First U.S. Open Question: Would Wider And Firmer Have Been Better?

I've just hit the send button on 1100 words of course setup talk for Golf World and plan to actually eat some food, but after reading the initial reactions to Sunday, it seems a golf course topic is required. While I don't usually like to lean on stats, the numbers were eye opening this year. I'll save the really surprising stuff for my story so that the context isn't skewed, but as I noted in Golf World Monday, players hit 12% fewer fairways this year than in 1998 when Tom Meeks was painting fairway lines. And he wasn't exactly known for his generosity off the tee!

I also really enjoyed reading your kneejerk reactions and it seems that television did a good job conveying the often arbitrary nature of the landing zones.

So the first question is, would wider have made it better U.S. Open? Keep in mind this would have meant more drivers and mostly wedges into par-4s because of how firm the course got (as expected). But also remember that a lot of water was applied to the course to keep the fairways as playable, gulp, they were.

Here's what the USGA's Mike Davis said to this same general question when I asked him Sunday:

I think that if we had let the fairways get real firm then they could have been 50% wider and they would have played more narrow than these have played.

If The Course Setup Thing Doesn't Work For Mike Davis, Sunday Proves He Has A Career In Law Enforcement

Deadspin has a nice HD version and here's a GolfChannel.com version:

Kneejerk Reactions: 2012 U.S. Open Won By Webb Simpson

I'll be writing my feature story for Golf World but feel free to share any thoughts on the winner, the course, the finish, NBC, the state of the Euro, etc...

For what it's worth, my kneejerk reaction with the usual emphasis on jerk: Olympic Club shined but was underserved by a mixed bag setup that featured some of the usual great Mike Davis/Tom O'Toole moves (16 tee Sunday) and severely hampered by fairway contours that led to just too much plodding, defensive golf. That in no way is meant to take away from Webb Simpson or the fantastic presentation of Olympic by Pat Finlen and crew. But it was a very Meeks-like setup and I'm not wild about the kind of golf where the player who backs up least wins.

Video: John Peterson's 13th Hole Ace

From GolfChannel.com and NBC:

Peterson finished with 72, leaving him at 213 (+3) and paired with Retief Goosen at 2:10 Sunday.

Update on 2012-06-17 05:58 by Geoff

**Sean Martin talks to Peterson about the ace and his chances Sunday.

Then he came to Olympic’s par-3 13th and holed a 7-iron from 180 yards. “When it went in, man, I don’t know what I did, I want to watch the replay,” he said. “I hope y’all have a replay so I can see it again. But I went nuts. I know that. I tried chest bump my caddie and I missed and I think I hit his head. But it was really, really cool. First one ever. Being in the U.S. Open on the weekend was awesome.”

What Did You Make Of Saturday's U.S. Open Golf?

I was on the course all day and so I didn't get a sense of how the golf came across on television. Would love to hear your thoughts on the quality of golf you saw, the presentation of the course and some predictions for tomorrow.

2012 U.S. Open Third Round This, That And Open Comment Thread

A warm, glorious day greets golfers at Olympic Club for the third round of the U.S. Open. With the leaders teeing off at 3:05 they may actually experience still conditions on their back nine as the afternoon sea breeze dies down.

The setup figures to be fun, with a benign-looking (but apparently volatile) hole location on the short par-5 17th, and the 108-yard 15th bound to turn heads. Some are concerned that the front location on No. 8 could get a little goofy, but I watched early play there and the green seemed sufficiently soft to retain moisture by the time the leaders stroll through at 4:30.

The course certainly can't play any tougher than it has the first two days, can it?

Your leaderboard link is here.

NBC comes on the air at 1 p.m. Pacific, as does online Live Video of holes 8 and 18.

Update on 2012-06-16 21:44 by Geoff

**Course setup notes from Saturday:

COURSE SETUP: ROUND THREE OF THE 2012 U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

The following are details on the course setup for Round 3 of the 2012 U.S. Open at The Olympic Club, from Mike Davis, USGA Executive Director.

Weather Forecast for Saturday (provided by Jake Swick with Thor Guard Weather) – There will be plenty of sunshine mixing only with low-level haze and a few high-level clouds.  Temperatures will be comfortably warm again with highs in upper 60s early this afternoon before dropping back later with the arrival of a light onshore breeze. The winds today are predicted to be out of the southwest at 4 to 10 mph.

Green Speeds

This morning’s green speeds once again averaged in the low 13s on the USGA Stimpmeter immediately after the cut and roll. They will settle out in the mid 12s by midday. 

Water Management

Hand-watering was applied to all putting greens last night; more water was applied to all the greens this morning. The amount of hydration was based on firmness and moisture readings.   All fairways, green approaches and closely mown areas were watered on an as-needed basis last night. There has been an attempt to mimic firmness conditions from rounds 1 and 2.  

Total Course Yardage for Round 3 (tee marker settings to flagstick)

3,503 yards out, 3,545 yards in for 7,048 total yards

Hole-by-Hole Information

Hole 1 – 509 yards; the hole location is in the front-right swale.

Hole 2 – 427 yards; the hole location is back left.  

Hole 3 – 256 yards; tee markers placed on the back teeing ground for the first time in the championship; the hole location is placed in the far, back center on a green that subtly falls away front to back.

Hole 4 – 423 yards; the hole location is placed in the front right, making putts from the middle of the green very fast.

Hole 5 – 499 yards; tee markers placed on the back teeing ground; the hole location is in the center-left portion of the green; balls will feed to this hole but putts above will be fast.

Hole 6 – 499 yards; the hole location placed in back right.

Hole 7 – 268 yards; tee markers again placed on back of the penultimate teeing ground; hole location is placed just above the back tier on the left side making a miss to the left of the green a tough up and in.

Hole 8 – 188 yards; the hole location placed in front-left portion of the green only several paces over the false front; putts from the middle of the green to this hole location are quick.

Hole 9 – 434 yards; the hole location is front right; putts from most areas of the green will be downhill with a fairly hard left-to-right break.

Hole 10 – 436 yards; the hole location is far, back center of this fall-away putting green.

Hole 11 – 420 yards; the hole location is placed in the front right of the green; players will be able to use the tier that separates the green as a backstop.   

Hole 12 – 456 yards; tee markers placed on the back teeing ground; the hole location hugs the left side of the green.

Hole 13 – 180 yards; tee markers placed on the penultimate teeing ground; the hole location is about halfway back and close to the fall-off left of the green.

Hole 14 – 429 yards; the hole location placed in the far, back center of the green; putts from the middle of the green are surprisingly slow up to this hole location.

Hole 15 – 107 yards; tee markers have been moved to the very forward most area of the teeing ground; the hole location is placed only four paces on the green in the front- left corner.

Hole 16 – 671 yards; tee markers placed on the back teeing ground; the hole location is placed in the back-right corner just over the front-right bunker.

Hole 17 –  502 yards; tee markers placed on the players’ left teeing ground; the hole location is placed in the center of the green about a third of the way back; putts from above this hole are very fast.

Hole 18 – 344 yards; the hole location placed in back right just over a very subtle rise.

"I'm doing my best to enjoy the U.S. Open and Chris Berman is doing his best to make sure i don't."

Awful Announcing has some of the best Tweets from two days of Chris Berman's U.S. Open announce gig.