There Goes Lawrenson's Erin Hills, USGA Welcome Mats...

In what he saw as an otherwise exciting year in golf, Derek Lawrenson hands out his best and worst from 2017.

The veteran Daily Mail correspondent gave "Worst Tournament" to the U.S. Open at Erin Hills.

Just when you think they can't possibly cock it up for a third year running, the United States Golf Association managed to debase yet another US Open. A shocking, soulless venue in the middle of nowhere and scoring so low the tournament's raison d'etre as the hardest major was lost completely. I recently had to fill in a survey from the USGA asking what I thought of them. It's fair to say they didn't score well.

Comments

[Boomer]

He ain't wrong.

[Ivan Morris]

Atta boy, Derek!

[Allen Robertson]

More elitism from a Brit with the “middle of nowhere” bullshit. People do live in these places he describes as “nowhere” but I’m sure he rarely leaves his London enclave. And it’s not just him. Plenty of East Coasters and West Coasters in this country refer to these places as “flyover country”.

[KS]

Still way better than Chambers Bay

[digsouth]

The more I think about Erin Hills, the less I think of Erin Hills. ~~dig~~

[munihack]

The issues with E H were not its location. It was a great illustration of how much golf in so many ways is counter intuitive- even to the governing bodies. By lengthening and widening the holes the USGA in its infinite idiocy turned an event that once required many skills including strategy and nerve into a bomb and gouge fest where the longest players had even more of an advantage. It became a boring monotony that was made even worse by the morons broadcasting it. The lowest of the low bars indeed.

[Greg]

Couldn't agree more Soulless describes it perfectly. Bring back the US Open...

[jjshaka]

A waste of good pastureland...turn the sheep loose and be done with it.

[Ole Allan Robertson]

The USGA folks think they're so damn smart, but all they have done for the last 20 years is screw up the game

[Erin go Bragh]

Once again, missing the forest for the trees.

The course DOES NOT matter for these guys. Narrowing holes down to 20 yard bowling alleys, growing rough 3 inches deep, stretching the length and stimping flat greens to 13 has done what? Nothing. Or rather a coma inducing yawn and an even worse bore.

Until the equipment is addressed throughout (not just the ball), anyone expecting something with "soul" should realize the game has already lost its soul a long time ago to the equipment.

I'd much rather watch an Erin Hills, Pinehurst, or Chambers Bay over some boring Torrey. At least you see something besides hacking out of deep rough.

[MC]

Couldn't disagree with this guy more.

Had a chance to play EH twice this summer and was blown away with how much more I loved it vs how it came off on tv. Anyone that thinks its "easy" or "wide open" I urge you to play it if you can. An incredible amount of cant and elevation change in just about every fairway. And with the wind - sorry but there is nothing "easy" about that course at all.

From the green tees, 18 was playing 620 - into the wind.

An incredibly beautiful/peaceful location. Quite refreshing to play a course of this caliber that's out on its own.

[Streaky Putter]

"They will chip and putt me to death, and we'll be on the clock". Classic

[Paul W]

Just curious - with all of the talk about the ball, distance etc, and how many feel the pro game has outgrown the venues - the majors are the bellweathers for this discussion. Consensus seems to be that Erin Hills wasn't a great tournament; on the opposite side of the spectrum in terms of course setup, Merion has been cited as too tricked up (and Shinnecock last time they went there). What do folks feel was the last truly great US Open? Was it more recent than some seem to think, or has it been awhile?

Masters? Open?

[Manku]

Sneds and Harman,two of the shorter hitters on tour, both finished in the top ten at the US Open this year.

@Paul...2008 Torrey is a top ten all timer for me...one of the few tournaments I can recall watching 5+ hours a day.

Personally, the vast majority of golf tournaments are fairly dull until the back nine on Sunday.

Though I will be watching the Hero today!

[Don]

Never understood how people were expecting it to be windy in the summer in the upper midwest. Maybe 1 day out of 4 if a front blows through.

[Press Agent]

Completely unfair and over the top. That's what gets the eyeballs these days as people don't have the intelligence or attention span to understand subtleties and softer distinctions. Was it one of the great US Opens? No. Was it the disaster that this pin head and some of the comments suggest? No.
On one hand, you see comments like "par is just a number, it means nothing and the USGA shouldn't be so obsessed by it." Then you hear "scoring so low the tournament's raison d'etre as the hardest major was lost completely."
Complete hypocrisy and meaningless drivel coming from all corners.

