US Open Week: Is The Country Club The Great *American* Golf Course?

[PCCraig]

As we come up to the 2022 US Open next week at The Country Club, I've watched a number of drone videos from outlets like The Fried Egg, Golf Digest, and others. Those videos have rustled up fond memories of the course from my time as a caddie there when I was in college in Boston.


As I watched these flyover videos and listened to Gil Hanse speak about the course, I felt like there is no better example of the great *American* golf course. Much like nearby Boston & New England in general, it encapsulates so much of the American essence:


The course was built, first rudimentary through the property, but then evolving into a routing routed through massive rock outcroppings and using extensive manpower and engineering.


The design lineage is hardly a pure bred Ross, Flynn, Raynor or MacDonald. In reality it is a mutt, part member design, part Campbell, Flynn, Jones, C&C, and now Hanse.


Few courses in the United States I've seen can rival the feeling of tackling nature that TCC gives you. The player doesn't walk around the sites features...they take them head on in a feeling of natural adventure.


Even the routing is quirky and put together in a do it yourself nature of playing over greens, skipping holes, and almost cross-country in nature.


Not to mention, the club and course has always worked hard to preserve their grounds and club in a historical and principled manner.

[mike_beene]

I struggle to remember a composite course. I am sure there are reasons to mix the routing up, but it takes away from my desire to learn and appreciate the course. ( I give a semi pass to Royal Melbourne). Not sure why.

[Jeff Schley]

Want to hear Paul Rudovsky's view here certainly.

[jeffwarne]

I struggle to remember a composite course. I am sure there are reasons to mix the routing up, but it takes away from my desire to learn and appreciate the course. ( I give a semi pass to Royal Melbourne). Not sure why.

This.
By definition it is highlighting deficiencies of one of the two or more holes on a property, and is a routing not often played by most.


Bethpage Black could use #1 and 18 from the Red(two of the weakest holes on the Black), if you really wanted to athleticize the walk...

[Kalen Braley]

Here is the configuration for this year's event..

P.S. PCCraig, thanks for the pics.  Brookline has always looked to be a special place to my eye...

[Peter Pallotta]

When I read the title I thought of the 'type' , ie the northeast championship rota, with Winged Foot and Baltusrol and Congressional and Oak Hill; and of the 'turf', ie definitely not that of GB&I's championship rota and instead much like that of America's other dominant championship rota, the Chicago-Michigan-mid west type that includes Medinah and Olympia Fields and Inverness and Oakland Hills and Hazeltine.
Yes: great courses, great US opens, great history and all very American -- but for my tastes I'd rather they played Shinnecock, a type & turf that isn't quintessentially America, but seems to me more 'golfy'

[Cliff Hamm]

Boston Globe coverage:


https://apps.bostonglobe.com/sports/2022/06/us-open-at-brookline-preview/

[Matt_Cohn]

If they hit it on the out-of-use green in front of the pond on 13, do they play it like fairway or take a drop from a wrong green?

[Amol Yajnik]

If they hit it on the out-of-use green in front of the pond on 13, do they play it like fairway or take a drop from a wrong green?

Play it like a fairway.  It will not even look like a green was there in the first place.


This week is going to be fun.  I live 2 miles from the course, have been lucky enough to play it twice, but have driven past it countless times.  I will be there on Wednesday with my son (so he can get autographs and pictures) and then on Saturday with my parents. 


This spring has been exceptionally dry in Boston and on the warmer side as well.  There has been some welcome rain in the past week or so, and more rain coming late Sunday/early Monday.  However, the rest of the tournament week looks really good, there is really no excuse for the USGA not to have optimal conditions.  I have heard that the rough right now is manageable and not excessive.  I just cannot wait to see what type of player thrives at TCC since a high-level event hasn't been there since the 2013 US Amateur.  I remember following the final match at that event and Matt Fitzpatrick was just so steady in that match, I would be shocked if he's not in the mix again next week.

