Re Merion taking down the stop sign on 14

[Mark Bourgeois]

Referencing this thread:
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php?topic=52483.0

Big mistake, Merion/USGA! My partner and I -- a straight driver he -- both put it over this stop sign. We could have just driven it into that ocean of fairway right but nooooo....Actually, he put it over the sign into left rough and I went left of left into deep sedge. 


A terrifyingly effective man-made hazard

[Dan Herrmann]

Is there a full moon tonight? 

[Ed Brzezowski]

Not on this side of 401, playing Merion Friday. Cannot wait

[David_Elvins]

Mark,

A simple and effective hazard, well documented.

However I am seeing recent examples in golf course renovations where holes are being "over-roadsigned" to cope with advances in technology.  Where once a single road sign was sufficient, now it has been replaced with a cluster of road signs with little effort to tie the new road signs into the existing road signs.  I admire the old world simplicity of your stop sign compared to this.

[Mark Bourgeois]

Many thanks for that, David. I agree, that approach sends mixed signals but beyond that I don't like the framing. Did they really have to frame / dumb down the hole? That left-turn sign points right at the flag.

[ChipOat]

The original linked thread was mine and I tried to put up a good post on this the other day but GCA blew it up due to an "internal server error".  Here is a shortened response.

Mark:

The USGA made every and all decision about absolutely everything during the Open and in the prior weeks (months?), as well.  Once the contract was signed, it is possible that Merion was permitted to decide the recipe for the unsweetened iced tea, but perhaps not even that.

That said, if you reference my original thread, it turns out that the tee markers on #14 were placed about as far towards the clubhouse as possible on each of the four days - which surprised many people.  As a result, the angle of attack was almost a straight line extension of the "normal" back tee box.  Matt Shafer's video not withstanding - and he's as credible as it gets - the stop sign would not really have been in play although it could well have been a mental distraction.

I still believe it made sense to remove it.  

[Mark Bourgeois]

Hi Chip, I'm sure you know it's all in good fun but just in case: 

[ChipOat]

Mark,

I have interpreted your position on the stop sign to have a certain degree of seriousness although I have never thought you believed it 1) was an architectural necessity or 2) it would make or break the hole.

Actually, my point was that, had the tee markers been placed further to the left toward Golf house Road during the tournament, the stop sign would most definitely have been in play and really NEEDED to be removed.  It could have made/broken the hole had it remained in place.

Even if it was only a potential mental distraction, why should a man-made immovable obstruction be permitted to do that under any circumstances - especially in a medal play tournament of ANY kind?

There were also non-GCA voices that objected to the stop sign's removal, as well.  In my opinion, they were missing the point between a man-made immovable obstruction and something found in nature - like a tree.

Given my position on Stupid Trees, I would have lobbied for a tree where the stop sign is located (it was "replanted" the day Golf House road was re-opened) to have been removed, as well.

I plan to do a comprehensive thread re: Merion and the Open when I have the time to put my notes and thoughts (and those of others) to writing - probably after Labor Day or beyond.

A Merion thread is always an active one, so saving it for the off-season might add a dash of spice to that time when the autumn leaves begin to fall.

[Mark Bourgeois]

Chip,

Oh yes, I do wish they would have kept the stop sign. I have been true to my convictions; what's wrong with a bit of whimsy on a course? It is a game after all - even the mighty US Open. Being a game, it all is in good fun. We're not curing cancer here. Hopefully this captures not only my intent but my tone.

Mark

[ChipOat]

To the USGA, the Open is 100% business - there was nothing whimsical about anything they did.  Given what is at stake financially, I don't blame them.

The exception might be that their Thurs/Fri pairings often show a touch of whimsy - especially when Frank Hannigan was the E.D.  Even after him, their search for "themes" does reveal a sense of humor from time to time.

[Mark Bourgeois]

Demonstrating that when it came to stop signage Donald Ross was no one-trick tee-shot pony -- the first pic in this thread is a Ross, too -- here we see effective deployment for an approach shot:



FYI the sign refers to a railway hidden behind a haha of sorts and running perpendicular to the camera POV. The green, elevated, sits on the far side of the tracks. Pure chewing satisfaction.

[Will Lozier]

Demonstrating that when it came to stop signage Donald Ross was no one-trick tee-shot pony -- the first pic in this thread is a Ross, too -- here we see effective deployment for an approach shot:



FYI the sign refers to a railway hidden behind a haha of sorts and running parallel to the camera POV. The green, elevated, sits on the far side of the tracks. Pure chewing satisfaction.

Shennecossett #2?

[Mark Bourgeois]

Yep!

[Rich Goodale]

"We're not curing cancer here."

Speak for yourself, Buckaroo.....

[Mark Bourgeois]

Good to hear we've got a golf oncologist. My focus is golf-signage driven hypertension prevention protocols. So far the research is very promising but the travel is hell!