Shinnecock "THE TRUTH"

[Donnie Beck]

I am normally quiet by nature, but I have to chime in on this one. Shinnecock was in ABSOULTELY prefect condition during the practice and early tournament rounds. In my near 20 years in the business I have never seen a course with a more ideal maintenance meld. The greens were extremely firm and rolling at a great pace. What happened? The scores were getting too low and something had to be done to protect par. It is all about protecting par!  Vijay hit a ball on the 5th in a practice round this week that went 409 yds off the tee. As much of a shock as this was what amazed me more was watching how many of the pro’s were hitting 7, 8, and 9 irons into the greens from distances of 190 - 210 out and stopping them on a dime. The balls would take one big bounce and check right up. Something has to be done and it has to be done soon!  As much as I would like to see it, the technology is not going away. After witnessing what I did at Shinnecock it is very clear to me that it is nearly impossible to protect par with today’s equipment. When are the powers that be going to realize that something has to be done with the ball? Now what if the pros were hitting 3,4 and 5 irons into those greens like they were designed to? Do you think they would be stopping the ball like they were? Not a chance! It is the ball and nothing else that is making many of our classic courses obsolete. Shinnecock was taken to the furthest extreme possible to defend par. They did it, but at what cost? There is a good chance they will lose a lot of grass on their greens, lies were told, pins were tucked in extreme locations, and there was talk of soften on of the best Redans in the country. All to protect par. Why spend millions changing so many of our great golf courses when you could spend 50 cents to produce a ball that allows the courses to be played the why they were designed to.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Donnie,
Thanks for letting "THE TRUTH" be told.

Its obvious that walking the "tight rope" of integrity is just too much for some of these people as they continue to fall into their safety netting everytime. But someday the net is NOT going to be there to catch them, and I can only hope the Game can survive the fall.

[Jeff_Mingay]

The USGA's past the point of doing anything serious about the ball. The association is slowly losing its credibility as a governing body, I think. And, in turn, the game will likely break into factions, in contradiction to its wonderful history.

The majority golfer who loves the US Open as a professional sporting event, the same as the NBA Finals at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, will continue to support the championship when its played at the 7,600 yard, Rees Jones-renovated Torrey Pines; and continue to purchase the latest $1,000 rocket-launcher and the newest Pro V-1X for $10/ball, in hope of one-time hitting it as far as Tiger or Phil.  

The rest of us golfers in the minority, who genuinely love the classic courses of the world, will lament that the USGA never did anything about the ball to protect the truly great championship venues at places like Shinneocock Hills, Pebble Beach, Merion, Riviera, and elsewhere; and we'll keep our old clubs, play with cheap, medicore balls, and keep a smile on our faces when we miss-hit 3-iron approaches to 430 yard long holes.

What we need to pray for though, is that the USGA stops playing games at classic courses like Shinnecock, using borderline set-ups and redesign to keep those courses apace with their complacency on equipment regulation. Leave the great old courses be, just like you did a century ago with Myopia Hunt and Garden City for example. Move on to Rees' redesigns at Torrey Pines and elsewhere.

At this point, that might be "good for the game" unfortunately.

[Mike_Sweeney]

Donnie,

Just curious, if it had been the club championship @ Fisher's where you probably run the greens at 10-11, for what amount of time would you have run the sprinklers on Saturday night?

Thanks for the post, the problem is the USGA is probably counting the receipts today. They sold alot of those Shinnecock shirts !

[David_Tepper]

Sorry to play the heretic here, but maybe some more thought should be given to this notion of "protecting par." I thought a golf tournament was a competition among the golfers to see who could shoot the lowest score in the event. The golf course it not a competitor in the event. What the winners or the fields shot at Shinnecock 10 or 20 years ago should be irrelevant to the present.      

I fail to see the harm that would have been done if the winning score at Shinnecock was 8 or 10 under and 5 or 6 other players finished under par as well. In my mind, that is far preferable to seeing 1/4 of the field shoot 80+ on Sunday.
What good is possibly achieved by creating conditions where the best golfers in the world are 4, 5 & 6 putting?

In almost every other sport where performance is objectively measured, performances improve over time. Better equipment is clearly a reason. But it is not the only reason. The USGA's  Luddite notion of "protecting par" needs some critical re-thinking.        

 

[Donnie Beck]

Mike, for a club championship or member guest I try to give the greens a deep watering early in the week (usally Mon night or Tues Morning) and allow the greens to dry thoughout the week peaking on Sunday. After the deep irrigation cycle early in the week I usally don't give the greens anymore water with the exception of some light hand watering of any hot spots. If you are asking if I had Shinnecock's conditions saturday night during a club championship, then I would probably spin the heads for 4-5mins. The US Open is a whole different situation.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

David Tepper gets it!

Jeff Mingay,

What borscht-belt comedian was it that used to say, "Take my wife, please! ! ! ! "  The same goes for Torrey Pines and the US Open!

Sweens,
Pity the organization that has to rely on t-shirt sales for motivation, that is unless your name is George Pazin, then its O.K.!  

[Patrick_Mucci]

Donnie Beck,

I think that most on this site would agree that the combination of the ball and club technology in the hands of the greatest players that ever played the game has proven to be a runaway train.

A competition ball would seem to be a prudent thought.

If the USGA adopted one for their competitions, regional, state, and local associations would adopt it as well, and perhaps the USGA member clubs.

And, IF ANGC adopted the competition ball, it would be the icing on the cake.

Without the adoption of a competition ball, I see the problem getting worse, not better, as time goes by.