[Jay Flemma]

http://jayflemma.thegolfspace.com/?p=635

From the piece:

But sadly, some people still parrot the tired argument about how “it’s nice to see the pros squirm.” Thus, the U.S. Open is not about how many birdies you get – its how many bogeys you avoid. How exciting is that? All the movement is downward with only a little percolation as players bob to the top like corks before taking on water again. As one Golf Observer writer noted, “they try to separate the great from the merely pretty good, then end up awarding the trophy to the merely pretty good.”

Sadly, the fans suffer just as much as the players. Tickets to the U.S. Open frequently surpass $100. Yet nobody is under par – often because a par 72 course is played as a par 70. “Nobody’s under par except the winner and that’s the way it should be” we are instructed…indeed indoctrinated. Now some golf fans think it’s a good idea simply because they are told it on television. That’s a hangover we don’t deserve…kinda like Chris Berman in the tower calling the action. (Over under on him saying “David Major Toms” per day is three-and-a-half. But I digress…)

The only reason we tolerate it is because like a video replay, we do what they say. We see it on TV, we parrot it without question. That’s just downright un-American. In our “we can do anything,” on-demand society we are being sold a product that could be vastly improved, yet we mindlessly regurgitate that we like it because a guy on TV told us to like it without analyzing whether it was wrong form the beginning. Therefore at the flagship tournament in America we get a mere a cheese-paring scrap of birdies. That’s un-American too.

[Tom Zeni]

While it's a world class course, and an awesome venue for the US Open, watching today was only slightly more exciting than watching paint dry. It's my hope, as with past Oakmont experiences, seeing it in person on Saturday, will be more exciting than the TV coverage. I mean, if Berman can't hype it up with "Major Tom's from ground control," it can't be hyped.

But, then again, that's how the USGA wants it. The setup for each Major is different, and unlike the typical Master's, save this year, roars from far and wide are heard. Not at the US Open. The loudest and sometimes the only sounds you hear are "groans!"

[JESII]

Jay,

Am I to assume this is from a piece you wrote?

Couldn't disagree more...at the other extreme is the Bob Hope where 7 or 8 birdies are needed to keep pace - and expected due to the lack of challenge - is that what you prefer?

If I may ask, how does a birdie on an easy hole at The Hope 'separate great from pretty good' better than a par on a balls tough hole at The US Open?

[wsmorrison]

I do not agree with Jay's trite generalizations.

[John Kavanaugh]

People who pay to stand in a field to watch other people play golf deserve no better.   Are tickets really only $100?

[Tom Zeni]

$100 is face value for the grounds only ticket.

John, that's pretty broad generalization of a golf course. With that I guess you could say that people sitting in rows watching other people toss a pigskin around deserve no better.

Or, people who sit in an oval, while drinking beer and watching cars go around in circles deserve no better - Ah, maybe that's one too many. You could be right if you argued that one.  

[John Kavanaugh]

So it works like this...For $100 you get through the gates of one of the greatest private clubs in the world, you then see the best golfers of our day and possibly of all time, you choose where to walk, stand or sit and then feel cheated if the game does not meet your idea of how it should be presented or played.  Another reason to hide the fact you are a golfer from the authorities.

 

[Dan Kelly]

I don't know what else you might have put in the piece, Jay -- but other than your crack about Chris Berman, I think I disagree with every single word of what you've excerpted here.

I'm sorry you're not enjoying the championship. Pity to be there and unsatisfied.

[Eric_Terhorst]

http://jayflemma.thegolfspace.com/?p=635

The only reason we tolerate it is because like a video replay, we do what they say. We see it on TV, we parrot it without question. That’s just downright un-American. In our “we can do anything,” on-demand society we are being sold a product that could be vastly improved, yet we mindlessly regurgitate that we like it because a guy on TV told us to like it without analyzing whether it was wrong form the beginning.

Jay, whatever it is you're watching, you should turn it off and watch the US Open at Oakmont.  It's great stuff.

[Dan Kelly]

The loudest and sometimes the only sounds you hear are "groans!"

And furthermore ...

A well-earned groan is a wonderful sound.

[Jay Flemma]

I don't know what else you might have put in the piece, Jay -- but other than your crack about Chris Berman, I think I disagree with every single word of what you've excerpted here.

I'm sorry you're not enjoying the championship. Pity to be there and unsatisfied.

Dan, dont put words in my mouth.  I did not say I'm not enjoying it...I'm saying it could be better.

[Dan Kelly]

I don't know what else you might have put in the piece, Jay -- but other than your crack about Chris Berman, I think I disagree with every single word of what you've excerpted here.

I'm sorry you're not enjoying the championship. Pity to be there and unsatisfied.

Dan, dont put words in my mouth.  I did not say I'm not enjoying it...I'm saying it could be better.

I just figured that when you wrote that "we mindlessly regurgitate that we like it," you weren't counting yourself among the mindless.

I stand corrected.

[Jay Flemma]

THanks, Dan.  How nice of you.  If you think its mindless...and if wayne doesn't like it...then I know I did something right.

[Dan Kelly]

Jay --

This will be my last comment on this thread. You may have the last word.

Let's be clear here:

I didn't say that what you wrote was "mindless." I don't agree with it, but I would never call it "mindless." I try to be very careful, in my writing, not to make sweeping claims of my own superiority or of others' inferiority.

