Misc: ***Official US Open Thread***
- Thread starter jbindm
- Start date
Good question. How do you feel every time you freak out and post on CF?
i thought it was an awesome tournament. a young budding star like koepka making 3 birdies down the stretch? That's how you win a US Open.
If anyone wants to (*^&%^ that it wasn't tough enough, unless you make a course borderline unfair, or the weather is ridiculous, pros are going to shoot 10 under now no matter what.
If anyone wants to (*^&%^ that it wasn't tough enough, unless you make a course borderline unfair, or the weather is ridiculous, pros are going to shoot 10 under now no matter what.
The only two things I didn't like about the tourney were Joe Buck and that the back nine was mostly a runaway. Going into the final round, it felt like there were 10 people that could have won it but no one could hang. I committed far too much time (20+ hours) the first three days for the last two hours to be a snoozer!
When you get back home would be great. Live streaming isn't necessary.
As you had requested, here's my course report. Obviously the course played really long but these guys are so long off of the tee that length really didn't matter much because the fareways had so much roll to them. After walking the course I think it's safe to say that TV does no justice to the changes in elevation. Other than standing on a tee box I don't think anyone had a "flat" lie all week. The fescue was absolutely brutal and was anywhere from knee to waist high. Around the greens there was zero forgiveness for missing the green and getting up and down was a challenge due to the elevation and pin placements. The fairways were very wide for a US Open course and you really had to hit a pretty bad tee shot to find the fescue. The pro's make it look easy but on most of the par fives the second shot was much more difficult than the tee shot just because of the way the holes were shaped and how you had to position yourself for your approach shot. I loved how they could set the course up so that it played differently every day. That area had seen quite a bit of rain throughout the week and this spring, so the course played much softer than intended. In dry conditions the scores would have been much higher.
From a patron standpoint I thought it was much easier to get around the course compared to Whistling Straits two years ago. There was a ton of bleacher seating around the course and on Friday capacity was never an issue, so that was nice. There were some holes that didn't have the best viewing but that is pretty unavoidable with a course like Erin Hills. I thought the USGA did a pretty crappy job with concessions though. The food options were extremely minimal and the only place you could get a beer was at the concession stands that sold food, so the lines were stupid long. I'm not sure why the USGA didn't have side vendors set up for beer sales but they definitely lost out on some significant concession revenue due to their set up. I was also disappointed with their inventory at the Merchandise tent/store. We stopped on our way out on Friday and they were out of stock on all of the large and XL Nike and Under Armour polos. I asked if they were getting more shirts in for Saturday and Sunday and they said "no, what we have is it." Again, this is a pretty big miss for the USGA and there were a lot of frustrated people in the merchandise store. To compare, I stopped at the merchandise store at Whistling Straits after the Saturday round and they had stock on everything and had merchandise flown in every night for the next day. We had to park about 30 minutes south of the course and then catch the shuttle. The set up the USGA put in place was absolutely awesome. There were thousands of people waiting in line to go through security and get on the shuttle and from the time we parked until the time we got on the bus it was maybe 30 minutes. That was pretty impressive.
TV never gives you a great perspective on the elevation changes. Once in a while you'll get a camera shot which really shows the dramatic slope of the greens with a false front. I heard the ratings were lousy and some are blaming it on the fact that there were more little known names at the top of the leader board. I think it was because Fox's coverage is awful. Too much talking when they could be showing players making shots. There is always someone making a shot. You need a director that can switch from shot to shot to keep the viewers seeing what they want to see and that is golf. I don't tune in to see Joe Buck and whomever else is in the booth talking.
My brother sat next to this little old lady on the shuttle bus on the way to the course on Friday and she had already had enough of Joe Buck on Thursday. She didn't have a lot of nice things to say
It was just hilarious listening to her because she was so nice and informative and then just went on a rant about him.The course isn't getting a fair review because the heavy weights were nowhere to be found. I've read a lot of criticism that it favored "bombers" off of the tee yet guys like DJ and Rory were nowhere to be found. The guys that scored well hit fairways and greens and were making putts plain and simple. The course didn't play as long as the posted yardage because the fairways had a ton of roll to them even in wet conditions. I think that if the USGA would change anything, they would tighten the fairways some and have a wider area of primary rough. I could see them introducing more primary rough around the greens as well.
As an avid golf fan I hate how the USGA turns courses into unplayable circus golf. I want to see guys struggle some but I also want to see guys rewarded for hitting a quality shot, which is why I really enjoyed Erin Hills. The 2015 Open at Chambers Bay was absolutely painful to watch.
