Is The “Peoples’ Open” On Its Way Out?

[Phil Burr]

In its press conference yesterday, USGA leadership cited executive committee member Nick Price as saying 5-6 years ago that “it matters where someone wins their US Open”.  They went on to say their response was that they intend to take the Open to the “cathedrals of golf”.


The tournament is now largely scheduled out through 2051.  Of those upcoming 28 years, there are only 8 for which the venue is TBD.  There are no mediocre munis (Torrey, Bethpage, Chambers, Erin Hills) on the schedule.  My guess is that, given the success of 2022, they’d like to return to TCC for 2-3 of those open dates.  Olympic may also get another 1-2 events.  Olympic’s connection with the USGA is as the site of three of the great “upsets” in golf history (Fleck over Hogan; Casper over Palmer; S. Simpson over Watson).


They need another Midwest venue and as Chicago offers no suitable option, I think they might look to Ohio.  Scioto is an intriguing possibility.  Recently restored by Andrew Green and host to a Senior Open in 2016, the course tips out at 7,200 yards.  Could the USGA ask them to find another 200 yards (or will that be a moot point if a rollback is implemented in 2026).  Either way, I think the USGA might love to award their winner’s Jack Nicklaus medal every few years at the course where Jack got his start.


I wonder if the current direction of the USGA will cut out the munis in favor of “true” cathedrals of golf.

[Carl Rogers]

Bethpage is mediocre??  Hole 18 is admittingly not inspiring.

[Matt Schoolfield]

There are so many amazing places to play golf in America that these discussions always seem extremely strange to me.


I could trivially name a half dozen courses within a few hours drive of Chicago where I’d like to see an open.
Edit: so trivial I'll name them: Lawsonia (both courses), Whistling Straits (both courses), Chicago GC, Sand Valley, Mammoth Dunes, Blackwolf Run? That's without even need to cross over into Michigan to where they could play places like Forrest Dunes, the Loop, Kingsley... I mean, we're really falling over ourselves here with amazing courses. We should consider playing open championships on them.

[Phil Burr]

Carl,


I expected some objection to my use of the word “mediocre”, particularly with respect to Bethpage.  If Tilly was tasked when creating Bethpage to build the most difficult worse in the world that can only be tackled by the very best players, he succeeded.  The sign at the first tee attests to that.  But the course is one-dimensional in its difficulty.  There’s never a breather, and even a 3-4 digit handicap like me has a hard time breaking 90. It’s just not a “peoples’ course”.  He did so much other work that was playable for an average golfer.


That pretty much echoes my feelings about Torrey.  Too long; too relentlessly hard.  I’m fine watching the US Open at classic courses full of greater GCA merit, even though they’re inaccessible to me.

[Jeff Evagues]

I've played Bethpage many times and always thought it was overrated.

[Matt Schoolfield]

I've played Bethpage many times and always thought it was overrated.

I actually agree with this

[Cal Seifert]

With Bethpage hosting a Ryder cup and a recent PGA championship, it seems like they are more aligned with the PGA now.

[Kalen Braley]

I would say its already out...

There are 9 future Opens to be staged on "publicly accessible" courses, but only on two courses, Pinehurst #2 and Pebble, where cost is a massive deterrent for the 'people' to access them.

In light of recent events with the PGA Tour and PIF, I guess its not surprising... big money eventually consumes everything.

[Wayne_Kozun]

In light of recent events with the PGA Tour and PIF, I guess its not surprising... big money eventually consumes everything.

Isn't this the USGA returning to its roots?  Historically the Open has been held at exclusive private courses.  It isn't like that is a new trend brought about by more money coming into the game.  From 1946 through 1998 I believe the only public course to host the Open was Pebble.  Then Pinehurst in 1999, Bethpage, Torrey, etc.

[Mark Fedeli]

But the course is one-dimensional in its difficulty.  There’s never a breather, and even a 3-4 digit handicap like me has a hard time breaking 90.

I mostly agree with the first sentence, although some recent changes, especially the 15 yards of width added to the 10th and 11th fairways, are helping to mitigate that. (Probably worth a new thread, after all the griping I've done on this site about the setup).


I think your second sentence is a bit of an overstatement. It's not that hard of a course for a 3-4 cap unless you're playing from the furthest back tees. There are very few tricks or places of instant death. You have a ton of space to miss on almost every hole. You might land in thick rough or a bunker, but that's better than being surrounded by impermeable forrest or water hazards, which mostly aren't a problem at Bethpage. And the greens are relatively flat, holdable, and not overly fast.


I've played it a ton, so maybe I just have an increased confidence, but I'll take its enormous hole corridors over courses where every slice and hook is immediately lost.

[Kalen Braley]

In light of recent events with the PGA Tour and PIF, I guess its not surprising... big money eventually consumes everything.

Isn't this the USGA returning to its roots?  Historically the Open has been held at exclusive private courses.  It isn't like that is a new trend brought about by more money coming into the game.  From 1946 through 1998 I believe the only public course to host the Open was Pebble.  Then Pinehurst in 1999, Bethpage, Torrey, etc.

Wayne,

I think we're just looking at different sides of the same coin.  Yes while its roots are certainly on the private side I assumed their decades long campaign of growing the game meant appealing to the masses which seems to match their marketing campaign (which I'd also like to think included the trend in last 15-20 years of hitting more public courses for the Open).

Perhaps they've changed their opinion on that, even if they would never admit it publicly. Getting rid of the Public Links championship a few years back, (their 4th oldest tournament), also seems to support same.