You, sir, are the one who threw out the "mindless" insult. You wrote that those of us who like the current U.S. Open setup -- where every par must be fought for, and a birdie is a rara avis -- "mindlessly regurgitate that we like it because a guy on TV told us to like it...."

Well, you're wrong there. That's not why I like it. I'm not regurgitating anything, mindlessly or otherwise. I like it because I think it's great golf.

But no matter: The point at the moment is that, in the passage you excerpted, you seemed not to like the US Open ethos at all. And I said so: "I'm sorry you're not enjoying the championship. Pity to be there and unsatisfied."

You answered: "Dan, dont put words in my mouth.  I did not say I'm not enjoying it...I'm saying it could be better."

In other words (if I may be so bold): I like it -- but I could like it more.

Which, of course, puts you -- insofar as you like it! -- in the camp of the mindless regurgitators you identified earlier. I was merely attempting, in my most recent post -- with a modicum of wit, I thought -- to suggest that you had been hoist (hoisted?) by your own petard.

Happily standing with Wayne,
Dan

[tlavin]

Every US Open is fun and hard to watch. It's fun because you're looking at the best on the best golf courses.  It's hard to watch because the grinding is palpable.  Let's face it, the pro golfers are largely humorless grinders in a regular tournament.  In the Open, with few exceptions, they look like they're crawling on broken glass.  Like a train wreck, that's occasionally hard to watch, but like most observers, I can't take my eyes off it.

[Jay Flemma]

Exactly Terry...and why does it have to be this week?  The national championship?

This is the national championship and we seek to suppress scoring? We don't raise the hoop, broaden the paint, and call more traveling and ticky-tack fouls in the NCAA Championship game, do we? At the World Series, we don't suddenly move the mound closer and the bases further away and put the foul poles closer together to achieve a 2-1 score all the time, do we? We don't stop calling pass interference and narrow the football field such that no team scores 55 points in a Super Bowl ever again, do we?

Of course not, that would be the height of folly. The germinator of such a noxious idea would be tarred, feathered and dragged though the streets in chains. But in golf, we are preconditioned and afraid of change.

Do you actually think more birdies would be less exciting?

[John Kavanaugh]

Jay..The NBA does play defense when championship time comes around.  You don't honestly believe that it is the same game as in the regular season?  Oops...I posted this before I read your IM...

[Jay Flemma]

Yeah, but the NBA doesn't change the playing field to suppress scoring.  In your analogy its the players themselves being lazy or industrious...here its an outside force influencing the outcome in a deliberate move to suppress scoring.

[George Pazin]

A few years ago,  I probably would've agreed with Jay.

But after watching the 03 Am at Oakmont, the 03 Open at Sandwich and Shinnecock 04 Open, and thinking a lot more about tournament golf, I've come to the conclusion that a super hard golf course - but not flukey setup, ala Carnoustie '99 - is the best way to identify the best player.

My dad used to tell me that when he was teaching at Pitt Med School, they would plan tests where the average score, among a bunch of highly intelligent, superior students, would be about a 65. Because some people would still score in the 80s and 90s. That's what it took to separate the field.

I think the same is true with tournament golf at its highest level. When you make par a truly valued score, you really place a premium on both thought and execution.

Sully's right, too, the normal Tour birdie fests are the real snoozers.

[Jay Flemma]

George I dont wnat a birdie fest either...but the most exciting opens were the ones with a few birds...'82 -6 to -4, '83 was -4 to -3, 84 was a tie at -4.

But then in '85 you get that godawful even par figure by North.  Had he not won outright he, chip beck denis watson and dave barr would have played off for the title.  We almost "identified Dave Barr!  And we did identify Scott simpson, stev jones and michael campbell...and lee janzen twice and andy north twice!

[paul cowley]

Jay....I tend to agree with you that the preoccupation with protecting par by some of those 'in charge', exerts too much pressure when trying to preserve older classic courses and tends to make the design of newer courses too tough for the masses.

Personally I think the Majors need to be played on the best venues available..... increase the stimp a little, along with the height of the rough, and let par and the scores fall where they may....without relying on trickery. The other Open seems to follow this policy fairly well.

In Oakmonts defense though...from what I understand the course's tournament setup is fairly close to how the members prefer it. So in this situation the 'groans' are not brought on by special conditions....its just another day at Oakmont!

[George Pazin]

Well, I'd say the most exciting Open over the last decade was '99, which was level par - though that's a bit contrived, having trimmed par off the normal course.

You're going to have imperfect results, no matter the test. You just have to accept the good with the bad. I guess I'd prefer they err on the side of just a tad too tough than the opposite.

You could easily say the score was under par - just call 15 a par 5 and 12 a par 6.

 

[Noel Freeman]

I do not agree with Jay's trite generalizations.

Wayne-- if there is one thing I know, it is that you know a TON about championship golf courses and two of the best in the business..

[Michael Christensen]

I hate to disagree with you Jay, but I think the USGA is setting things up correctly....the average PGA Tour event is in the wrong.  Making birdie after birdie is plain boring...fighting for pars is exciting to see and what the average player can relate too....and I like the setup because I had under 8 1/2 birdies for Mickelson for a good chunk of change!  

[Dan Kelly]

Why such a free card for the US Open?

Because there are many flavors of proper golf (IMO), and this is one of them.

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