, the setup problems are a consequence of the equipment, and the increasing talent of the players.  I was thinking last night about the U.S. Open tournaments of the 1980s, and how the grass seemed pretty green and lush most years.  The players were required to play the long par 4s with a driver and a mid to long iron.  The courses weren't modified significantly for the tournament, except that the rough was grown long, like 4-8 inches.
In addition to the dried out, very sloped greens this year, they seem to be relying on short grass recovery areas in the extreme.  In particular, holes 9 and 10 seem very penalizing for missing the green.
The course needs to be 8000+ yards long to present a similar challenge to the U.S. Opens of the 1980s.  This weekend's golf doesn't look like any type of golf we see all year.

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

Do you think Shinnecock members are embarrassed or pissed about this? This is now 2 consecutive opens where their course is being maligned by players and the public. I wonder if they are regretting having the open come back so soon.

[Mark Bourgeois]

The US Open has aleays been hard, always been “unfair,” particularly relative to the other 51 weeks of the year.


What’s mainly changed:
1) Rounds have gotten painfully long due to longer courses and faster greens / agronomy, degrading the viewing experience (generally).
2) Floggers are far wealthier and have diversified income away from on-course earnings. Therefore they feel more entitled and complain accordingly.
3) We have changed: our definition of entertainlent is different. Plus social media amplifies criticism and blows things out of proportion, so players’ criticisms are more likely to find an echo in their fans’ comments.

[Terry Lavin]

Do you think Shinnecock members are embarrassed or pissed about this? This is now 2 consecutive opens where their course is being maligned by players and the public. I wonder if they are regretting having the open come back so soon.

I’m guessing most of the members are quite happy. Nothing wrong with watching pros suffer on the course that beats you up regularly. And if they get mad, they have a ready bogeyman to blame. I’m sure they’re counting the years until the championship comes back.

[Jim Nugent]

Plus social media amplifies criticism and blows things out of proportion, so players’ criticisms are more likely to find an echo in their fans’ comments.

I think this is a critical part.  The internet lets us see everything these players do, and social media gives us near-instant communications about that.  I wonder how earlier generations of touring pros would have fared under such a microscope, both on the course and off.