[Michael Chadwick]

Nice post, Pat. Brookline--like any founding USGA member--has a worthy claim of being the Great American golf course.

One caveat, at least in literature, when navel gazing about the Great American novel, is that the authors need be American. That would add a twist if we apply it to GCA as well, since Willie Campbell would remove Brookline from consideration. Same for Pine Valley because of Colt, and Willie Davis at original Shinnecock, although that may not count if none of his work remains.

Pebble would be the obvious answer in a public straw poll (if ANGC wasn't an option), but that answer doesn't interest me enough.

I'd say it comes down to Merion and Oakmont. And if I had to vote for only one it's--without yet having seen it in person--Oakmont. The Fownes' father-son lineage, the course's creation born out of American made industrial wealth (and a mid-life crisis), the amateur approach to design yet deliberate intention to make it exacting, difficult golf, and the fact that it remains so today. It's a fever dream of a design, composed from a tenacious will, and the course seems to have never lost that distinctive, hard worn spirit. No other courses have held as many USGA events than those two, and while they may not have been chartering clubs, they've risen above the rest.

[Cal Carlisle]

Does anyone have “The Story of Golf at The Country Club”? I’ve always been curious about the book. An odd choice to win the Herbert Warren Wind Book Award with such limited availability to the general public. If you have seen it it, or have it, how does it compare to the NGLA club history?

[jeffwarne]

.

[Paul Rudovsky]

Jeff Schley----Happy to comment but as much as anyone, I realize that my thoughts on the course and club certainly are tinged with bias...much the same way as anyone's comments on their home club (e.g. Ran's thoughts about his recent review of Southern Pines GC).


First...to answer one question raised above, I have and have read The Story of Golf at The Country Club...it was published in conjunction with TCC's 125th anniversary celebration in 2007.  It has been years since my reading of it...but my recollection is that its focus is mainly historical history of the club and course, without an emphasis on golf architecture.


Pat...you raise an interesting question.  Frankly I don't know what course I would identify as the "great American golf course".  IMO, first question would be to identify the criteria that would define the "great American course".   I will not try to do that here, but will try to give you a my view of the course.


Regarding the course...I believe one of its best treats is that it is very very hard to "typecast" (btw...right now I am addressing the Open Course of today).  It has holes that are brutally difficult (e.g. 2, 3, 4, 10, 12, 14), holes that are quirkly...but work (3, 5, 11, and 17), very very small greens, extremely difficult rough, and small bunkers with long perimeters (which I believe results in many many awkward lies...feet in/ball out and vice versa, etc).  It creates lots of angles (nothing like The Old Course)...but good numbers of options and angles that get exaggerated by the small greens and trouble around them.  But from an architectural standpoint, I agree w what Pat says and I believe it sits on its land as comfortably as any other course I have played...and it is important to note that this piece of land would be a difficult one to sit comfortably on.


With some winds blowing it can be an absolute brute.  I was in Boston the summer of 1963 and went over to Brookline on Saturday of the Open (36 hole Saturdays in those days) and witnessed absolute carnage following Arnold Palmer for 36 holes.  In the morning Jackie Cupid fired a smooth 76 and moved straight up the leaderboard!!  The average score that morning was 78.23 (8.23 over par) and that was after the cut.  I don't have access to data base to be sure of the following but after checking out some other nasty scores at Majors on after the cut rounds, I have yet to find one that is that much over par...remember, after the cut!!  Doubt there have been any at a major in last 60-70 years.


Played on the Main Course from "normal" tees, it is both a challenging, but most importantly a fun course...especially due to the variety of terrains, lies and holes. 


