I Hate The US Open

[2over]

The US Open is not only my least favorite major to watch, I can think of half a dozen regular tour events I'd rather watch. And it's a simple problem: the ridiculous rough. With narrow hard fairways playing effectively 10 or 15 yards wide on a slopey course like Winged Foot good shots get punished over and over. And 4 or 6 or 8 inch (or whatever it is) rough just takes all the skill out of the game. It makes the best in the world look little different than Sunday afternoon duffers. I hate it--I know I can just turn it off (and I have) but it makes the supers of the courses I play grow the rough crazy long as well. It turns it into a hack and hope which is not golf, to me.

 

Bobby Jones was right in the original Augusta set-up. No rough. Let the best players show their skill by letting them put the club cleanly on the back of the ball (the skill duffers uniformly lack with their scoopy moves). I like the tree-lined course, but let them bend it around, over, and under when they're over there and show their skill. I've played and enjoy the British Open rota courses... and there is serious knee high rough on most of those. But it comes on wide, wide fairways and punishes truly poor golf shots.

 

Making the best players in the world look like hackers who can't break par is just silly and dull. I'm turning it off. If enough of us do, maybe the USGA will get a clue...

[MtlJeff]

Its one tournament a year for the most part and people know what to expect.  Maybe its not for everyone.  I really enjoy it

[NevinW]

  I disagree.

[stickfish]

I agree.  Rough to them is akin to playing the ball down in some of our Southern Indiana fairways.  Know what to expect?  Nope.  Some days that light at the end of the tunnel is the way out.  Other days it’s a train.  
 

cheers,

<><

[tgoodspe1991]

If you think hitting out of the rough takes the skill out of the game then you're wrong. Rough is one of the "hazards" of golf that requires a lot of skill and course management to know how the ball is going to react. To me, saying you don't want rough is the same as saying get rid of all the fairway bunkers or water hazards or something. It's so unfair someone could hit a perfect drive and get a bad bounce and end up in a fairway bunker with a bad lie, ugh!

 

The beauty of golf is that we get a ton of different courses that all play in drastically different ways and require different course management and skill for each of them.

 

Rough is part of golf. Love it or hate it, they all have to play in the same conditions and, like every single golf tournament, the person who plays the best and has a little bit of luck on their side is the one that's going to hoist the trophy at the end of the week.

[dlygrisse]

I love it.  Why would you want the National Open to be like every other tournament?  It should always be a tough grueling test that tests your mental toughness and patience as much as skill. 

[Sean2]

It's one of my favorite tournaments of the season. As others have said, it's only once a year, the players know what to expect, and it requires mental, as well as physical stamina. 

[Kilo1545]

It doesn't make them look like "Sunday afternoon duffers."  A Sunday afternoon duffer would shoot around 100 on that course.  Your public track scratch guy would be in the high-80's/low-90's.

[McCann1]

I disagree as well.

 

I think it’s a great event. Week in week out we watch the greatest golfers at the top of their game. One week a year we get a golf course at the top of its game. 
 

You said good shots at the US Open get punished. That’s the point. To win you need to hit great shots, not just good ones. 

Edited September 19, 2020 by McCann1

[EmperorPenguin]

The USGA's philosophy is quite simple: hit it straight off the tee.  However, this new bomb-and-gouge game is even testing US Open setups, with Bryson gouging it out of the rough and getting the ball on the green.  Graduated rough is a Mike Davis invention, but to purists like me that gives bombers a little too much latitude.  I like the '74 US Open setup: fairway, then 1.75" fringes, and immediately to primary rough.  The pros should suffer, especially the crybabies who complain about deep rough.  Just hit the ball in the fairway, man!

[fawley]

4 minutes ago, EmperorPenguin said:

The USGA's philosophy is quite simple: hit it straight off the tee.  However, this new bomb-and-gouge game is even testing US Open setups, with Bryson gouging it out of the rough and getting the ball on the green.  Graduated rough is a Mike Davis invention, but to purists like me that gives bombers a little too much latitude.  I like the '74 US Open setup: fairway, then 1.75" fringes, and immediately to primary rough.  The pros should suffer, especially the crybabies who complain about deep rough.  Just hit the ball in the fairway, man!

