OT: US Open

[Chin Diesel]

Big course at Erin Hills. Lots of distance between holes and the stress of a major.

Gotta go with someone who can really control long iron spin. DJ, Ricky, Sergio, Rahm, Duffner, Stenson all come to mind.

I don't have any faith in Spieth, McIlory , Justin Thomas, Bubba or Day.

Branden Grace and Shane Lowry come to mind from overseas.

I'll go with Sergio for the double dip. He's got the major monkey off his back and does well on wide open courses.

 

[donyell34]

What's up with Phil. Go or no. I know he was hoping for rain.

 

[gtcam]

What's up with Phil. Go or no. I know he was hoping for rain.

No Go
Daughter's graduation
Good for him - the right thing to do
The guy is a class act

 

[QDOG5]

I picked DJ in my league. For the majors I usually don't stray far from the favorites. Erin Hills is about 2 hours from my house but I haven't played it yet. My friends who have like it but haven't raved about it. The most common thread IS the talk about how long the walks are between tees and greens(it's a walking course only). Kind of an odd thing to mention first. They have some nice cabins so most Chicago guys go up play in the afternoon, have dinner and stay overnight and play again the next morning. If someone were planning to golf in Wisconsin I would tell them to play Kohler (Whistling Straits) first because it has 4 excellent courses. Neither of these places are cheap but they are public.

 

[Jaker]

Love links style courses

 

[ConnZag3]

I picked DJ in my league. For the majors I usually don't stray far from the favorites. Erin Hills is about 2 hours from my house but I haven't played it yet. My friends who have like it but haven't raved about it. The most common thread IS the talk about how long the walks are between tees and greens(it's a walking course only). Kind of an odd thing to mention first. They have some nice cabins so most Chicago guys go up play in the afternoon, have dinner and stay overnight and play again the next morning. If someone were planning to golf in Wisconsin I would tell them to play Kohler (Whistling Straits) first because it has 4 excellent courses. Neither of these places are cheap but they are public.

I would tend to agree with this assessment. I live about 90 minutes away and played Erin Hills once about 5 years ago. It was a fun and challenging track for sure but I don't know that I would consider it a memorable round of golf. I think some of it has to do with the setting as it's basically in the middle of nowhere whereas Whistling Straits has you right along the shores of Lake Michigan. The elevation changes at Erin Hills are fun, especially the holes where you get to tee off high above the fairway, but as a Sunday hacker all the blind tee and approach shots get old and frustrating after a while, even when you have a caddie helping you find your errant ball.

Course really needs to dry out and the wind pick up otherwise we're gonna see a winning score like the last PGA at Whistling as the guys play target practice on the soft greens. -7 after 1 round has to be a little embarrassing for the USGA who wants a winning score less than that...

 

[Jerry1714]

Big course at Erin Hills. Lots of distance between holes and the stress of a major.

Gotta go with someone who can really control long iron spin. DJ, Ricky, Sergio, Rahm, Duffner, Stenson all come to mind.

I don't have any faith in Spieth, McIlory , Justin Thomas, Bubba or Day.

Branden Grace and Shane Lowry come to mind from overseas.

I'll go with Sergio for the double dip. He's got the major monkey off his back and does well on wide open courses.

Statistically Spieth and Day are two of the best long iron players in the world this year.

Bubba stinks so pretty easy not to like him, but I cannot see the other four not playing well here.

Rickie put together one of the best rounds of golf I have seen in the US Open, flawless tee to green.

 

[JSM1970]

It looks like the USGA is finally moving away from these stupid, gimmicky public courses like this and Chambers Bay. This course is incredibly stupid and looks awful on TV

The next few years they are at Shinnecock 2x, Pebble, Torrey, Pinehurst, Brookline, Oakmont, Winged Foot, etc.

They need a true rotation like the R&A

I would tend to agree with this assessment. I live about 90 minutes away and played Erin Hills once about 5 years ago. It was a fun and challenging track for sure but I don't know that I would consider it a memorable round of golf. I think some of it has to do with the setting as it's basically in the middle of nowhere whereas Whistling Straits has you right along the shores of Lake Michigan. The elevation changes at Erin Hills are fun, especially the holes where you get to tee off high above the fairway, but as a Sunday hacker all the blind tee and approach shots get old and frustrating after a while, even when you have a caddie helping you find your errant ball.

Course really needs to dry out and the wind pick up otherwise we're gonna see a winning score like the last PGA at Whistling as the guys play target practice on the soft greens. -7 after 1 round has to be a little embarrassing for the USGA who wants a winning score less than that...

 

[uconnfan68]

It looks like the USGA is finally moving away from these stupid, gimmicky public courses like this and Chambers Bay. This course is incredibly stupid and looks awful on TV

The next few years they are at Shinnecock 2x, Pebble, Torrey, Pinehurst, Brookline, Oakmont, Winged Foot, etc.

They need a true rotation like the R&A

Torrey and Bethpage are both muni courses. Pebble is a resort course, so it's playable too.
Played Torrey many times, Pebble once, and I'm well past being allowed to play Bethpage Black.

 

[jleves]

The leader board is a total mess. 2 top 10 players (#8 & #9) in the first 43.