For those of you who have not played it in the past couple of years, the most transformative factor IMO is its condition.  Five years ago quite frankly it was usually soft and slow.  Dave Johnson arrived some 4 years ago and has transformed the place.  When I played it upon our return to Boston last month, I was shocked (very pleasantly shocked).  It is now firm and fast and in simply fabulous shape.  I can honestly say that I have never played a course in better condition(but to be fair must also say that I have never played a course 2-3 weeks prior to a major)


History wise, IMO only Merion and Oakmont compare.  Pebble has little history prior to 1972...and Shinnecock little prior to 1986.


Obviously weather will play a big role...it always does...but I think this has a chance to be a memorable event.  We'll know in a week.  Golf is like life (and vice versa), always full of surprises.


One last thought...until Hanse's efforts over the past 13 years or so, as well as Dave Johnson's transformation conditioning wise, I would have never put TCC into this type type of discussion.  I am not saying it was overrated 10-15 years ago, but it never was in my mind deserving of these type of accolades.  Today...it belongs in this discussion (which I take as NOT being "is this the best course in the USA").


P.S.  Unrelated but interesting factoid.  TCC has hosted 3 US Opens...all three ended in playoffs, AND the prior year's Open Champion lost bin all three playoffs (Ted Ray was , making 3 for 3 gettingoing to playoffs 1013 Open Champ, Palmer was Open Champ in '61 and '62. and Faldo was in 1987).  To date 121 US opens...33 went to playoffs...27%...which makes 3 for three to playoffs a 2% probability!

[Ben Stephens]

Jeff Schley----Happy to comment but as much as anyone, I realize that my thoughts on the course and club certainly are tinged with bias...much the same way as anyone's comments on their home club (e.g. Ran's thoughts about his recent review of Southern Pines GC).


First...to answer one question raised above, I have and have read The Story of Golf at The Country Club...it was published in conjunction with TCC's 125th anniversary celebration in 2007.  It has been years since my reading of it...but my recollection is that its focus is mainly historical history of the club and course, without an emphasis on golf architecture.


Pat...you raise an interesting question.  Frankly I don't know what course I would identify as the "great American golf course".  IMO, first question would be to identify the criteria that would define the "great American course".   I will not try to do that here, but will try to give you a my view of the course.


Regarding the course...I believe one of its best treats is that it is very very hard to "typecast" (btw...right now I am addressing the Open Course of today).  It has holes that are brutally difficult (e.g. 2, 3, 4, 10, 12, 14), holes that are quirkly...but work (3, 5, 11, and 17), very very small greens, extremely difficult rough, and small bunkers with long perimeters (which I believe results in many many awkward lies...feet in/ball out and vice versa, etc).  It creates lots of angles (nothing like The Old Course)...but good numbers of options and angles that get exaggerated by the small greens and trouble around them.  But from an architectural standpoint, I agree w what Pat says and I believe it sits on its land as comfortably as any other course I have played...and it is important to note that this piece of land would be a difficult one to sit comfortably on.


With some winds blowing it can be an absolute brute.  I was in Boston the summer of 1963 and went over to Brookline on Saturday of the Open (36 hole Saturdays in those days) and witnessed absolute carnage following Arnold Palmer for 36 holes.  In the morning Jackie Cupid fired a smooth 76 and moved straight up the leaderboard!!  The average score that morning was 78.23 (8.23 over par) and that was after the cut.  I don't have access to data base to be sure of the following but after checking out some other nasty scores at Majors on after the cut rounds, I have yet to find one that is that much over par...remember, after the cut!!  Doubt there have been any at a major in last 60-70 years.


Played on the Main Course from "normal" tees, it is both a challenging, but most importantly a fun course...especially due to the variety of terrains, lies and holes. 


For those of you who have not played it in the past couple of years, the most transformative factor IMO is its condition.  Five years ago quite frankly it was usually soft and slow.  Dave Johnson arrived some 4 years ago and has transformed the place.  When I played it upon our return to Boston last month, I was shocked (very pleasantly shocked).  It is now firm and fast and in simply fabulous shape.  I can honestly say that I have never played a course in better condition(but to be fair must also say that I have never played a course 2-3 weeks prior to a major)


History wise, IMO only Merion and Oakmont compare.  Pebble has little history prior to 1972...and Shinnecock little prior to 1986.


