Do any other US Open rota courses have 10 as a par 3? With split tees, having the first hole be a par 3 would be a bit interesting I would think. Also with 9 being a par 3, that would mean back to back par 3s when you tee off 1. Probably not many of those in the Open rota as well...
Sean, They won't call it a par 3 and it really isn't, but during the recent Walker Cup the tee was up, and players were hitting the green with irons.
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David M,
I do see your point on #10, but I'd leave it as a par 4, grow-in the fescues short and long of the green and let them have at it. #10 is one fantastic green surface - I think I saw one guy take 5 total from 30 yards out.
I think I saw something like that as well. No doubt it is a great green but it was supposed to be impossible to reach and hold it with a tee shot, and given how short the hole is for these guys, I wonder if that makes for a rather awkward hole.
Some think it is exciting to move up the tee and present the golfer with the option to go for the green, but that loses its luster for me when the "par 4" is "driveable" with an iron. It looses its luster even further when going for the green with an iron may not be a reasonable play. At that point don't we just have a long par 3 with a green so ill suited that the reasonable play is to avoid it all together? How many people would approve of a hole like that if it weren't at Merion?
Don't get me wrong. My indictment is of the USGA and what they have let happen to the game. I think the 10th is a very good hole. But I wonder whether the hole makes sense in the context of a US Open setting, with today's equipment in the hands of the best players. It is not a matter of hard or easy, it is a matter of making some sort of sense as a golf hole, and I am not sure it does in that context.
Same goes for the 3rd, at whatever crazy distance they tried to play it at. Sure they can make it harder, but the potential cost is that it may not make much sense as a golf hole.
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As for the Mike Davis set up changes, they were great at Pebble and it will be interesting to see whether they try anything close to that at Merion. I hope they do, but judging from the Walker Cup it doesn't seem too likely, does it? Imagine the gallery problems they would have if they significantly widened the fairways.
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David,
The USGA will not have to do anything to Merion that they wouldn't do at other courses. The issue will be the conditioning the week of the event. If it's as firm as AGC this past weekend the course will look good even if there are SEVERAL 4 and 5 iron tee shots per round. The greens are more interesting and will demand high quality play from the tee AND fairway moreso that AGC.
Just out of curiosity, what makes you think they would, or even could, make the 10th a "mid-to-long iron par 3?
I don't think they would ever call the 10th a par 3, but from where they had the tees for part of the Walker Cup, players were reaching the green with irons.
As for the preparatory changes, you may be right about them being necessary at any other course, but with the exception of this year's open I feel the same way about most of the USGA's setups as I do about Merion. With their past approach, I'd just as soon they rotate back and forth between Bethpage Black and Torrey Pines, and leave the rest of the courses alone. I hope they stick with the setup approach they took this year, but I am curious to see what will happen after they hit a soft year and players really go low.
Plus, Jim, SEVERAL 4 and 5 iron tee shots a round at Merion? That was never how Merion was meant to be, was it?