[Paul Jones]

2021 U.S. Amateur: Home (usga.org)


-7 is leading, quite a few at -6 and -5 after 1st round.

[mike_malone]

Did you check the course?

[Paul Jones]

Did you check the course?

Did not realize they were playing multiple courses.  Now this is not surprising :-)

[Jim_Coleman]

   Of the lowest 80 scores, 7 were at Oakmont.  -1 was the lowest score at Oakmont..

[Matt_Cohn]

I think my question is whether there’s any point to a course playing as hard as Oakmont is? The Oakmont players averaged 7.2 shots over par today for 18 holes. It’s not actually the best field in amateur golf because there are so many qualifiers…but it’s pretty damn strong.


27.6% of the Oakmont players (43 out of 156) shot 80 (+10) or worse.

[Ronald Montesano]

USGA likes multiple courses for the match play events, as they can bring more players on site.

[Pete_Pittock]

certainly will be an interesting contrast to last year's US Amateur.

[mike_malone]

It’s August so my bet is that Oakmont’s greens are still firm but LV’s aren’t. The other thing I have noticed about Oakmont is that if you start losing confidence on the greens it’s all down hill from there. There is no letup.

[Joe Bausch]

I was hoping for some tv coverage of the stroke play part of the event.  Oh well.

I did play Longue Vue about 1 year ago and here is a photo tour of the Robert White design:

http://www80.homepage.villanova.edu/joseph.bausch/images/albums/LongueVue/index.html

[John Blain]

I think my question is whether there’s any point to a course playing as hard as Oakmont is? The Oakmont players averaged 7.2 shots over par today for 18 holes. It’s not actually the best field in amateur golf because there are so many qualifiers…but it’s pretty damn strong.


27.6% of the Oakmont players (43 out of 156) shot 80 (+10) or worse.

Matt-
I'm guessing you probably checked out sectional qualifying scores around the country?  Pretty incredible how low they were at almost every site. There were many sites where 5 and 6 under did not get in. It wasn't that long ago where 5 under par would've been medalist by three or four shots. It seems like the scoring at every level of competitive golf is crazy low.

[David_Tepper]

"Pretty incredible how low they were at almost every site. There were many sites where 5 and 6 under did not get in. It wasn't that long ago where 5 under par would've been medalist by three or four shots. It seems like the scoring at every level of competitive golf is crazy low."


In Northern California there were 5 qualifying sites for the US Am. Two rounds of 68 (136) would not have been good enough to qualify at any of them.

[Mike Hendren]

Joe, your tour of Longue Vue is stunning.  Well done.


I'm particularly struck by the manufactured cant of the 8th green.  I can't fathom how deep the rear fall-off is and suspect that reading putts there is quite challenging.  Perhaps that's true of the entire course.   


Thanks.


Mike

[JESII]

The disparity is really quite amazing. Not sure I would want or expect it to be different...but it's incredible.


A friend shot 3 over par at Oakmont and was in something like 115th place...but only 14 of those ahead of him were also at Oakmont.


Longue Vue is a very well regarded course here in PA and should be greatly appreciated by the players. There's just not much you can say about the relentless difficulty of Oakmont. Remarkable.

[Joe Bausch]

Joe, your tour of Longue Vue is stunning.  Well done.


I'm particularly struck by the manufactured cant of the 8th green.  I can't fathom how deep the rear fall-off is and suspect that reading putts there is quite challenging.  Perhaps that's true of the entire course.   


Thanks.


Mike

Mike Cirba and I were paired with the green chair and the club champion. I forget the club champ's name right now, but he was in his 30s and has played in some big amateur events.  He looked like Ernie Els and swung the club similarly.  He played the tips that day while we were at the member tees.  If a back tee was maybe 75 yards behind us, I could sometimes out drive him! The course was fast and firm and this fellow knew how to play it.  We enjoyed the day immensely.

[Tim Gavrich]

500 yard difference (both par 70) in the two courses: 6,700 vs. 7,200. All things being equal, how many strokes does 500 yards equate to?


It must be an interesting challenge to know you have to take it low on one course and just try and survive on the other.


I read yesterday that Oakmont's greens are running 15 currently and that Jason Gore said they could get another 2 feet faster. Best of luck to those who make match play!

[Jason Thurman]

500 yard difference (both par 70) in the two courses: 6,700 vs. 7,200. All things being equal, how many strokes does 500 yards equate to?

One way of looking at it: based on the unrated tee adjustment table, 500 yards extrapolates to somewhere around 2.2 extra strokes.


https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/handicapping/roh/Content/rules/Appendix%20G%20Golf%20Course%20Course%20Rating%20Slope%20Rating.htm


Hope I get to catch some of the match play. Oakmont in that format sounds awesome.

[Paul Jones]

Hope I get to catch some of the match play. Oakmont in that format sounds awesome.

I am sure Bogey will win a hole or two...

[Rob Marshall]

Kid who grew up at my club finished plus 4. Looks like he’s going to miss out by 2.

[JESII]

Seems way too early to tell based on the rain delay but I'd be shocked if +3 doesn't playoff.

[Jon Sweet]

I think my question is whether there’s any point to a course playing as hard as Oakmont is? The Oakmont players averaged 7.2 shots over par today for 18 holes. It’s not actually the best field in amateur golf because there are so many qualifiers…but it’s pretty damn strong.


27.6% of the Oakmont players (43 out of 156) shot 80 (+10) or worse.

Buddy of mine played there, said the greens were running 17. I’d imagine they slowed them down a bit but he said it was unbelievable.

[Jason Topp]

Seems way too early to tell based on the rain delay but I'd be shocked if +3 doesn't playoff.

My best estimate is plus 4 is in a playoff. 

[Jerry Kluger]

2 of the boys at the USGA Junior shot 64 on the Dogwood Course at CCNC - these college guys are insanely good so really low scores should be no surprise. 

[JESII]

Seems way too early to tell based on the rain delay but I'd be shocked if +3 doesn't playoff.

My best estimate is plus 4 is in a playoff.

I'd believe it. Either a good playoff at +3 or a bad playoff at +4 IMO.

[Tim Martin]

I think my question is whether there’s any point to a course playing as hard as Oakmont is? The Oakmont players averaged 7.2 shots over par today for 18 holes. It’s not actually the best field in amateur golf because there are so many qualifiers…but it’s pretty damn strong.


27.6% of the Oakmont players (43 out of 156) shot 80 (+10) or worse.

Buddy of mine played there, said the greens were running 17. I’d imagine they slowed them down a bit but he said it was unbelievable.

I can’t ever recall a reference to green speeds that stimped at 17!?

[jeffwarne]

I think my question is whether there’s any point to a course playing as hard as Oakmont is? The Oakmont players averaged 7.2 shots over par today for 18 holes. It’s not actually the best field in amateur golf because there are so many qualifiers…but it’s pretty damn strong.


27.6% of the Oakmont players (43 out of 156) shot 80 (+10) or worse.

Buddy of mine played there, said the greens were running 17. I’d imagine they slowed them down a bit but he said it was unbelievable.

I can’t ever recall a reference to green speeds that stimped at 17!?

It's such references(whether real or not) that are responsible for the speed creep we see today.
17?
It's tough for courses/Supers who have made their reputation based on fast greens when the target always is moving.


Anyone wonder why 136 can't get in at a qualifier?
Create tools that let the majority hit it 300plus  yards, speed the greens up a lot, and find the only pins you can use on your green and watch them bomb, gouge and MAKE everything to the benign pin you have been stuck with.
And of course the many talented players train and are coached for this.
Then throw in rain/heat or something that decreases "firm" and off to the races they go.

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