1. U.S. Open in September = a better U.S. Open? Interesting take from Cameron Morfit at PGATour.com… “Although fall doesn’t technically start until September 22, there will be more leaves and layers than usual at the 120th U.S. Open, what with the pandemic having bumped the USGA’s crown jewel back on the schedule. The weather is crisp enough so that Patrick Cantlay wore a ski cap as he teed off Tuesday, and at sunrise on Wednesday the thermometer showed 52 degrees.” “Well, we have better weather right now here than we had in June in Pebble,” said Jon Rahm, referencing last year’s U.S. Open at California’s Pebble Beach. “Pretty similar, just having sweaters on and that’s it. Or the PGA in San Francisco (last month), it was colder than it is right now. I know on the weekend it’s supposed to cool here (into the low 40s at daybreak) a little bit.” “Winged Foot Superintendent Steve Rabideau is on record saying a June U.S. Open is easier to prepare for; he told golf.com “the rough is super healthy, the grass really isn’t under stress yet.” But to behold his prized canvas this week you wouldn’t know he doesn’t actually prefer September.” “The undulating greens are firm, and the narrow fairways have just the right amount of bounce to make holding them a huge challenge. The rough is a foot deep in places, allowing the USGA to cut it to whatever length they want for the competition rounds, assuming they do cut it.” Full piece. 2. The 2020 U.S. Open was nearly held in Los Angeles in December Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…“Association CEO Mike Davis explained on Wednesday at Winged Foot, which was originally scheduled to host the championship in June, that because of the initial scramble to reorganize the professional golf calendar in the wake of the pandemic, it appeared as if the U.S. Open would be played in December.” “To be very transparent with you, we thought we were going to be playing the U.S. Open in December in Los Angeles. We were that close,” Davis said.” “The U.S. Open is scheduled to be played on Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course in 2023 and considering the early impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the New York metropolitan area there were concerns whether the championship could be played at Winged Foot in 2020, which prompted the potential move.” “That changed when the R&A announced this year’s Open Championship would be canceled and gave the USGA some flexibility to reschedule earlier in the fall.” Full piece. 3. U.S. Open rota? Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…“News last week that the USGA would be moving some of its offices to Pinehurst, N.C., and committing to play the U.S. Open on the famed No. 2 course five times through 2047, led some to speculate that the association was transitioning to a formal rotation for the national championship.” “The Open Championship has its rota and USGA CEO Mike Davis referred to Pinehurst as an “anchor site” for the U.S. Open.” “We just believe after talking to a lot of the players who play in U.S. Opens, a lot of our past champions, they communicated a consistent message, saying: ‘We want to go to the best sites, and we want to go there more often,'” Davis said. “That really led the championship committee to make that decision.” “The U.S. Open is scheduled to be played at Pinehurst in 2024, ’29, ’35, ’41 and ’47, a long-term move that could lead the USGA to lock in other iconic venues like Pebble Beach, Oakmont, Bethpage and Shinnecock Hills.” Full piece. 4. What went into the Winged Foot renovation Thomas Dunne…”The renovation team used laser scanning and digital mapping to convert the club’s native soil greens to modern USGA structures. On the West, each green also received its own SubAir vault that helps the crew manage water and temperature.” “We had a laser scanner come out and scan all the greens in the summertime, when they were good, true putting surfaces,” Rabideau said. “Then we used what’s called a robotic total station, a powerful surveying instrument, to set our vertical offsets so we could shell down 16 inches from the top of the putting surface based on the contours.” “The crew rebuilt the floors of the greens and painstakingly built back up, matching the original scan twice more along the way. By the time the group reached the top of the putting surfaces, the margin for error was a minuscule six-one-thousandths of a surveyor’s foot at intervals of 12 to 18 inches. In other words, that 8-foot putt that members have known for years breaks a cup to the right was not suddenly going to be on the right edge.” Full piece. 