Obviously weather will play a big role...it always does...but I think this has a chance to be a memorable event.  We'll know in a week.  Golf is like life (and vice versa), always full of surprises.


One last thought...until Hanse's efforts over the past 13 years or so, as well as Dave Johnson's transformation conditioning wise, I would have never put TCC into this type type of discussion.  I am not saying it was overrated 10-15 years ago, but it never was in my mind deserving of these type of accolades.  Today...it belongs in this discussion (which I take as NOT being "is this the best course in the USA").


P.S.  Unrelated but interesting factoid.  TCC has hosted 3 US Opens...all three ended in playoffs, AND the prior year's Open Champion lost bin all three playoffs (Ted Ray was , making 3 for 3 gettingoing to playoffs 1013 Open Champ, Palmer was Open Champ in '61 and '62. and Faldo was in 1987).  To date 121 US opens...33 went to playoffs...27%...which makes 3 for three to playoffs a 2% probability!

Sounds like Morikawa is a really good each-way bet 

[Ben Stephens]

When I was a kid was fortunate to have a copy of the official film of the 1988 US Open between Curtis Strange and Nick Faldo which was a fascinating tussle. What I can remember from the VHS video (very ancient these days!!) is a rolling up and down golf course with interesting features and quite a few uphill shots to the green. The Golf Digest fly throughs brought it back.


Here is a link to the US Open 1988 official film on You Tube - "Strange Days at the Country Club"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97rJFN0k-Es

However it was a different course then - the 4th then is taken out of this years composite course and this years 8th and 9th were 13th and 14th holes then seems like the course was longer then with only 3 par 3s. The 13th and 14th holes were 11th and 12th holes then.


Liked the look of the course then it looked more British than American to my eyes then.


This years layout i feel is better balanced and looking forward to the 11th a wee par 3 which is the most unlike Redan 

[Bill Shamleffer]

I was at 1988 US Open at TCC.  I was 23, and it was my first pro golf tournament to attend.  Was at the course Monday, Wed, Fri, Sat, & Sunday.  US Open was still small scale in 88.  Merchandise was sold from an open tent on fold up long school cafeteria type tables.  Crowds could still get close to the fairways.


Monday was electric when Seve arrived, having won at Westchester the day before.
Also saw Faldo on Monday.  When walking off first tee he was doing practice swings with no club in hand.  I told my sister he was obviously still looking for something, and had no chance that week.


I loved TCC immediately, and #3 was my favorite hole, hitting down between the granite infused hillsides bordering the meandering fairway, then hitting into a green possibly semi-blind, with no backdrop, due to the pond behind.


Saw Mac O’Grady giving tips to Chip Beck during Wed practice.


Back then parked in fields across the street or at town course next door.
Boston Globe had tons of great articles (many pages every day).
Players LOVED the course and Rees Jones reno was VERY popular.
Saw a lot of good play on Sunday through hole 13 (#9 this year), then had good bleacher seat on 18, where we saw Strange’s great par save on 18.
Also saw low am Billy Mayfair finish using his Walker Cup bag I believe.
Strange was on top of the golf world heading into US Open, having won Memorial few weeks earlier.


I had the chance to see US Am semis in 2013. Course was still fantastic.
Great course to walk down the fairway with the competitors.


Obviously no split tees in 1988, so no issue with having 10th hole so far from clubhouse.
I like this year’s configuration.  Still keeps pretty much same first 7 holes and same finish 4 holes.


#4 was prob my least favorite hole, and I prefer this config skipping that hole.


Was interesting in 88 seeing golfers with persimmon & balata try to get close to #6 green (#5 this year) with drivers.  Assume it will be very drivable this year, but with problems if things go awry.


Looking forward to seeing play on the short #11.  I vividly recall walking by this hole that Francis Ouimet had to deal with, and good to see it back in play.


