US Senior Open this week at Saucon Valley Old Course (Strong)

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Take a tour:


https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/2022/u-s--senior-open/galleries/course-tour-saucon-valley-2022-us-senior-open-pennsylvania.html#expanded

https://www.sauconvalleycc.org/about-us

https://www.sauconvalleycc.org/golf/courses/old-course

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Will Phil play?   


He's eligible and only played 2 rounds  last week at the US  Open.

[Mike Wagner]

Will Phil play?   


He's eligible and only played 2 rounds  last week at the US  Open.

Phil is not playing. The course is outstanding. My only complaint would be the new deep Fazio fairway bunkers .. not sure if they were like that before, but they seem to have his signature all over them.

[Tim Martin]

Will Phil play?   


He's eligible and only played 2 rounds  last week at the US  Open.

The course is outstanding. My only complaint would be the new deep Fazio fairway bunkers .. not sure if they were like that before, but they seem to have his signature all over them.

There are other Fazio restoration projects with the same issue. The work is good but you get the signature bunkers that don’t fit with scale or shape of the originals.

[Bill Brightly]

I would say that the greenside bunkering was very true to Strong's design, except the "tuck and roll" look of which I'm not a fan. The green complexes are superb; multi-sectioned requiring accurate approach shots.


It is true that many of the fairway bunkers have steep faces so it may not be possible to play to the green, but I thought the treehouse favored true 1/2 shot penalties when the player ends up in a sand hazard? 

[JohnVDB]

I was a starter for the practice round today.  All the players I spoke with loved the course and the setup.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

The Old Course is celebrating their centennial this year.


Herbert Strong was the original architect in 1922. Perry Maxwell did work in 1941 and Tom Fazio in 2008. Eugene Grace, the founder of the club and former president of Bethlehem Steel, contributed over the years.


 https://golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion/sauconvalley/

[Bill Brightly]

It will be interesting to see if they move the tees up on Hole 10 (normally Hole 13) to make it drivable. Normally a 330 yard par four, they can easily use the forward tee and play it at 280.


As I recall at 2009 Women's Open Paula Creamer was atop the leaderboard when she came to this hole, tees moved up, and she went for the green. Drive ended up in bunker 30 yards from the green, sand shot flew the green and I think made 7 or 8. I've heard her say she is still haunted by this round at Saucon Valley. Happily, she would go on to win at Oakmont in 2020.

[Mike Wagner]

It will be interesting to see if they move the tees up on Hole 10 (normally Hole 13) to make it drivable. Normally a 330 yard par four, they can easily use the forward tee and play it at 280.


As I recall at 2009 Women's Open Paula Creamer was atop the leaderboard when she came to this hole, tees moved up, and she went for the green. Drive ended up in bunker 30 yards from the green, sand shot flew the green and I think made 7 or 8. I've heard her say she is still haunted by this round at Saucon Valley. Happily, she would go on to win at Oakmont in 2020.

The guess here is 1 of the days.

[JohnVDB]

It will be interesting to see if they move the tees up on Hole 10 (normally Hole 13) to make it drivable. Normally a 330 yard par four, they can easily use the forward tee and play it at 280.


As I recall at 2009 Women's Open Paula Creamer was atop the leaderboard when she came to this hole, tees moved up, and she went for the green. Drive ended up in bunker 30 yards from the green, sand shot flew the green and I think made 7 or 8. I've heard her say she is still haunted by this round at Saucon Valley. Happily, she would go on to win at Oakmont in 2020.

The guess here is 1 of the days.

If they do it won’t be until the weekend as you wouldn’t want players starting on that hole. 


Padraig Harrington either drove it or nearly did yesterday from the post.  Most players were hitting hybrids or irons yesterday although a few tried drivers as well.

[Kalen Braley]

I was watching yesterday on TV.  Did the event organizers forget to sell tickets, or is demand really that low?  I've seen more spectators at high school golf matches....

[JohnVDB]

I was watching yesterday on TV.  Did the event organizers forget to sell tickets, or is demand really that low?  I've seen more spectators at high school golf matches....

We were there yesterday and thought the crowd looked quite good.  When I was starting for the practice round on Wednesday I had one of the Champios Tour players comment on how big the crowd was for the practice round,  he said it was better than Sundays at most Champions Tour events. 


There are a. I’m really of holes where spectators are only in one side of the hole so the other side looks empty.for example, I’m watching right now and Els just birdied 8.  No fans in view because the left side of 8 was not accessible.


I spoke with the lady who runs the USGA Merchandise tent and she said business had been good all week except for Thursday when it was raining.

[Mike Wagner]

I was watching yesterday on TV.  Did the event organizers forget to sell tickets, or is demand really that low?  I've seen more spectators at high school golf matches....

Crowds are large.

[mike_malone]

I’m wondering how much the current putting surfaces are Fazio rather than Strong?


  I have played there and seems to be an old course with new adjustments. It’s a little jarring.

[Robert Mercer Deruntz]

I was fortunate to play there in the mid-90's before the Fazio work, and in the day of 2018, post Fazio.  Since I was at Engineers for 7 years, plus playing Inwood and Metropolis frequently, my feel for Strong greens is very solid.  My take is that Fazio did soften a few greens, most notably the 3rd, 4th, and 8th.  But overall, the greens were pretty much similar to what I had remembered from the weekend there in 1995.  And they still are heavily contoured and quite severe throughout. On the other hand, there has been a big stylistic change in the bunkering.  Hopefully, in a few years the next architect will build ones closer to the original.

[Jim Sherma]

Saucon Old's third is an entirely new green. Back in the early 1980's I took lessons from Morry Holland at Saucon and walked across that fairway to the range weekly. The third green was 15-20paces back away from the stream and quite a bit smaller than what is there now..

[Bill Brightly]

I am a member and was there before Fazio's work. I would say that he definitely kepth the Strong greens (and greens complexes) except for a few that were "softened" to allow for modern green speeds. (The third green WAS redone and enlarged bringing the front of the green closer to the water.)


The uphill par three 11th (normally hole 14) had such severe back-to-front slope that there were few pinnable locations. But even still, the tilt is quite severe. It is a classic problem with old courses: do you slow the greens down to allow for more pinnable locations or soften them allow for the architect's intended pin locations?