5. Generational divide? Sign of the [jam-packed tour schedule without a stop in Westchester] times? Mike Dougherty of The Journal News…“I’m excited to play this one,” Rahm added. “If there’s other good ones worth playing, hopefully at some point in time I can come and play them.” “In the days before Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy, the PGA Tour had a four-decade run at Westchester Country Club. Players made it a habit to visit other nearby clubs.” “There was a fellow named Chip Weil that I met at my hotel in 1975 after I missed the cut at Westchester,” said Roger Maltbie who won the event a decade later. “We just started chatting and he says, ‘Well, I’m a member at Winged Foot. You want to play tomorrow?’ And I said, ‘Sure. I want to go see Winged Foot. I’ve never played there.’ Chip and I have now been friends for 45 years. Every year I would go there, if I played in the morning we would go over to Winged Foot in the afternoon and play. We would go a lot, either play nine, or if we could, get in 18. I have a real love affair with the place and have for a very long time. So I went over there a lot. I loved every minute of every time I got to go play.” Full piece. 6. The need to get it right Golf Digest’s Joel Beall…“The USGA needs to get this U.S. Open right. Yes, that has been said before. In 2018 at Shinnecock Hills, to avoid missteps of the immediate and distant past, and again last summer at Pebble Beach, after those missteps were astonishingly repeated at Shinnecock. But lest you think this is a media-driven story or a narrative that will shadow the championship in perpetuity, know it’s one both sides-players and management-acknowledge.” “Last summer’s championship at Pebble Beach put a needed band-aid on the USGA’s multiple cuts, but scars take time to heal. In talking with USGA officials this week, it is clear the governing body went out of its way to stay out of its way at Pebble. It erred on the side of caution in the test presented. Partially to keep itself out of headlines, partially to ease the transition of John Bodenhamer taking the set-up reins from USGA CEO Mike Davis. “We wanted to make sure we showed the best Pebble Beach had to offer,” Bodenhamer said, “and it led to some exciting golf.” Full piece. 7. An exclusive talk with Jay Monahan Our Michael Williams had an extensive talk with the PGA Tour commissioner that you’ll want to check out. Michael Williams: Let’s talk about the 2020 season. Even though we still have two major championships to go, oddly enough, we’re talking about the close of the 2020 season. Given everything that was going on with COVID-19, are you more surprised that you were able to start this season or that you were able to finish it? Commissioner Jay Monahan: I would say that I was probably more surprised that we were able to start and start when we did, just because of all the uncertainty that we inherited when we stepped away during the week of The Players Championship. So there was a period there of 30 to 45 days where, you know, you’re trying to reimagine, restructure your schedule. Given that we were stepping away after 24 weeks, we were also trying to do that in the context of “What does this mean for the members of the PGA Tour in terms of their eligibility, and is this going to be an official season?” And then you had all the safety-health, and safety protocols-so solving those three important issues or challenges, was a significant undertaking. I think, well, I think we just had a number of moments along the way that gave us an indication that we would be able to return in June…and once we were back, we all recognize that we were going to experience some challenges and some setbacks, it’s just the nature of the virus. But we felt like we had a great plan and that there was strong accountability with those that were going to be in our bubble-a bubble that was moving from market to market. And I always felt like we’d get here, but, you know, getting back and starting that week of June 8th, I think that was the most challenging part of the exercise. Full piece. 8. Cannizzaro: USO in metro NY a shell of itself sans fans Who better than the NY Post sports writer to make this point…“Since the PGA Tour’s restart in June after a pandemic pause of some three months, we’ve gotten somewhat accustomed to having no fans at golf tournaments and other sporting events. It’s become an unsatisfying, but necessary, element of the world we live in.” “But it will hit home more than ever in golf at this week’s U.S. Open – more than it has the previous 14 weeks the PGA Tour has played without fans. Because this is New York and we’re more vocal and vibrant in New York than other places where sports are played.” “New York expresses itself in a different, more animated and opinionated way than Wisconsin or Michigan or Pennsylvania or even California.” Full piece. 9. Watch the third and fourth rounds of the U.S. Open with us Just a quick PSA here: Johnny Wunder, Ryan Barath, Brain Knudson, Gianni Magliocco, and yours truly will be hanging out in the GolfWRX forums Saturday and Sunday to discuss all things U.S. Open, what the pros are playing, and more. I’ll drop a link to the forum thread in tomorrow’s newsletter, but I’m truly looking forward to the virtual viewing party!