Fox's coverage is better than CBS by so far it's not funny. They show far more shots and I would bet they show more shots than NBC. Joe Buck isn't nearly as bad as Jim Nantz and don't even get me started on Nick Faldo. This residual complaining about Fox is ridiculous. They have the best talent in the booth, great former player commentary and they showed shots. It'll never be perfect due to the nature of golf itself, but they do pretty well. Get rid of Sonders, find something more relevant for Gil to do and it would be really good. This is also a production company that doesn't broadcast much golf so they get next to zero "practice" for the second biggest American event of the year.
My brother sat next to this little old lady on the shuttle bus on the way to the course on Friday and she had already had enough of Joe Buck on Thursday. She didn't have a lot of nice things to say
The course isn't getting a fair review because the heavy weights were nowhere to be found. I've read a lot of criticism that it favored "bombers" off of the tee yet guys like DJ and Rory were nowhere to be found. The guys that scored well hit fairways and greens and were making putts plain and simple. The course didn't play as long as the posted yardage because the fairways had a ton of roll to them even in wet conditions. I think that if the USGA would change anything, they would tighten the fairways some and have a wider area of primary rough. I could see them introducing more primary rough around the greens as well.
As an avid golf fan I hate how the USGA turns courses into unplayable circus golf. I want to see guys struggle some but I also want to see guys rewarded for hitting a quality shot, which is why I really enjoyed Erin Hills. The 2015 Open at Chambers Bay was absolutely painful to watch.
If you narrow the fairways you play into longer hitters game even more because the guy like Harman who's hitting a 5 wood into a green can't create the angle he needs to do so. At Erin Hills he could do that. This course was extremely fair because it didn't take driver out of the bag for the longer guys and it gave the little guys a chance to give themselves angles to hit longer clubs into greens. This whole idea of marginalizing the driver annoys me. Tee shots have and will always be a huge part of succeeding in a given week.
I really like the tracer technology that Fox uses as well.
It seemed a little wonky but it was cool. I really like it paired with the thing that tells you where the flag is. Really heightens the suspense for a couple minutes.
No rough around/near the greens is new for a U.S. Open.
Joe Buck is brutal.
I know Zinger and he's OK but maybe needs to cut back a little on the goofy guy on the driving range schtick.
"He's thinner than prison soup". I don't even...........
Joe Buck is brutal.
I know Zinger and he's OK but maybe needs to cut back a little on the goofy guy on the driving range schtick.
"He's thinner than prison soup". I don't even...........
Personally I love the tracer technology on nearly every shot on Fox, as well as showing where the pin is and the exact distance. That is sweet IMO. It's just amazing how often these guys' shots are right on the flag, no matter how much they are fading it or drawing it in. It's also interesting to see how many guys fade it or draw it. Seems like off the tee you'll see quite a bit of both fades and draws, but on iron shots it seems predominantly draws for some reason?
Now the Fox announcing team to me is just VERY annoying. And it's not all just Buck either. I like Azinger, but as an announcer I just don't enjoy his commentary all that much for some reason?
As far as the course, these guys are just so good now that you practically have to make it a circus course to make the winning score just a few over par. Yesterday Matsuyama had 184 yds UPHILL with a side wind, and hit a 9 iron right to the middle of the green. So how do you make a course too long for these guys these days? And if this was truly a "bombers" course, why did Rory, DJ, and Day not even make the cut? And why did Harman finish in 2nd and he's one of the shorter hitters? All nonsense.
If you hit it straight, and get on in regulation, you did pretty well. How else do you want to determine the winner than that?
Now the Fox announcing team to me is just VERY annoying. And it's not all just Buck either. I like Azinger, but as an announcer I just don't enjoy his commentary all that much for some reason?
As far as the course, these guys are just so good now that you practically have to make it a circus course to make the winning score just a few over par. Yesterday Matsuyama had 184 yds UPHILL with a side wind, and hit a 9 iron right to the middle of the green. So how do you make a course too long for these guys these days? And if this was truly a "bombers" course, why did Rory, DJ, and Day not even make the cut? And why did Harman finish in 2nd and he's one of the shorter hitters? All nonsense.
If you hit it straight, and get on in regulation, you did pretty well. How else do you want to determine the winner than that?
I'll give you that on Zinger. It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't keep using the same ones.
I really don't get the hate for Buck.