This year’s #14, was in my opinion the hardest hole in 88 (was #12 then).  Was 450 par 4 elevated fairway to green from lower land area of drives.
Will be interesting see how this holes plays as a >600 yard par 5.


Very excited to watch this, but also miss the still some intimacy that existed at a US Open in 1988.
(I caddied at the US Open in 1990, then next was at 2002 US Open.  By 2002, although was great to be at Bethpage, and feel the love of Bethpage from the locals also watching, the tournament was by then too big, too corporate, and the viewing too distant.)

[Dan_Callahan]

When I first played there, I had very low expectations. Watching the Ryder Cup, I didn't think it looked all that interesting, and thought it's high ranking was a result of history and pedigree more than architectural attributes. And I will admit to being 100% wrong. I loved it. The rock outcroppings, the tiny greens, the undulating terrain, the wispy orange grass that frames the fairways ... I loved everything about it. The short par 3 immediately became one of my favorite holes in golf.

I got a chance to play the composite routing prior to the US Am. The way the Primrose holes are incorporated into the layout is, in my opinion, seamless. And it allows them to add the length that's necessary to challenge the best players in the world without butchering the regular 18 that is used for everyday play. I'm disappointed they are taking the 4th hole out, but glad they are putting the short par 3 back in.


The Country Club, for the normal human, is very, very hard. I remember going to the Am, after having just played the course, and being shocked by how easy they made it look. That 3rd hole alone is a 10 waiting to happen, and Oliver Goss was hitting an iron off that tee. Watching them reach the 600+ yard par 5 in 2 on the Primrose made my head explode. And the way they were able to hit soft chips out of knee-high greenside rough/fescue was incredible. And that was amateurs. I can't wait to see how the pros attack it.

[PCCraig]

In watching the early coverage, I mostly wonder how it's possible the US Open doesn't go to TCC once every 10 years?


My only worry is that the USGA is setting up the golf course too easy and is dumping way too much water on the greens.


For those that are interested, the USGA posted a wonderful video today with Rory and Jon Rahm walking through their strategy on the Championship Course's 5th hole: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f1QfGGZ_SA

[Adam G]

As a Brookline resident I can tell you the town has no interest in that frequency.

Ultimately TCC is a very tough property to get people to logistically. Bodenhamer said today they didn't think it would work until they successfully staged Merion. It's just too hard to do the things they are doing to get people there frequently. It's surrounded by residences, there are very few ways in, and its very close to the city which already has awful traffic.

I also suspect (but don't know) that the members do not love having 27 holes reduced to the championship 18 for plus or minus 2 years.

Incidentally, I expect LACC will have the same issues next year.

[Kalen Braley]

Adam,

I don't understand the logistics quandary.

Pebble Beach makes it work every year and once every 10 for the US Open, and they have a far more difficult site to access over TCC Brookline or LACC.  Are visitors really that unwilling to use the already existing massive transit systems in Boston or LA?  And is the USGA really that small of a fish to not be able to work out some agreements to provide more dedicated buses in the area on event days?

I can buy the other reasons, but in 2022 this seems a stretch.

[Ian Mackenzie]

I played in a member/guest there in June of 2021.
Loved the course, but - as noted - the pros are playing a slightly different course varied by about 35% or so.


Start with #2: A short 340 yard par 4 for the members.
But, I believe this will be played as a +/- 220 yard uphill par 3.


The 4th is taken out. The 8th & 9th, too, that i found to be the weakest on the course.
That's where the driving range will be and they had sodded the tee ground (for the range) on #10 when I was there last year.


I actually stayed in the 3rd floor "dorm rooms" and wondered arund the place late at night.
My brief comments:


1. The iconic yellow clubhouse is what I would call "shabby preppy 50's chic"...   With the exception of the new member's bar, the place is a bit long in the tooth and the old members love it and the younger members want to blow it up.


