Fay: "Of course" This U.S. Open Is A Referendum On Distance Issue

Golf Digest contributing writer David Fay grills former USGA Executive Director David Fay in the June Golf Digest about the 2005 effort to bring the U.S. Open to Merion.

After intense questioning from Fay, Fay finally admits what we all know to be the key backstory to next week: the distance issue.

I'm stating the obvious when I bring up weather. Not just the conditions during championship week but the weather leading into the Open. One only has to look back to Bethpage in 2009 and Congressional in 2011 to appreciate that plans can literally be washed away when the squeegees and tons of wood chips become the visual. It's times like that when you yearn for a retractable roof.

"If you look at the historical progression," Davis says, "in 1934 Olin Dutra won the Open at Merion at 13 over. In 1950, Hogan won at seven over. In 1971, Trevino won [forced a playoff] at even par. In 1981, David Graham was seven under. So if the course is soft, I'm thinking 14 under is the winning score this time around. But if it doesn't rain, if Matt gets it firm and fast for four straight days, then I think even par wins it."

I'd go beyond that and say that if Merion plays hard and fast--and the club's maintenance crew gets overzealous--it could stir up memories of the Massacre at Winged Foot in 1974.

Final question: Is this Open a referendum on the distance issue?
 Of course it is.

Comments

[Steve Elling]

At last, the elephant in the room is acknowledged.

Other than his tendency to steal from Alex Miceli's bow-tie collection, I always liked David Fay. Not as much as Tina Fey.

[Longy]

So if its a referendum what's the question?

[johnnnycz]

Tina Fey, sure why not? Or perhaps Tina Turner could've put a cap on the distance issue many years ago if she was at the helm.

Maybe this is the USGA's secret mission to bring the 1-iron back?

[ol Harv]

The manipulation of America's greatest courses by Mike Davis, the self anointed greatest modern day architect and agronomist. Perhaps he can take a couple of Par 4's and turn them into Par 3's to protect par. The weather is, and always will be, a factor in the game of golf. It's played outside. Let it be and stop the manipulation.

[ol Harv]

By the way, "Massacre at Winged Foot", just re-read it last month. A cool book.

[Media maven]

So what happens if Merion and the USGA flunk the test? If the pros tear up the course and 20 under or something crazy wins? Will it lead to a rollback? That would be a welcome result. It sounds like it could play pretty easy if the course gets wet. Most interesting was Fay's admission that he just thought The Country Club composite was overrated and wouldn't work for a modern Open; surely he's not too popular anymore in Beantown, if he ever was.

[Viz]

I for one do NOT believe the ball is an issue, these modern day architects are creating these MEGA yardage courses to try and combat the length guys are hitting it these days....Most of the old school designed courses seem to be holding up well with all this technology the manufacturers have created. Hint to modern day EGO maniac architects study those courses and wake up. Most GREATLY designed courses don't need to be 7k plus yards.

[Press Agent]

"and the club's maintenance crew gets overzealous"

BS

A club's maintenance crew doesn't do anything during a US Open without every little detail of it being scrutinized by umpteen know-it-alls from the USGA and / or the PGA tour. To lay any blame at the feet the maintenance crews for any of these past disasters is not accurate.

[Ludell Hogwaller]

Press Agent,

Excellent post. I read that quote several times, wondering how somebody at that level could think that was true.

[Dubious]

"Press Agent" believes superintendents and ground crews - if pushed by the green chairman or club president - would not defer to the wishes of the people who pay the salaries and who are his bosses long after the US Open has left town. And that there are not golf club memberships who, over the years, have wanted their golf course to play very, very difficult? Dream on !!

[No longer Used to be Former Stack & Tilt Convert]

If they can't blame maintenance, they can always blame a "rapid shift in dew point" for undesirable conditions.

[Protecting Par is a fools game]

Yea those pesky maintenance crews are always to blame when our national Open gets ruined. Even that dried up hamburger I had at Bethpage was their fault.

[smails]

think ol' Geoff was being a little sarcastic there.

Have enjoyed D Fay since he began his post-retirement writing career.. he has started to share his own very well thought opiniions.

[dpd901]

Nobody has shot 62 at the Old Course and there are like 7 driveable Par-4's there. No way Merion plays as easy as St. Andrews with no wind. Merion will be fine as long as the weather is dry.

[BrianS]

If I recall, the issues at Congo were sort of a perfect storm: Massive rains the week before (and already I think Merion is out of the woods on that front compared to what we had that year), new greens that were already potentially going to play soft, and finally, the rough was really not that long, so even when wet, it was not a huge issue. Then it got so hot here that the rough grass dried out quickly, but the new greens never got firm due to humidity. And for all that, after such a "disaster", only 30 or so guys shot under Par for the tourney - not a typical US Open, sure, but not the Bob Hope or whatever people want to call it. My guess is that Merion will be fine, and if the winner shoots -10, is that really so awful ?

[BrianS]

Bad info - only 20 guys broke par at Congo.

[DTF]

"only 20 guys broke par"....LOL.

At the 2011 Bethesda Beltway Open (BBO) 16-under won, and 36 players shot par or better. 31 players actually broke par.

Compare and contrast that with the 2012 US Open where z-e-r-o players shot par or better and +1 was the winning score.

If I remember correctly in the 8 Open's prior the 2011 BBO the total number of players in aggregate who shot par or better was almost exactly the same as the 2011 BBO alone!

[BrianS]

Yes, =16 was the winner, but he won by 8 shots, so was the only guy in with double digits below par.. Ryan Palmer was T21 at Even Par, and Robert Rock was T23 at +1. Again, I agree that it was not your typical US Open, but if you take away Rory's score, it still played fairly tough. There were plenty of really good players that were over par, and not by 1 or 2 shots. For Comparison, the last Open Championship at The Old Course, (also with a run away winner) Even par would get you a T-44, and +1 a T-48.

[Hilltop]

Let's start by simply redefining par 5's. If more than a third of the field is hitting mid-irons for their second shot....that's not a par 5. Let's make golf courses 'relatively' harder for these guys by lowering the par. That would never fly, but it would be interesting.

[DTF]

BrianS, you are correct. I was relying on this leaderboard from yahoo: http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/pga/leaderboard/2011/24

It's odd, all sorts of players listed in there that did not play the event. Apologies.

[BrianS]

@DTF, I saw the same one, that was the source of my original #. For some reason I looked back at it and noticed there were over 250 guys listed. I did see a stat today saying that I think in the 50's an open was played with that many !

[Greg]

First of all, let me state wholeheartedly that I agree that a well-designed 6500 yard course can be just as challenging to the best players as one of 7500 yards; design, not overall length, is the key.

I've been watching this game with passionate devotion for over 50 years, and I could hardly care less what the final score is in relation to mythical par. Par is a relatively new (in relation to the age of golf) construct, designed to make it easier for fans and competitors to see how everyone was doing throughout a tournament. That's fine, I like it, but in the end it matters not one damned whit what the winning score is as measured against par, the only thing that matters is "who got 'round in the least number of strokes?"

Whether that final total is 270, 280, or 290 doesn't matter to me at all. What I love to see is multiple players struggling against conditions and each other, each trying to be the best come Sunday afternoon.

After all, that's all golf really is.

[Mike Stevens]

Should have left the course at the same distance as all the other Opens and then we could really compare today and yesterday. If distance is not an issue why add 500 yards to the old gal.