 

[TXHuskyFan]

Torrey and Bethpage are both muni courses. Pebble is a resort course, so it's playable too.
Played Torrey many times, Pebble once, and I'm well past being allowed to play Bethpage Black.

US Open is always played on a "public" course. Resort courses included regardless of cost. It just has to be available to anyone that can pay.

 

[Jerry1714]

The leader board is a total mess. 2 top 10 players (#8 & #9) in the first 43.

Agree, but you got 5 guys ranked 11-19 in there too.

Really interested to see what happens tomorrow, a lot of these no names are going to fall back, and some big names will make some big moves. USGA will probably make the course more difficult as well, they had to hate how many red numbers were shot today.

 

[Jerry1714]

US Open is always played on a "public" course. Resort courses included regardless of cost. It just has to be available to anyone that can pay.

Um no they are not. Shinni, Winged Foot, Oakmont are all private and I could go on and on.

 

[Chin Diesel]

They're not going to out a drop of water on the fairway the rest of the week.

 

[Excalibur]

It looks like the USGA is finally moving away from these stupid, gimmicky public courses like this and Chambers Bay. This course is incredibly stupid and looks awful on TV

The next few years they are at Shinnecock 2x, Pebble, Torrey, Pinehurst, Brookline, Oakmont, Winged Foot, etc.

They need a true rotation like the R&A

Looks like JSM is finally right about something. The course is, apparently, $h!++y . . .

 

[LIuconn]

I'm pleasantly surprised by how the course appears on tv. I was afraid the holes would be monotonous but that isn't the case for the most part. No, it's not a true links (neither is Shinnecock Hills) but certainly has linksy characteristics.

It's becoming a real second shot course, which is a welcomed temporary move away from the tight, narrow US Opens we're used to. Guys can and will go low as long as they hit the proper part of the green, and they'll get penalized if they miss the fairway or even wrong side of the fairway. Rickie played one of the smoothest rounds I can remember yesterday.

It's wild that more amateurs are under par than those in the world top 10 after day 1. Shows the depth of the field and guys not being scared to go get it. I expect guys like DJ and Spieth to land in the 65-70 range, make the cut and be a factor on the weekend.

Too bad about the water - hopefully the USGA sets up bottled water stations

 

[Chin Diesel]

I'm pleasantly surprised by how the course appears on tv. I was afraid the holes would be monotonous but that isn't the case for the most part. No, it's not a true links (neither is Shinnecock Hills) but certainly has linksy characteristics.

It's becoming a real second shot course, which is a welcomed temporary move away from the tight, narrow US Opens we're used to. Guys can and will go low as long as they hit the proper part of the green, and they'll get penalized if they miss the fairway or even wrong side of the fairway. Rickie played one of the smoothest rounds I can remember yesterday.

It's wild that more amateurs are under par than those in the world top 10 after day 1. Shows the depth of the field and guys not being scared to go get it. I expect guys like DJ and Spieth to land in the 65-70 range, make the cut and be a factor on the weekend.

Too bad about the water - hopefully the USGA sets up bottled water stations

USGA made it a point to make players hit driver.
And we're seeing how poor some of these guys are with the big stick.
Week to week being a great driver isn't as important as it used to be. They hit 3-woods 290 yards and hybrids 250.
Love watching these guys having to control 4/5/6 irons in to greens for both trajectory and spin.

I'll go on record with -4 as winning score.

 

[uconnfan68]

US Open is always played on a "public" course. Resort courses included regardless of cost. It just has to be available to anyone that can pay.

Pretty sure you can't make a tee time at Congressional, or Merion, or Oakmont, or Winged Foot, or Shinnecock, etc.

 

[LIuconn]

@Chin Diesel - it's more fun to watch these guys have the option, as opposed to Sawgrass or Muirfield Village where the course dictates club selection from the tee. There are plenty of false fronted greens at Erin Hills, but no cross-streams, lakes or hokey doglegs that take driver out of the longest hitters' hands.

I think we're seeing that driving distance is a factor, but all these guys hit their long irons with laser-precision (500+ yard par 4 played as the easiest hole yesterday), so the 'sticker shock' to them isn't what it is to us.

And yeah, can't call up Shinnecock Hills without going through Mike Bloomberg first, but you can drive by and buy gear from the shop! Rightfully so, even though these courses cost $250+ to play, you can play them, making this tournament and golf at least appear attainable.

 

[Kitaman]

Reminds me somewhat of the public courses I play on; no trees!

But oh that fescue, and other challenges certainly make it PGA worthy.

 

[UConnKev]

Atleast Jason Day and Rory will be well rested for the Travelers!

 

[Jerry1714]

Reminds me somewhat of the public courses I play on; no trees!

But oh that fescue, and other challenges certainly make it PGA worthy.

Chambers Bay could have been a decent venue if the greens were not an utter disaster.

 

[Kitaman]

Atleast Jason Day and Rory will be well rested for the Travelers!

And hungry, perhaps.

 

[Kitaman]

Fox Sports Go is broadcasting the Open online.

 

[mauconnfan]

Fox Sports Go is broadcasting the Open online.

Its on FS1 TV.