Guide: 2014 U.S. Open Second Round This And That
/A welcomed downpour delivered 2/3rd's of an inch to dusty Pinehurst, which will keep the greens holding and allow spectators to take a little less of the Sandhills home with them. In the early Golf Channel coverage Steve Burkowski reported that the approaches and collars were not mown because of the rain, which might prevent a few shots from rolling well off of greens.
Normally rain wouldn't be cause for celebration, but in the interest of keeping this about players playing golf and Pinehurst being viewed in a positive light, the wet stuff can only help.
Your second round starting times are here.
TV and Radio times here.
And the second round hole locations:
**Course setup notes.
Green Speeds – Due to roughly 1 inch of rain last night, today’s green speeds will average just shy of 12 feet on the USGA Stimpmeter. This will be approximately a half-foot slower than the last four days.
Weather Affecting Course Setup – Three rain gauges on property measured (1) 0.64 inches, (2) 1 inch and (3) 1¼ inches. The rain fell very quickly, causing a great deal of washouts in bunkers and the sandy native areas. Due to a great deal of debris, fairways and closely mown areas around greens were not mown this morning. The likely net result is that players may opt to putt less when they are in the closely mown areas. Green firmness readings have dropped to their lowest (softest) readings in more than a couple of weeks.
Total Course Yardage for Friday (tee marker settings to flagstick) = 3,635 yards out; 3,793 yards in = 7,428 total yards
Hole-by-Hole Information:
Hole 1 – 399 yards; the hole location is in the center-right portion of the green.
Hole 2 – 513 yards; the hole location is in the challenging right quadrant of the green.
Hole 3 – 315 yards (307 yards lasered on a straight line from tee markers to flagstick); tee markers have been placed on the forward teeing ground; the hole location is in the front-right portion of the green; putts from the center of the green to the hole are relatively fast.
Hole 4 – 523 yards; tee markers have been placed on the back teeing ground; the hole is located in the front-left portion of the green.
Hole 5 – 563 yards; tee markers are placed on the middle of the three back teeing grounds; the hole location is in the back-left portion of the green, bringing the severe left fall-off into play.
Hole 6 – 245 yards; tee markers have been moved to the front of the back teeing ground; the hole location is in the back center, allowing for run-out on tee shots; this is one of the rare occasions on Pinehurst No. 2 where shots missed over the green leave the player with a reasonably good chance of saving par.
Hole 7 – 412 yards; the hole location is in the front-left portion of the green near the “bowl;” putts coming from the back half of the green are very fast; a miss short of the green in some cases might be preferable to hitting the green in regulation past the hole.
Hole 8 – 496 yards; the hole location is in the center-back portion of the green, bringing the severe fall-off behind, left and right of the green into play.
Hole 9 – 169 yards; tee markers are moved 17 paces forward of the tee sign; the hole location is in the lower-right half of the green; putts played from the upper left half of the green are very fast.
Hole 10 – 627 yards; the hole location is in the back center of the left quadrant of the green.
Hole 11 – 473 yards; the hole location is several paces over the front-left false front.
Hole 12 – 494 yards; tee markers are on the back teeing ground; the hole location is two-thirds of the way back on the right side.
Hole 13 – 383 yards; the hole location is just over the bunker that fronts the left side of the green.
Hole 14 – 480 yards; the hole location is two-thirds of the way back on a plateau on the right side of the green.
Hole 15 – 158 yards; tee markers have been moved up 37 paces on the far left side of the teeing ground; the hole location is in the front right of the green, just a few paces past the pronounced false front; even with the slower green speeds today, putts are very fast coming down to the hole from most parts of the green.
Hole 16 – 532 yards; the hole location is in the left portion of the green, roughly two-thirds deep in the green.
Hole 17 – 191 yards; the tee markers are placed on the front of the back teeing ground; the hole location is just over the front-right bunker.
Hole 18 – 455 yards; the hole location is in the left portion of the putting green, about two-thirds deep in the green.
