Pinehurst gets 2014 U.S. Open, C.B. Macdonald to Golf Hall of Fame, Pelz meter reads 15.5!

OAKMONT, PA – Two quick bits of news before I post my long piece for the day.

First, the U.S. Open will return to Pinehurst No 2.  in 2014.  That means look for another 1-2 Winged Foot-Oakmont combination in 2015-16.  Erin Hills in Wisconsin is the front runner for 2017 as they look to fill a need – a great U.S. Open venue near Chicago.

Next, Charles blair Macdonald, instrumental in the founding of the U.S.G.A. and credited with building the first 18-hole course in America (Chicago Golf Club, 1892 for those of you scoring at home) gets inducted posthumously into the WGHOF.  “CB” as he is affectionately called by his fans built National, Yale, Mid-Ocean, Lido and Piping Rock

“What’s that?” you ask…THUNDER!  Thank goodness that some rain is slated to fall because the greens were starting to get than glisten and sheen when they are too fast.  The course…called tough but fair by the players yesterday was beginning to get out of hand today.  The greens were crusting over and drying to a golden baked “biscuit brown.”  The rain will give everyone a fairer shot at not free-falling quite so fast down the leaderboard, but it’s still Tiger’s tournament to lose.  If he makes his putts, he wins going away.  Unless Phil is rope-a-doping us into an Ali-like performance, his wrist will require him to merely participate, smile and be a good sport about his foul luck in getting this untimely injury.
Finally, Dave Pelz walked around yesterday with his version of the Stimpmeter dubbed the Pelzmeter by Mickelson.  During his media interviews Phil cited some green speeds as between 15 and 16.  A second source confirmed that when the USGA was running their stimp tests, six greens had so much slope and contour, the stimp ball rolled all the way off the green and those six holes were not used in calculating their 13-13.5 figure.