U.S. Open host Erin Hills looks spectacular, but it can be 'nasty'
Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE These players are on the cusp of stardom and just need their first major championship to put them over the edge.
Jordan Spieth drives off the 5th tee box during the opening practice round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Erin Hills on June 12.(Photo: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports).
— The gentle, rolling prairies of Erin Hills, emerging from the collision of glaciers more than 10,000 years ago and home this week to the 117th edition of the U.S. Open, offer a peaceful aura.
Covering 652 acres of the Heartland northwest of Milwaukee, the former cattle farm remains home to multiple barns and stone homes that look like they came straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting.
The design team of Michael Hurdzan, Dana Fry and Ron Whitten added the final strokes with a stretch of spacious fairways, eye-catching bunkers and welcoming putting surfaces.
From a distance even the tallest fescue rimming the fairways is a pleasing sight, much like a field of wheat softly blowing in the breeze. Upon closer inspection, however, Erin Hills suggests a different picture.
"I was skeptical about it when I got here, but I found it to be spectacular.
I love the natural nature of it," said Fox Sports lead analyst Paul Azinger, the winner of 12 PGA Tour titles, including the 1993 PGA Championship. "But oh, Erin Hills, she can be nasty.". MORE:.
For Davis Love III, a father-son outing at the US Open. Andy North overcame injuries to win U.S. Azinger played and walked the course for the first time a couple weeks back, charting along the way.
His top takeaway? While not a single tree and less than a handful of water hazards come into play, there's little comfort to be found.
Most of the holes involve blind or semi-blind tee shots, an unnerving feeling even for the best players in the world.
There will be many uphill approach shots where the golf ball won't spin as much heading into rock-hard greens, making it much harder to stop the ball.
And Erin Hills is at the whim of wind, its 18 holes built with little to no protection from air streams. That creates plenty of holes at the mercy of crosswinds, which will create plenty of havoc.
With few of the greens protected from the wind, putting could be an adventure. And the course's calling card, the fescue, already has players steaming.
"If the wind doesn't blow, the scores will be reasonably good, but the odds of the wind not blowing are very low. It's a torture chamber when it's blowing above 20 mph," Azinger said.
Azinger, who got shin splints walking up and down the numerous hills two weeks ago, said there are two "killer" stretches on the course that's set to play in the vicinity of 7,700 yards, the second longest in history.
The first involves holes 6-12, where every hole goes in an opposite direction, meaning players will face different winds on each one.
The second involves the closing five holes, which includes the drivable par-4 15th and the monstrous par-5 18th, which could play 675 yards. "You could see a train wreck on 18 and it's a par-5," Azinger said.
A view of the yardage marker for the 637-yard 18th hole seen during the opening practice round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Erin Hills on June 12. (Photo: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports) .
The layout, which opened just 11 years ago and played host to the 2011 U.S. Amateur to mixed results, is being seen for the first time this week by the vast majority of the 156 players in the field.
Their initial take? It will be unforgiving. It will provide a stern mental challenge. And an unyielding physical test — a few caddies said they got tired just walking the course, and that was without the golf bag.
It will be the first U.S. Open course to play to a par of 72 since 1992. And for the first time in 89 years, the first and last holes are par-5s. Three holes could play longer than 600 yards.
"It's a very, very big golf course," said Justin Thomas, a three-time winner this season, who arrived Saturday and started his reconnaissance immediately. "It's a tough, tough walk.
The fairways are big, but the hard part about it is if it does get windy, there are a lot of crosswinds.
So that will make the tee shots much tougher even with the big fairways because you pretty much know the ball will be coming in sideways, and if it gets firm, the fairways will become smaller.
And there are a lot of humps and bumps in the fairways so good drives might take a bad bounce into trouble.
"And if the wind blows, it's going to affect putting a lot. I think that is something that is so underrated and so overlooked by so many, is how much wind can affect putting.
And here, there is so little protection on almost all of the greens. In strong winds, it is going to be very severe. "And the fescue will come into play. And it is brutal.".
Just ask Kevin Na. The fescue is usually wispy and unpredictable but this week, a stretch 3-5 yards wide bordering the fairways is brutishly thick. Na posted a video to Facebook on Sunday that went viral.
In it, he threw a golf ball into the fescue from three feet. He barely found it. Then he whiffed when trying to hit it. Then he advanced the ball just a few feet on his second try.
Na said he wasn't ripping the U.S. Golf Association with the video or criticizing the overseers of the tournament by suggesting that past U.S.
Open champions such as Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Curtis Strange and Hale Irwin should form a committee to set up future U.S. Opens.
"I like the golf course. It's a good design. I think the fairways are generous. But the fescue, I think, is a little overdone," Na said.
"All I was trying to show the fans was an inside-the-ropes view of what we're dealing with. Do I think the fescue is overdone? Yes. Do I think this is a good golf course? Yes. Do I like it? Yes.".
And in a way, Na said, the fescue could be the equalizer for shorter hitters. "If the bombers start hitting it into the fescue, well, you're lucky to find your ball," he said. "The worst fescue is about 5 yards wide.
If you go beyond that it's actually better. But let me thank the volunteers in advance for looking for our golf balls and finding them because we're going to need your help. "Because everyone is going to hit it in there.
The course is in perfect shape, one and all will tell you. None, however, can predict a winning score, for they don't know what the USGA will do with its setup and what the weather will deal. "We go into every U.S.
Open saying that Mother Nature is going to play actually a bigger role than we will play in terms of how stern a test it is," said Mike Davis, executive director and CEO of the USGA.
"What we really are after is to see if we can set the golf course up in such a way that tests every aspect of the game.
As one of our fellow staffers said, we want to see all 14 clubs in a players bag get dirty.
And if its windy, the test is just going to be a little sterner, and if its not, were still going to give away the trophy and the Jack Nicklaus gold medal for the low 72-hole score.".
Jordan Spieth chips his ball out of the tall fescue and lands within 4 feet of the cup on this shot on the the 8th hole.
He said he was limiting his play as his allergies were flaring up during the first day of practice for the 2017 U.S.
Open Championship at Erin Hills on June 12. Rick Wood, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Fullscreen Aiden Knight, 5, of River Hills, Wis., watches golfers on the practice green.
He has golf clubs of his own and was enjoying the action during the first day of practice for the 2017 U.S.
Open Championship at Erin Hills on June 12. Rick Wood, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Fullscreen Spectators seek shade under the tree along the 18th fairway during the opening practice round of the U.S.
Open golf tournament at Erin Hills on June 12. Michael Madrid-USA.
For more infomation >> Corey Graves: "I never expected to be a commentator, but I'm a having the greatest time" - Duration: 4:22. 
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét