US Open Rough and Bunkers
I read Geoff Shackelford’s interview with Pete Dye and have a few comments. Pete says that bunkers are not hazards for the pros because they are too easy and uniform. He also says that what the USGA did with the rough at Oakmont was wrong. I’ve seen numerous other comments about how the rough at the US Open is too high because the players can only chip out of it.
I was a walking rules official at all four rounds of the US Open in 2007. I walked with 10 players. Some as strong as Angel Cabrera (Round 1) to others who, like Lee Janzen (Round 4), are smaller and no where near as strong. During those four rounds, the only time I saw a player “chip out” of the rough was when one player had a terrible stance on the back side of a bunker. Even then, he moved the ball quite a way. Every other time I saw a player hit his tee shot into the rough, he was able to move it somewhere near the green if not onto it. I agree that the rough around some of the greens can be so tough that it eliminates many options on how to play out of it, but the green complexes around Oakmont are designed for lots of chipping areas like Pinehurst.
As for the bunkers, they are definitely no picnic at Oakmont. If a player hits into a fairway bunker, they rarely can get to the green. Around the greens, they are deep and the slopes off the back of them make controlling distance difficult. Also, the USGA usually makes sure the sand is deeper and softer than is found at typical PGA Tour events. I certainly never heard a player yell “Get in the bunker” during the week.
The PGA Tour does ensure that bunkers are uniform. The pros are experts at bunker shots and with the perfect conditions they find at a typical tour event they aren’t really hazards anymore. I remember a PGA pro (club not tour) say that every greenside bunker should be raked towards the hole location each day. What a joke.
As with the NBA modifying such violations as the three second zone and the “definition of traveling”, the PGATour liberalizes setup (of which sand conditions is just one part) maintaining as much constancy week to week to showcase their players. the US PGATour is first and foremost an Entertainment Venue, just as is the NBA.
As another example of this: One Tiger (Eldrick) Woods skipped the Mercedes Championship again this season because he did not want to deal with the rub of the green that can be Bermuda green surfaces. One must be “fair” you know.
Being an entertainment venue, the PGATour would if possible create its own rules and indeed does so. For example with the proverbial “lift, clean and cheat” described as “lift clean and drop” conditions of play when there are wet conditions the players definitely get to play with a different rule or at least interpretation of the rule. We that play amateur tournaments never encounter such conditions in the wet as the professionals dealing with our mudballs as we encounter them.
Well, John, be thankful that the PGA Tour has not as yet created the circumstance in which players are entitled to regularly lift rake and place in said bunkers! Just wait …
Cheers, Bro.
Bill,
The USGA and R&A added wording for “Lift, Clean and Place” to the appendix of the Rules of Golf a while ago just so everyone would be consistent with it. I understand the need for it when bad weather has been a problem or expected, especially when a tournament needs to be completed in a certain time period. But, I think the PGA Tour over uses it in order to improve scoring.
I notice that they didn’t use it at Tiger’s tournament in December even though there was a lot of mud on the balls. I’m sure he had something to do with that.