Matt,

If the weather were controllable or predictable Merion would be fine, as evidenced by the first five or six days of competition there. If the course is wet the scores could be very low.

I did not see much of the final yesterday to know if Molinari played out of the rough at all (I assume not much), but I can assure in June the rough will be a substantial penalty which it was not this week, and very few matches were played at par or beter up through Friday.

For the first several days of play, there were nine holes that even the best in the world will have a difficult time parring. The other nine offer varying degrees of relief but each can still cause big problems with one misplayed shot.

My assesment from watching a bit last week is that the pros would make far fewer doubles than even the top amateurs because of solid decision making and they would take better advantage of the birdieable holes like 7, 8, 10 11 and 13.

Would love to see it though.

Cutting attendance in half to host the event at Merion should be, by far, the least of the logistical concerns confronting the decision makers.

Do we really need another 7th hole set-up at Shinnecock to give Merion some "assistance"? If that happens how does the real architectural merits of the course come to the surface?

Last item -- does 18 and 72-hole scores even matter if you have a first rate championship? I don't think so.

Matt,

Your perception of the tournament at Merion shows a lack of understanding.  Throughout the history of tournament play at Merion there have always been a low score, usually by an unknown in the first round.  But these proved to be outliers as the scoring usually ended up with the course more than holding its own compared to par.

The same fellow shot an approximate 75 in the morning round.  In the second round he was on fire.  He had 18 putts on 15 holes and they were usually from 15-25 feet not tap-ins.  He one-putted ten times and chipped in from 15-feet on another.  It was spectacular play and not a demonstration of weakness on the part of the course.  The membership knows this as does the USGA.  You should as well given the number of events you've seen in person.

Were you at Merion yesterday?  It was an amazing display that should not be viewed as partly due to the limitations of the course.  Any course playing soft and wet can be had--even at 7500 yards by the pros.  Most of the players I spoke with said this was by far the hardest course they ever played.  This with not ridiculous pin placements and pretty tame rough (a lot was stamped down by spectators).  The course played perfectly throughout much of the week.  So what if it was a bit easier on the final day?  The guy earned his victory.  It isn't like they both shot real low.

The real tale is told by 311 contestants playing the course in qualifying with only 4 fellows one under par.

"I could care less about total score but for others this is a test of manhood and a reaffirmation of their membership there."

This is a superficial and trite statement that simply does not apply nor have much meaning.  I don't care about overall score--certainly the USGA does and they were pleased, very pleased with the way Merion handled things on the course.  The membership love their course and are not concerned with your misconceived notions of their thought processes.

It will be off the course logistics that determine if a US Open is held there.  It has nothing to do with the course...this from higher ups at the club and the USGA.  I believe them even if you do not.

The course does not have to have 10-15 yard wide fairways as you claim.  Sheer nonsense!  Tom Paul has played with Nick Faldo there, I've watched touring pros including Els play there and the course is extremely tough for all under good conditions and tough enough under most conditions.  

Those greens will yield some good scores, but not consistantly.

My concern with Merion is the criticism that may tarnish the storied club. There were a few comments by the announcers that had me worried about what Johnny Miller would be saying. The one comment that sticks with me is in their description of a green (9th?) that had to be maintained at a different speed because of the slope and contour. If the club and membership can handle the talk and subsequent nit-picking debate that a US Open brings then let the membership and USGA decide.

Spent some time there last Friday and from what I saw walking around, it was everything it was hyped to be & more. Loved the first tee next to the patio, the quarry holes are out of this word (I don't know a better long par 3 that 17) and the flow of the routing was great.

The only way you can figure out if Merion East could host another Open is:

1) It can challange the worlds best players.
2) Handles the # of fans

On item #1, I think you saw some of this at the amatuer, but I don't know if you saw enough. I don't know where technology w/ drive length will be 8-12 years from now. The back seems OK. The front seems slightly short in the par 4;s. Not that you cant create the correct challange. The set up has to encourage the recovery shots & not just the hack out. I do think some set up things to entice the train wrecks, I mean challenges the USGA wants can be done. How about # 7 as a drivable par 4 from 310 yards? Miss left/right you are dead.

A firm & fast/ideal maintence meld will help trmendously.

I also heard that Fazio's group was there last week noting drive distances & for use w/ the USGA & the Club.


On item #2, Merion is a fantastic place. Putting 15-20K people on that site would be crowded. At the opens I've seen what helps is to have land for staging or the crowds to be elsewhere other than the corridors around holes. Large bleechers seem to help tremedosuly. There seems to be room for some, but not alot of them. Could one fit behind 18? Seems to the sides there is room. I would assume Haverford college could be used as staging and the range for merchandise & hospitality areas. The flow of people around the course will definetly need to be figured out as there are some tight places.

Will the pros be OK w/ practice facilities on the west course? Will the fans be OK w/ that (does the USGA even care about that?)

If they can can work this out Merion East would be a fantastic host.

The course would probably have to be set up freakishly if they did not want 20 under par breached.

Unless my judgement is way off...I just don't see it that way.  

What is the view of the members of Merion after holding the US Am?  Do they want to hold large events like this in the future (I guess they have already have the Walker Cup in 09) given that their course was shut for several weeks in preparation for the event?  I know the members at my club wouldn't stand for that but we don't have a second course to play.

redanman,

I agree in some regard.  Merion would need the ideal setup during the week of a US Open.  I don't think the fairways would need to change from where they currently are.  With technology being what it is today, and assuming it would stay at this level for years to come , Merion, perhaps more than other US Open venues would really need just the right "maintenence meld" to properly challenge the very best players.  If the right conditions were met, I don't think you would need a "freakish" setup.

The conditions during the finals yesterday that I saw on TV were about the softest I have ever seen at Merion.  They way the balls were reacting on the greens after approach shots was something out of the ordinary for Merion.  I know for a fact that over the last 5-6 years playing there, I've never played a round with conditions like that.  Unless you are Augusta Nat'l with the underground vacuum system, there is nothing that can be done with the rains that we had over Saturday night.  There is also nothing you can do about Molinari holing every putt he looked at in the afternoon 18.  His opponent will be seeing that putting display in his sleep for weeks to come.

Taking the scoring of the best amateurs and trying to project how the best pros might play isn't really helpful. The players in the U.S. Am are in the top 1% of the players in the world. However, recent history shows that they will have trouble even sniffing the pro tour. Look at recent winners: Jeff Quinney, Bubba Dickerson, Matt Kuchar, Rickey Barnes . . . it's not like these guys are contending as pros.

Tiger and friends are in another world. At 6,900 yards and par 70, the winning score at Merion would almost certainly be in the double digits, and the USGA has always made an effort to protect par.

John,

Merion was not pretty fast and firm this week.  While the greens were quick, they were for the most part also quite receptive, and the fairways were not really running out much either.  If you noticed some of the tee shots over the weekend, there was not much roll after they landed.  If guys were hitting it 280 yards, a lot of that yardage was all carry.

What would the USGA be unhappy with in regard to Merion defending par?  Outside of Molinari's other-worldly putting display, I don't see where par was not defended throughout the week.

To any of those on here that are truly knowledgeable of the USGA's inner dealings;

To what extent does the US Open support its other operations in a financial sense.

p.s. Matt, sorry to bring up financials in another one of your threads, I'm sure it really doesn't matter here either but I'm just curious .

I forgot most importantly that it would also be competing against Trump!!!!!!!!!!