[P Thomas]

People are going to look at Erin Hills as the beginning of the dividing line in the rules for tournament golf.

1) Ridiculous long yardage course
2) set up with extreme width, even cutting out some punishing fescue out side the enormous corridors
3) Actually gave VERY precise hole locations, allowing the greens books users maximum efficacy

The whole event was a set up to show length and tech are out of control.
We can't make a course long enough
Greens books are eliminating a skill

Whether it's bifurcation, which I do not like, or a roll back, something will happen, and Erin Hills will be the line in the sand.

Give a hundred top players 40+ yards to hit it in and it will always be easier and the lengths staggering.

[Bill]

Burn it down and grow some good Coastal Bermuda on it for the cows.

[FC]

Go, Mike Davis, go.

[JS]

Not sure if folks realize, but the U.S. Open isn't only about the golf course. There is lots of thought put into exactly which market they're taking the event. Why are we always complaining about golf courses, when they're all playing the same course? You didn't like it on TV? Then turn the channel. It's quite simple. Reading the original comment makes me think the person wasn't at the event. I also can't take comments from people who would shoot 150 on the course, that it wasn't a 'hard' U.S. Open set up. I was there as I've been yearly since 2007 at Oakmont, and can tell you very easily that this was a very successful championship....for the USGA, for the players, and most importantly, for the locals. Within a 30 minute drive you could be in the greater Milwaukee area, where it certainly isn't the 'middle of nowhere'. I've golfed in the UK, and believe me when I say middle of nowhere is being nice to some of their 'championship' course locations.

[Kentucky Blue Grass]

What has happened to the US Open...such a steady decline.

[Hawkeye]

@Paul W, excellent question! They have either been seen as too easy (2011, 2017), or too tricked up this decade, but 2008 was neither - a tough but fair setup that yielded both birdies and proportionate punishment for poor shots, a classic winning score of -1, and one heck of an exciting finish. But there has been nothing like the US Opens of the 1980's, when the classic courses were still challenging in their own right without setup trickery, since the turn of the century.

[Paul W]

@Hawkeye and Manku yes I guess 2008 might be it. But I do agree we haven’t seen a “classic” one in awhile. Maybe Winged Foot. I appreciate the USGA has been trying for variety but to me that’s why the other 3 majors exist.

[OWGR Fan]

@ P Thomas you stated "Give a hundred top players 40+ yards to hit it in and it will always be easier and the lengths staggering."

If that's true why did so many of the top ranked players in the world miss the cut at Erin Hills? I mean professional golf is so easy now due to the equipment. Right?

[OWGR Fan]

@Paul W - Oakmont in 2007 was pretty good as well. No crazy rough. Hard fair course for all. Plenty of great golf. Nice mix of players in the top 10. Short hitters, long hitters, young, old and a great finish. One of the great ball striking rounds by Tiger in the 3rd round but not able to make the putts after many great looks. Angel Cabrera nuking it off the tee. His joy when he made putts in the last round. I'm sure I;ll be told I'm wrong by the constant misery crowd here.

[Wickers]

@Paul W

Exactly how was Merion tricked up? 2 of the 120+ bunkers were moved. Some fairways narrowed in landing areas. Medium rough length. Sunday hole locations that the members play regularly. Green speeds not uncommon for Merion. The course was left basically in Open condition for the remainder of ‘13 and all of ‘14!

[Paul W]

Yes, @OWGR would agree re Oakmont. It seems back around that timeframe since the last really great ones.

@Wickers my recollection around the time of the Merion tourney was alot of griping. This kind of summed it up. http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/golf/sdut-us-open-merion-usga-2013jun17-story.html

Of course lots of folks don't mind this. I tended to agree that it was contrived.

[P Thomas]

Because even the top players miss cuts sometimes?

We need to separate the great Jack and Tiger standard of never missing cuts from the very good of most others.

Giving extreme width to the best players opens the event to many more players to freewheel it....
being able to hit six irons 195+ yards and 135 feet in the air doesn't require much strategy of placement like it does for mortals.
Give guys huge fairways, it's next to impossible to hide hole locations

[R5000]

One huge fix then could make right away:

Take the broadcast off Fox. Horrible.