[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

I have just returned from playing in the J Williams tournamant at Oak Hill and was compelled to wrote a few words about the course.
It was in simply perfect shape for the event and huge Kudos to the greens staff for getting it so perfect after a week of specactator driven trampling and all the rain during the event.
The greens were maginificent and the rough line post spectator was hardly noticable that traffic had even been there.

The course set up was brutally hard as it always is for the event which is why we go....to get beaten up from start to finish, but nobody complains as it is a thruill to be there and experience true difficulty first hand.

Where on earth a 63 comes from I simply cannot relate to.
I struggled with my own game until the last nine holes, where I finally felt like I played well and with my real game.
On that nine I didnt hit a bad shot and shot 37, so where the hell a 63 is, wow.

The only real change from when I was past there is the changes to number 15 whcih personally I preffered before, the green is a litte harsh especailly on the back left side, which is the only place to hit it when the pin is back right, as it was on the second day fro us.
But credit where it is due, the club already have plans to soften that area soon.
Awesome and very humbling experience as always.

[William_G]

nice!

thanks for posting

[David Bartman]

Well Michael you beat me to it.  

I also played in the Wiliams and have to agree with everything you mentioned.  The last day was pouring rain much of the day and the 13th green started to puddle and out came 10 workers with squeegees to make sure we could get the round in.  We played fairly well and finished 4th in the event and too have no idea how you shoot 63 with that course set up.   We got to play the exact pins as the PGA Championship from the Wil-am on Wed to the final round on Saturday.  

I am glad to hear that they already have plans to soften the back of 15 because it really is unfair to have the left side of the green fall off of the green, especially when you have hit a solid and safe shot to that treacherous back pin location.  

FWIW, I also drove down to Philly and played Merion on Sunday morning.  They have also left the US Open fairways in tact.  The back tee on #3 is a bit much, the one on #5 is terrific.  Moving the fairway towards the creek on #11 didn't seem to enhance the hole, and in my opinion actually made the hole worse, no advantage was gained by challenging the hazard on the left because there is a tree that blocks out most of the green from what is now the left edge of the fairway.  I also didn't like the change on 15, moving the bunkers in towards the road, and they are planning to move at least one of them back to the right.

All in all, a great trip, seeing both courses in their major set up was interesting to say the least.  

Condition-wise, Merion's bent grass greens were superior to Oak Hill's poa/bent combo but Oak Hill's bent grass fairways were better than Merions.  Don't get me wrong, both courses were in terrific shape.  

On a side note, I got lost wandering around the clubhouse at Oak Hill only to find 8 lanes of bowling alley on the bottom floor, pretty cool.  I was also fortunate enough to get to see the archive room at Merion, which was really interesting as well.  

Michael, I will look for you next year.

[Niall Hay]

I have just returned from playing in the J Williams tournamant at Oak Hill and was compelled to wrote a few words about the course.
It was in simply perfect shape for the event and huge Kudos to the greens staff for getting it so perfect after a week of specactator driven trampling and all the rain during the event.
The greens were maginificent and the rough line post spectator was hardly noticable that traffic had even been there.

The course set up was brutally hard as it always is for the event which is why we go....to get beaten up from start to finish, but nobody complains as it is a thruill to be there and experience true difficulty first hand.

Where on earth a 63 comes from I simply cannot relate to.
I struggled with my own game until the last nine holes, where I finally felt like I played well and with my real game.
On that nine I didnt hit a bad shot and shot 37, so where the hell a 63 is, wow.

The only real change from when I was past there is the changes to number 15 whcih personally I preffered before, the green is a litte harsh especailly on the back left side, which is the only place to hit it when the pin is back right, as it was on the second day fro us.
But credit where it is due, the club already have plans to soften that area soon.
Awesome and very humbling experience as always.

To echo Michael’s comments on Oak Hill and commend not only the incredible greens crew for their obvious effort and success (despite challenging weather) but also the pro shop staff as well as everyone affiliated with Oak Hill. Beyond the incredible golf course and field, the way the entire club from the staff to the members embrace the Williams competitors and everyone associated makes it one of the truly special golfing atmospheres an amateur can experience.  Oak Hill is an awesome golf course, tee to green difficult and the greens subtle enough to make even the best putter questions one’s self. Having played the majority of Donald Ross masterpieces it’s hard to put any above the challenging yet fair test that is the classic East Course. Add in the gracious hospitality from The Williams Host Committee (Dr. F & Co.) combined with the Craig Harmon led golf staff the Williams is one of a kind. The only sad part of this year was that it will be Craig Harmon’s last Williams at Oak Hill. Though there is no doubt that Oak Hill will find a suitable replacement and the membership will continue to embrace the Williams it will never quite be the same without Craig. Here’s to wishing him and his family the very best for the future.

PS how those guys shot the scores they did in the PGA is remarkable….and Dufner’s 63? Wow….

[Niall Hay]

Well Michael you beat me to it.  

I also played in the Wiliams and have to agree with everything you mentioned.  The last day was pouring rain much of the day and the 13th green started to puddle and out came 10 workers with squeegees to make sure we could get the round in.  We played fairly well and finished 4th in the event and too have no idea how you shoot 63 with that course set up.   We got to play the exact pins as the PGA Championship from the Wil-am on Wed to the final round on Saturday.  

Playing the exact pin placement from a major less a month after it being played on the exact same course is really cool. Really makes you appreciate the quality of golf played…

[Jason Mandel]

My brother played in the Williams as well and raved about the condition of the course. He's played both Oakmont and Oak Hill now in tournament conditions and thought Oak Hill played more difficult (mostly because of the demands off the tee).

They finished 7th though did have the low round of the tournament (66 on day one).

It sounds as though the tournament is really a first class event.

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()