 

Who are the cry babies complaining about it this year?

[Hawkeye77]

Hate is so ugly, such a waste of energy.

 

OP better not become a spy ---- gets captured, they force him to watch the U.S. Open and he'll be telling all our secrets before the turn.

[farmer]

The biggest difference at WF is that the greens are receptive enough to hold a ball even out of the rough.  I expected them to be as hard as grass and dirt can get.  Mid-summer, probably a different result.

[CaymanS]

I was working on the 14th fairway at Torrey North this year and had many balls on my side in the rough.  It was maybe 4 inches and some balls were really hard to see.  Mickelson walked up to one of his that I had marked and he said, "I don't see my ball".  Despite the lies I saw, I was astounded how most pros still hit the green or just off.  Of course they may have been closer from the fairway.  Even at Winged Foot, these guys are really good at judging their shots from the rough.  More often they have greater problems from being blocked from a clear shot.  I don't mind watching it at all because the playing field is exactly level. 

[Snoop Golfie Dogg]

I think the rough needs to be higher.  Some of these guys are advancing the ball 200 yards out of the rough.

[tannyhoban]

This has been a good tournament. Lead changes, opportunities for a big number on any given hole. I like it.

[cardoustie]

Love the set up, shot shaping off the tee and reading lies are part of skilled play

[cgasucks]

The US Open is my second favorite tournament (after the Masters) because it is brutally tough and reveals who is really the best of the best.  The PGA Championship is my least favorite as it feels like another run of the mill tournament to me.

Edited September 20, 2020 by cgasucks

[glm]

I some what agree but I don't want to see 27 under par either.

 

[doublehans]

Of all the majors, the PGA is overwhelming viewed as 4th in the list importance. Even tho its the usually the strongest field and gets high marks for the way it is set up. Why? Because its the like a regular tour event of any of majors. The US Open is different. Thats what makes it special. Totally get if some people dont like it, same goes with Masters/Open Championship. But take away the difficulty level and its just another golf tournament.....

Edited September 20, 2020 by doublehans

[Obee]

I disagree. 
 

i love three of the four majors for their unique challenges.

[ATLgopher]

3 hours ago, Kilo1545 said:

It doesn't make them look like "Sunday afternoon duffers."  A Sunday afternoon duffer would shoot around 100 on that course.  Your public track scratch guy would be in the high-80's/low-90's.

Sunday duffer would shoot much higher than 100

[mbl32465]

It’s suppose to be difficult. It’s a major. 
 

Tight fairways and thick, tall rough is what the US Open is all about. 

 

Super wide fairways and short rough is what takes skill out of the game. Then it’s all power and wedges. Which is what the majority of Tour tracks are nowadays. It takes precision to shoot low at the US Open, not just power. And, that is how it should be. 

[Chanceman]

32 minutes ago, ATLgopher said:

Sunday duffer would shoot much higher than 100

Yup, I reckon 125 would be a good score for me with that setup.  White tees of course.

[Kilo1545]

1 hour ago, ATLgopher said:

Sunday duffer would shoot much higher than 100

That's what you chose to nitpick?  ?  ?

[PhilsFanDrew]

I don't hate the US Open but I will say there can definitely be some contrived setups the USGA does where they trick it out too much to the point that it takes away from the design of the course that is hosting. 

[cdnglf]

It is my fifth favorite major.

[Forged4ever]

Ok then

 

 

Cheers?

RP

[Maximilian]

I think it can be boring when the rough around the greens is so thick it stops every ball right away, combined with greens that are so hard that there is no way to stop them on the greens. Then it just becomes a chipping contest from one foot outside of the green regardless of how good or bad approach shot someone hit.
 

And in general I agree with OP that too much rough isn’t all that fun in general. But so far I have to say I think this US Open is pretty good. Good shots hit to the right spot of the green is still rewarded.

 

I’m a bit puzzled Wolff is leading when he only hit what, two fairways yesterday? Will be interesting to see if that hold up today.

[elwhippy]

$12.5, prize money. Got to make them work. Winged Foot is a masterpiece. Great viewing.