A blog devoted to the state of golf.

I can't fault Kevin Na entirely for his rant about the Erin Hills natives. The fescue grasses are beautifully managed throughout a property that is pretty stunningly maintained. The grasses are sparse where they'd naturally be thin and more dense where water collects.

So to see the native grasses clearly receiving fairway irrigation overspray is not generally a shocker. We see it all too often on prairie courses. But the decision not to manage (trim) these crucial areas just off the primary cut is a risky one given how severe they are (to the point of the natives leaning over). A herd of goats or some refined thinning practices could have alienated what will be a potential lost ball issue.

That said, Na's suggestion that players should be handling setup is a frightening one!

Here is what he posted on Instagram:

Erin Hills is a great design course but the fescue is almost unplayable. BTW never found the ball. So don't hit it in there lol. straight hitters have a chance! #usopen #erinhills #mikedavis #lostball #usga

A post shared by Kevin Na (@kevinna915) on Jun 11, 2017 at 10:24am PDT

Here are some photos I Tweeted yesterday:

. @ErinHillsGolf in amazing condition but irrigation overspray of first five yards of native rough will be @usopengolf lost ball problem. pic.twitter.com/Xrym38gRp9
— Geoff Shackelford (@GeoffShac) June 12, 2017

And a video that may require hitting the link as Twitter video embeds are acting strange.

Here is the video version I took yesterday illustrating irrigation overspray effect on the @erinhillsgolf natives. https://t.co/hzeJkhWK5V pic.twitter.com/5pyl4CCrHQ
— Geoff Shackelford (@GeoffShac) June 12, 2017