[Phil_the_Author]

In an ongoing discussion that I've been having with someone about U.S. Open course set-ups, the topic of "chipping areas" came up. I am hoping that I can get some info to answer a few questions:

1- What is the history of chipping areas as a design feature?
2- The USGA seems to have decided that just as there should be only 2 par-fives, that each Open course should feature 2 holes or so where there are chipping areas around a green whether part of the original design or not. Thoughts on advantages/disadvantages of this?
3- All other things being equal (green speed, undulations, grain, etc...) What provides the greater challenge for the modern pro - a pitch shot out of heavy rough a foot to four feet from the green surface or a choice of play from 20 to 30 feet away through a "chipping area" and why?

Thanks for the help!

[Dave_Miller]

In an ongoing discussion that I've been having with someone about U.S. Open course set-ups, the topic of "chipping areas" came up. I am hoping that I can get some info to answer a few questions:

1- What is the history of chipping areas as a design feature?
2- The USGA seems to have decided that just as there should be only 2 par-fives, that each Open course should feature 2 holes or so where there are chipping areas around a green whether part of the original design or not. Thoughts on advantages/disadvantages of this?
3- All other things being equal (green speed, undulations, grain, etc...) What provides the greater challenge for the modern pro - a pitch shot out of heavy rough a foot to four feet from the green surface or a choice of play from 20 to 30 feet away through a "chipping area" and why?

Thanks for the help!

Philip:
Not sure I can answer your questions but these collection or chipping areas must be a relatively new practice.  When these courses were designed the irrigation systems and maintenance practices would have made them impractical if not impossible to maintain.
Tommy Paul would probably have the answer to the chipping area and if not he'll probably make one up , if for no other reason than to get Pat Mucci going
Best
Dave

[wsmorrison]

Ron Forse alerted me to the fact that Flynn designed collection/chipping areas early at Manufacturers Golf and Country Club in Fort Washington, PA.  The course opened for play in 1925.  The chipping areas could be found on holes 1,3,4,15 and 16.  There are many other cases where Flynn did this such as to the right of the 4th green at Cascades.  He drew the chipping areas as fairway extending around the green, the side of which usually depended on the topography.  As you would expect, he seemed to like to have them on the low side.  There were one or two of these on most courses though maintenance practices do change.

The chipping area to the right of the 1st green at Rolling Green GC is the opposite intention of Flynn.  Flynn designed a few opening holes and other holes throughout the routing progression, not all on upslopes, that were island greens completely surrounded by rough and/or bunkers.
Invariably the fairways now run up to the greens and in some cases such as at RGGC there are chipping areas; I guess they are trendy.  

[Tom_Doak]

David Eger started adding chipping areas to Open courses when he was in charge of the set-ups around 1990.  He had some at Pebble Beach in 1992, such as left of the first green, which had not been there before.  He said he was putting these in to make the course more fair ... those greens were so small that if you missed it in the rough on the high side of the hole, you probably couldn't keep your pitch shot on the green at all.

The USGA has taken this concept and run with it, at the same time chipping areas have become more trendy in modern design.  Shinnecock used to have a few chipping areas when I first saw it; last year it had short grass around virtually every green.  Pinehurst No. 2 always had them, of course, but it was about the only Open course where they were common.

It will be interesting to see how they handle Winged Foot West and Baltusrol, which had no chipping areas at all as part of their original design.

[Jeff_Brauer]

The idea is not new, as mentioned.  George Thomas wrote about them, specifically advocating "fair green" areas behind long par 4 greens so that a long shot that hit the green and went over (which he figured was a better shot than  one that came up short of the green) was treated the same, rather than more harshly.

I agree with Tom Doak - PB was the first wholesale use of chipping areas in a US Open.  I think they were influenced somewhat by their use in TPC courses at the same time.  Tour players liked them on TPC courses.  I suspect the USGA was a follower in this regard, and not a leader.

In any case, it is an attempt to reintroduce the ground game, albeit for short recovery shots, and to create variety, and to reward touch and skill sometimes in the US Open over brute strength and/or accuracy.  It does show that the USGA is open to change and thought in its Open set ups.

[Mike_Young]

3- All other things being equal (green speed, undulations, grain, etc...) What provides the greater challenge for the modern pro - a pitch shot out of heavy rough a foot to four feet from the green surface or a choice of play from 20 to 30 feet away through a "chipping area" and why?

Philip,
I think the longer shot from 20-30 feet presents more of a problem but the largest variable to the pros in this situation is the change in elevation from the chip to the green surface.  IMO

[Brad Klein]

Too bad there's not a good enough Bermudagrass that will withstand winters and spring with the close mowing heights needed for such approach areas. You always run the risk of damage, stress and winter kill in the South, unless you raise the mowing heights to fairway levels until the summer arrives.

In any case, chipping areas work when you have native sandy soils for drainage. Closely-cropped on heavier soils (esp. up North) are very awkward and forced. Often you need the artifice of catch basins to remove the water - which is a shame, because the golf ball follows the drainage pattern, right into the catch basin.

[PThomas]

but should a Winged Foot that originally did not have chipping areas have them put in for tournament play?  isn't that "ruining'  classic design, or is such a radical move "okay" given the skill of today's players, etc?

[Jeff_Brauer]

Haven't all golf courses evolved?  If so, why would chipping areas necessarily be off limits?

[Phil_the_Author]

IN 2002 they put ome behind both the 4th & 10th greens. Tilly didn't have any on any of the Bethpage courses and for me this was something that I feel goes against design intent.

Both these areas have now been expanded since the Open, and I believe that when a feature is put in for an Open that represents a major change for the championship & is then left as a permanent addition, that this going far beyond "course set-up."

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