I’ll be hosting a half-hour Golf Course Trades event with the folks from Philly Cricket Club on May 27, 2021 at 12pm. PGA Head Professional Jim Smith, Jr. and Director of Grounds Dan Meersman will join me for a talk about their wonderful renovation by architect Keith Foster, their upcoming 100th year anniversary celebrations, and where they fit in A.W...
What makes a truly great 18th hole? Easy: It must be a summation of all that came before. The most iconic courses in the world finish with the grandest of flourishes. Some prefer the grandeur of a majestic, sweeping par-5 so the golfer has a chance to close with a birdie. Others prefer 18 to be the hardest par-4 on the course, demanding your best drive and best...
It’s its 97-year history, and over the course of six U.S. Opens, this is the only time you can’t say “Winged Foot won this Open.” 27-year old Bryson DeChambeau claimed the 120th U.S. Open with a closing 67 and total of 6-under, breezing past third round leader Matthew Wolff, who finished second, a distant six shots back at even par. South...
Tiger Woods was among seven former U.S. Open champions to miss the cut at the 2020 U.S. Open. In clear but windy conditions at Winged Foot Golf Club’s West course, Woods followed Thursday’s milquetoast 73 with a ghastly 77, 10-over par, four shots over the cut line and 14 back of leader Patrick Reed. It’s the third missed cut in the last four U.S...
On a cool, windy day, Winged Foot turned the tables on the 2020 U.S. Open field, playing almost three strokes harder than Thursday’s opening round that saw record red numbers for a U.S. Open played over the fabled West course. Only three players broke par on Friday, and just seven more shot even par 70, including leader Patrick Reed, who finished at 4-under at...
On a day when a soft Winged Foot surrendered its lowest scores ever in a U.S. Open, Tiger Woods let his round slip away late, culminating with a ghastly double bogey at 18. As we go to press, Woods’s 3-over 73 has him in a tie for 70th, eight strokes behind leader Justin Thomas. Woods’s mercurial round included five birdies, but also six bogeys and the...
The recent news that the USGA has selected Pinehurst No. 2 as its first anchor site for future U.S. Opens and a new museum was met with widespread joy and acclaim. “In an effort to expand its impact in golf and extend its mission to champion and advance the game, the USGA will establish “Golf House Pinehurst” in North Carolina, to include a new...
This week mighty, venerable Winged Foot Golf Club hosts its sixth U.S. Open, 13th USGA event, and seventh major championship, (it hosted the 1997 PGA). The par-70 layout will play to a bloated 7,477 yards; seven of the twelve par-4s are 467 yards or longer. It also features 4-1/2 to 7-1/2 inch rough, and green speeds around 13 on the stimpometer. In other words, the...
For everyone who relishes U.S. Open week for its sheer bloodthirstiness, welcome to Winged Foot West. It just became your new favorite course. Like will-o-the-wisps feeding off the agonizing cries of their dying victims, everyman golfers will spend this week, pointing at the pros and laughing. Chunks, chili dips, fluffs, fliers, skulls, and walks of shame...
MAMARONECK, NY – We were all writing our leads in the media center, and then Winged Foot went from phestival to phuneral in phorty minutes.. Everyone in Mamaroneck – from the media, to the members on the terrace to the massive galleries around the golf course – everyone thought the 2006 U.S. Open was over, the last few holes just a phormality for Phil...
Great job by Ryan, Darin, Mitch, and the rest of the gang over at GNN and GolfTripX on my New Hampshire adventures in the White Mountains. Omni Mount Washington was one of the more fun and low impact rounds of the year. Best of all you can get it at the right price and spend some time running/climbing/hiking in one of the most gorgeous mountain ranges east of the...
Once again, the good folks at Golf Course Trades have done a spectacular job spiffing up one of my pieces. This time it’s Chris Schiavone and Stephen Kay’s restoration of one of A.W. Tillinghast’s earliest courses: Shackamaxon Country Club in northern New Jersey.
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Yankee Stadsium of Golf or Graveyard of Champions? Winged Foot is both. Golf Course Trades has my story about Winged Foot’s restoration and head superintendent Steve Rabideau. From the article: “It’s a monumental responsibility that Rabideau shoulders, but he’s proven time and again to be an Atlas among superintendents: stewarding a club with...
SPRINGFIELD, NJ – As night falls at Baltusrol and the forest-draped mountain is shrouded by low clouds, the waning crescent moon shines feebly in the overcast sky. Finally, the promised rain came, just a thin shower, but I was too late. Against all predictions, the 2016 PGA Championship finished on time Sunday night. Inside the clubhouse amber lights burn...
SPRINGFIELD, NJ – Right on cue, Baltusrol did what it always does at major golf championships – surrender a record low score. Sometimes it’s an immortal that does it – such as Jack Nicklaus or Phil Mickelson. Sometimes, however, it’s a journeyman who comes out of nowhere – Lee Janzen or Thomas Bjorn leap to mind. Each of those four men set...