US Open - Merion

[Kreskin]

What a tremendous golf tournament, and golf course. Probably the shortest course the US Open has used for a venue but it played like a monster. Not one golfer ended 72 holes at or below par.

Hole #3 - 256-yard par 3. Coming up short was a trip to no man's land. Many ended up in death valley.

Hole #5 - the green was so tough that color commentator Johnny Miller wondered out loud if it was even within the rules.

Hole #10 was only about 280 yards (par 4) but going for the green off the tee was perilous. Even playing short was tough due to the narrow hooking fairway. Mickelson managed to hole out for an eagle from about 75 yards with a bit of magic. However a couple of double bogeys dropped him out of the lead.

Hole #15 - Out of bounds just two-yards left of the right doglegged fairway. On Saturday Sergio put three balls OB before getting one in play.

In the end Justin Rose survived to win (a +1 score). His putting is really clutch, as it was in the Ryder Cup. A very worthy champion.

The co-winner was Merion. What a breath of fresh air to see an old traditional course show the Pete Dye Stadium courses how to really challenge pros.

 

[talloola]

my choice to win the masters was justin rose, i've liked him for a long time, he has the game for
majors, and i'm so glad he won.

phil who? I had to keep switching the channel back and forth as soon as they started talking about
their beloved phil, and i'm glad they managed to give some time to justin after he won, as they
mourned about phil over and over.

I don't mind phil mickellson, he is just fine, but the media make one not want to cheer for him.
Yes, that course was not about to bow down to any golfer trying to defeat her.

 

[Kreskin]

The course is pure genius. Wicker baskets instead of flags making it extra difficult for players to judge wind around the green. No yardage markers on the course, except for a couple of landmarks honoring shots of previous golfers.

Yes Phil is the darling. It's all that sweetness stuff. I can't put my finger on the reason; I don't mind him but I rarely pull for him.

I am a member of WGT, World Golf Tour. It's a USGA sponsored site where you can play exact replicas of some previous US Open courses on computer. And I mean exact. They are created with photos, and every inch of undulation on the course, rough and greens are exact specifications. You can even compete for the virtual US Open. In May they brought on the Merion course and I played it probably 50 times. It was pretty cool to watch the tourney as I could really relate to just about every hole.

The other courses they have are Congressional, Bethpage Black, Oakmont, Kiawah and a couple of European venues, St Andrews and Royal St Georges.

St Andrews is probably the easiest, although the road hole #17 is probably one of the toughest holes anywhere.

Bethpage 15 is off the charts tough. The first 4 holes of Congressional are really tough. Hole number 9 at Oakmont probably has the toughest green on the planet (although Merion 5 is right up there).

 

[talloola]

The course is pure genius. Wicker baskets instead of flags making it extra difficult for players to judge wind around the green. No yardage markers on the course, except for a couple of landmarks honoring shots of previous golfers.

Yes Phil is the darling. It's all that sweetness stuff. I can't put my finger on the reason; I don't mind him but I rarely pull for him.

I am a member of WGT, World Golf Tour. It's a USGA sponsored site where you can play exact replicas of some previous US Open courses on computer. And I mean exact. They are created with photos, and every inch of undulation on the course, rough and greens are exact specifications. You can even compete for the virtual US Open. In May they brought on the Merion course and I played it probably 50 times. It was pretty cool to watch the tourney as I could really relate to just about every hole.

The other courses they have are Congressional, Bethpage Black, Oakmont, Kiawah and a couple of European venues, St Andrews and Royal St Georges.

St Andrews is probably the easiest, although the road hole #17 is probably one of the toughest holes anywhere.

Bethpage 15 is off the charts tough. The first 4 holes of Congressional are really tough. Hole number 9 at Oakmont probably has the toughest green on the planet (although Merion 5 is right up there).

I remember Beth Page very well, that public course in New York, where the public lined up in their cars before
daylight, to wait for the course to open.
A very very longcourse, and I think Tiger was the only player under par the first time they had a major
there. That was the tournament that sergio whined and was such a baby, accusing
the pga of favouring tiger over him.

We have the computer golf game put out by Arnold Palmer, haven't played it for years, but years ago, we
competed with each other almost every night.
It was the courses in Hawaii. It took a while to get the technique down to a science, had to perfect
how to swing the club, using the mouse, and judge the wind, and all of the other things that come into
play, same as actually being there.

Arnie would sometimes make snide comments, after one of our shots, just as though he was standing close
by, watching.

When we watch that first tournament of the year in hawaii, we know the course very well, have played
it hundreds of times, and I haven't ever been to haiwaii.