[Brian Colbert]

A friend of mine posted a link on twitter today to the hole by hole scoring averages for the Am at Merion in 2005. A few things that I found interesting:

1) As I would expect, 5 and 18 were among the hardest holes while 10 and 13 were the easiest.

2) The back nine played +4.28 while the front nine played +3.87. Accordingly, 17 and 18 made for an extremely difficult finish, representing the #1 and 3 toughest holes.

3) The par 3s, with exception of 14, are going to be an incredible challenge. 3, 9, and 17 were all in the top 5 most difficult holes.

4) Overall the scoring average was 78.16. Adjusting for caliber of field, modern advances in technology, and changes to the course, my guess is we'll have a scoring average of about 73.

5) Low at Merion was 69, shot a handful of times.

Anyway, here's the link for the stats: http://www.usamateur.org/2005/scoring/csuma.htm
Here's the actual leaderboard (a pretty interesting read, some cool names on there) http://www.usamateur.org/2005/scoring/alllb.htm

Note that in the US Amateur, only half the field plays the course each day and half the field plays another course. The pins are moved in between rounds but only about 3-4 yards. Therefore, if you scroll to the middle and look at the combined average for the two rounds, those will be your field averages.

[Jim Nugent]

Brian, I remember the scoring as real high, with 69 the lowest full 18-hole score.  But I also remember the winner tearing up the course in the final, going 7 or so under. 

IIRC, conditions were soft during the Am, with some fairly easy pins.  Tougher pins alone might raise that average score you predicted.  F&F conditions might raise it a whole lot. 

[Tim Gavrich]

Also worth noting is the slate of course setup points for that 2005 Open. They are as follows:

Par: 70
Yardage: 6,846 yards
Green Speed: 11'6"
Primary Rough: 4"
Intermediate Rough: 1.5"

Has the USGA publicized the above information for this year's Open yet? Beyond the par (70) and the yardage (6,996 yards), I mean.

I'm looking into comparisons of Pinehurst's recent Amateur (2008) and Open (2005), as well as those of Winged Foot (Am 2004, Open 2006). Perhaps that will give us an idea of what the scoring may be like at Merion this year. Stay tuned.

[Phil McDade]

I've always had the impression that by and large, the field at the US Amateur these days consists of college and high school players, or those who are just a year or two beyond that, who tend to just blast away off the tee -- they don't have the discipline of the pros to know when to throttle back. Interesting that guys like Zahringer and Wostenholme, surely two of the shortest drivers off the tee at that year's Amateur, made the cut, as did Webb Simpson and Molinari, neither one known for length off the tee. Maybe a precursor for this year's Open?

[JSlonis]

I was surprised with the high scoring at that 2005 Am. I thought the setup during the qualifying rounds was pretty benign compared to some conditions I've seen and played in there. A good friend of mine Austin Eaton made the Semi's that year. It didn't surprise me to see a very good Mid Am player do quite well at that venue. He took down 3 college All American's (Pablo Martin, Rhys Davies, Anthony Kim) on the way to a 2&1 loss to Molinari.

[fred ruttenberg]

A major difference was the rough which was thin in August and worn down be allowing the crowd to walk there.  I saw players hitting out of the rough with little diffficulty.  The situation is much different this time of year.

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