Course is lengthened to 7,574 yards for major
Playing beefed-up Congressional Country Club on Monday morning, Graeme McDowell didn’t sound like a man anxious to defend his U.S. Open championship.
“No one will break par,” he tweeted.
At a news conference later, he reiterated the daunting challenge that awaits June 16-19 at Congressional’s Blue Course, which USGA executive director Mike Davis has stretched to 7,574 yards.
“It was a tough golf course that played every ounce of its yards,” McDowell said. “I’m not sure if I played the right tee on [No.] 11, Mike. You’ll have to tell me. I hit a really good drive and still had 240 yards to the pin. I couldn’t get there with a 3-wood. I’m hoping I’ve got the wrong tee on 11.”
McDowell’s got the right tee, just as he did at No. 18. The downhill par 4 will play 523 yards to a green guarded on three sides by water.
“[It’s] probably the toughest golf hole I’ve maybe ever played,” McDowell said. “I hit a good drive today and still had 230 to the pin.”
To make Congressional the second-longest course in U.S. Open history and 361 yards longer than when the course hosted the Open in 1997, Davis added tee boxes to eight holes. But not all of Davis’ moves were dastardly.
No. 6 has been lengthened to 555 yards, but the downhill hole will play as a par 5, bringing risk-reward into the equation. Previously, it was a demanding par 4 with an approach over water.
“We just felt as a long par 4, trying to put hole locations up against the water was not only unfair, it was just really over the top,” Davis said. “The guys are good, but they’re not that good.”
Davis said his goal in setting up U.S. Open courses is to identify the best player by rewarding good shots and penalizing poor ones. Using the back nine at Augusta National as a model, Davis said the ideal course setup encourages risk. He tried to arrange Congressional with that in mind. He will have achieved his goal, he said, if there is a wider dispersion of scores.
“Why do you love [Augusta]?” Davis asked. “You can see eagles, but on the same holes you can see bogeys and double bogeys. We love that. That changes the leader board quickly.”
Congressional’s greens will do their part. The bent grass surfaces are soft and receptive to shots from the fairway, but they won’t be easy. Davis says the greens will be cut short and fast, registering 14.5 on the Stimpmeter, a device used for measuring green speeds. By comparison, the greens at famed Pebble Beach last year were “stimped” at 11.5.
“It really brings the contours to life,” Davis said of the sloped and terraced greens at Congressional. “It really brings the strategy much more into play.”
Along with plenty of carnage.
