Has the PGA Championship Surpassed the US Open...

[Lark]

Yes, that is what I am saying, among the others I’ve named. It looks bland and is strategically uninteresting.

[ChrisL52188]

There are plenty of great courses to choose...

Seriously... Long Island could host a ton of them, alone, with courses like National Golf Links of America, Sebonack Golf Club, Maidstone, Fisher Island Club, Friar’s Head (Phil Mickelson's favorite golf course). It doesn't always have to be at Shinnecock Hills.

Imagine a US Open or PGA at Bandon Dunes? I would love to see that. It would be a wonderful test.

 

 

Of course if I were in charge of the USGA, I would try other courses... Cypress Point would the ultimate dream for a major. But never will happen at Cypress..

[Outlier]

Obviously opinions can vary by individual, but usually there becomes some sort of concensus.....I don't recall hearing anything but extremely positive reviews from players, media, and architectural critics and other "students of the game" for Quail. with the notable exception of a green (12 I think) which Mickelson felt had a "dodgey" pin position....(but that was rectified 2 renovations ago). Quail with heavy influence from ANGC membership puts on a tour tournament that annually is rated at the absolute top (along with Muirifield Village) by the players. The course itself is considered a "big boy bruit" certainly not a quirky strategic puzzle.

[tiderider]

they need a rotation (if they are to have an identity) of, what, 10-12 courses? ... your first 5, and i also think taking over chambers bay would be neat ... i like that us open, but the usga flubbed a lot of stuff there, greens aside ... pga could show how to use that course ... in its current spring position, hopefully ... that would give 6 public, but they're not going to discontinue valhalla, and they will use something in dallas, either a new course or the dallas gc (or whatever it's called), so that's 8 ... wouldn't mind seeing erin hills host one if the usga isn't going to come around again ... they'd still need at least a couple of privates ... that's 9 ... the long island bluebloods/new blue bloods are private, and have zero interest in hosting a pga championship, and probably any kind of usga event, i would think ... shadow creek is too ostentatious ... and ferry point is def not going to be chosen, regardless of whatever ...

 

would be really ideal to have the us and british opens later by about 3 weeks or so, to loosen up the schedule a bit, but that will never happen, though getting down to 2 wgc events could do some of the same ...

[ChrisL52188]

Why can't they just do it at the top 10 courses in America? Boy that's a heck of a list... As I mentioned above.

[Lark]

A number of those courses you mention would be too short or too easy for the Tour pros.

[Jackhammer993]

I believe The PGA has been more true to what it is. The US Open has no idea. They want to have everybody praise the layout and if people start complaining they get scared and soften things. It use to not be like that. Massacre at Winged Foot Part 2 hopefully coming up but I doubt it. Most likely will be Strolling through the daisies at Winged Foot.

[oikos1]

Ok, "bland and strategically uninteresting" is a start, but you've got to give a bit more substance to highlight the "impurities" of a major venue, otherwise it's just another opine in the big bowl of soup.

[ChrisL52188]

As always course setup would determine that. My solution... Greens running at 13-14 on the stimpmeter and 4 inch rough would take care of how easy it is.. Primary cut rough 2", secondary rough 4", fairway width 25 yards wide. That will scare them!

[ChrisL52188]

Massacre at Winged Foot won't happen unless the rough is 4-5" thick. Which could happen. If you really want a Massacre, make the fairways 15-20 yards wide.

[randywildman]

Fair enough but the real summer in SF is September early October and the rates are from 120- 61 which is pretty reasonable. This is maybe the cheapest course you could play that the pro's play. what are the rates at Bethpage ? checked only Bethpage is better rates and you have to camp out to play.

[driveandputtmachine]

Well, you are not going to get a good conditioned course if it costs 40 bucks a round. I am a member of a private course that is in great shape and pay 400 a month, based on what you are saying 2-3 times a month roughly equals ten times a month. At 400 a month for 10 rounds the amount you can spend on a superintendent, chemicals and greens staff is severely limited and the PGA would have to put a ton more money in for the years leading up to the tournament to keep it in great shape so they can do what they want with it at tournament time.
80 bucks for a resident in SF to play a golf course of that caliber is pretty cheap. In Atlanta the higher end public courses in the fall and spring are at or close to 80 bucks a round with a cart per person. Bethpage Black is 75 for residents on the weekend. 300 is expensive for non residents for Harding, Bethpage is 150 for non residents. So for the location of how close it is to the city for residents Harding Park is a great value for how nice of a course you get.
St. Andrews is roughly 300 dollars for a non resident to play. Pinehurst is 3 or 4 hundred. Kiawah is 400ish, Harbour Town is 300 and it only holds a regular tour event. The fact of the matter is these courses have extremely higher conditioning requirements(exception is the Old Course) to continue to hold events than your local muni or public course does.

[smashdn]

I think they did or do. I am not from up around that way so don't get the latest gossip. It is a routing set up for tournament golf. 18 is an amphitheater. It has a fair amount of space for tents but parking was off-site at the fairgrounds back towards town and they ran shuttles. It is pretty hilly too. I don't know how it compares to ANGC but Valhalla is a sporty walk.

The set-up at Harding Park was good and fit the course. The course is not super interesting however. They also played it at par 70 instead of the normal s chmuck (
Regarding Quail Hollow, my personal preference is that you don't use regular tour stops for majors if you can help from it and they can help from it.

[James the Hogan Fan]

 

Prices back to normal in September; I think the $300 is just to play it with a tourney setup. (Which is ridiculous, but not out of line with, for example, British Open venues in summer.

[tiderider]

seriously? ... the bluebloods at those courses don't want a tournament, and most can't be lengthened to any appreciable degree ... NGL has had two walker cups, and one of those was 100 years ago ... maidstone? ... it's 6500 yards long from the tips, with almost no room to lengthen anywhere ... those bluebloods do not need, nor want, a golf tournament ... a us open at bandon? ... it's in the middle of nowhere ... friars head? ... the nouveau wall st millionaires at friars head have zero interest in hosting a pga championship ... shinny has a relationship with the usga ... other than that, none of those private LI courses want the headaches that come with hosting a major tournament ... they certainly don't NEED a tournament ...

[Lark]

I like your thinking on this, but thick rough and fast greens still won't make enough of a challenge for these guys on a course under 7,000 yards. And make the fairways too narrow, the rough too thick, and the greens too fast and you just get a goofy tournament that is not fun to watch at all. National Golf Links tops out at under 7,000 yards. Maidstone and Fisher Island top out at around 6,600. Nothing can trick those up enough to challenge the pros unless you got silly with the setup.

[Lark]

This is all relative. It looks like a very nice course in great condition. But it looks like the property doesn't have many distinguishing features other than a manufactured-looking lake, it seems to be a paint-by-numbers target golf hole after hole type course. Think of U.S. major venues like Oakmont, Pebble Beach, Kiawah, Whistling Straits, Bethpage, Shinnecock, etc and Quail Hollow just doesn't seem near that level, and it doesn't make up for a non-elite course with good television eye candy, like Harding Park did or like Torrey Pines.

[ATLgopher]

Nature helped them, if you had Sunday’s wind the three other days it would have been like the Wyndham