2. The club has a serious "campus feel" to it. The main clubhouse is on a large semi-circular drive way that has on it: the clubhouse, the red brick, newly renovated "locker building", a new world class fitness facility also in a yellow building, the tennis/rackets building and the curling rink. Then the pool is nestled behind these buildings.


Would not use the work "intimate" to describe the place...;-) I think someone told me there was 1200 members all-in in all classes.


3. The staff there is fantastic and the place has a great member/staff vibe that I think can really add to the experience.
4. Food was really, really good.
5. Caddies were a diverse set of young local kids and cagey veterans.

[Adam G]

Yes Pebble makes it work. But the Pebble Beach Company owns a lot and golf is vital to the local economy. They basically own the local government.


In Brookline (and LA), you have a major city and tons of neighbors who don't want to be inconvenienced. I can't emphasize how close TCC is to major routes into the city (Jamaica Way and Route 9) and how busy Brookline is. And yes the T is there but it's somewhat far from the course (part of the reason the Boston Brahmins located in that part of Brookline in the 1800s was the lack of public transit). The property is ringed by houses and has 2 access points unless you want to go through a college, close a major street, or go through the municipal golf course (all of which they are doing). It's really about choke points and the difficulty of getting that many people there.


LACC is going to be the same. The whole north course is ringed by houses W, N, and E and Wilshire to the south. There is one access road and two tunnels under Wilshire the club has and a park you can use for staging. You also have the south course and could bus people to Century City and make them walk to the North Course, but it's a logistical mess.


Not that these aren't great venues -- they are -- but I think they are once every 20 year venues like Merion not more frequent just because of the local government and logistics.

[David_Tepper]

Based on what I saw of TCC on TV today, I can't remember the last time the USO was played on a course where the rough (and beyond the rough) was so deep and over grown. Am I right (or wrong) about that?

[jeffwarne]

Based on what I saw of TCC on TV today, I can't remember the last time the USO was played on a course where the rough (and beyond the rough) was so deep and over grown. Am I right (or wrong) about that?

In places it was, in others it wasn't.
I was there today and I enjoyed seeing the rough.
saw some very skillful shots played-I never agreed with the theory that rough and even heavy rough around the greens deskilled the short game.The better the wedge played the more they distinguish themselves in inconsistent often quirky grassy lies with various textures and lies.
The "chipping areas" thing had gotten a bit overdone IMHO and the course had a raw look to it that I liked.
In many places the native had been mowed to give the gallery a better places to walk, and the result was a bit more playability in those areas.
An occasional old school Open is cool.


Kudos to TCC and the USGA on an awesome venue.
TCC is incredible.

[Sean_A]

Based on what I saw of TCC on TV today, I can't remember the last time the USO was played on a course where the rough (and beyond the rough) was so deep and over grown. Am I right (or wrong) about that?

In places it was, in others it wasn't.
I was there today and I enjoyed seeing the rough.
saw some very skillful shots played-I never agreed with the theory that rough and even heavy rough around the greens deskilled the short game.The better the wedge played the more they distinguish themselves in inconsistent often quirky grassy lies with various textures and lies.
The "chipping areas" thing had gotten a bit overdone IMHO and the course had a raw look to it that I liked.
In many places the native had been mowed to give the gallery a better places to walk, and the result was a bit more playability in those areas.
An occasional old school Open is cool.


Kudos to TCC and the USGA on an awesome venue.
TCC is incredible.

I dislike the 80s style rough crowding the greens and bunkers marooned in rough...hope this set up doesn't come back in style because it will trickle down to a ton of courses. Most of all though I dislike the crazy high rough seemingly scattered about the property willy nilly, but sometimes fairly close to lines of play, including bunkers. It's a shame because the layout and the property look excellent for golf 🤷. This stuff is OK for the US Open which comes to town every few decades, but man, the thought of clubs following this concept isn't a positive for golf.

Ciao