3 Responses to “Video: View From The Road, US Open 2011”
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Dave – Was the rain/water thing at Congressional just about green speed? I would think an equal if not bigger issue with a “soft” course would be the “Velcro effect”, giving the players a chance to stick the ball to the green from different approaches with a greater variety of clubs. Just a thought from a non-golfer in the cheap seats…
Peter…to be sure, I wasn’t there so my info comes from sources like text and twitter and that sort of thing. Ignoring the usually ignorant media coverage, it seems that those on the ground there were really happy with the playing surface and that the green speed was exceptional but more importantly the roll was really true. That bit of thatch that needs to develop in a USGA green can be a good or a bad thing and certainly can contribute to what you are talking about as to shots holding. But the RH was up and the air fairly still and so it goes to reason that the Dew Point was sufficient enough to keep enough moisture condensing to never really get to “dry”. And the worst thing in that kind of situation, which I witnessed John Kaminski trying to make one particular golf writer understand via twitter, is a small amount of rain and no real hydraulic break (flush) of the perched water table to allow for an increase of air distribution into capillary and non-capillary pores. That factor, right there is why I don’t always love perched water tables, under vacuum pressure from a machine or not.
And the more I had to listen to Johnny Miller pontificate, the cheaper my seats felt… 🙂 (I wonder what Pete Dye thinks about Johnny saying he would roll over in his grave while probably watching himself…very much alive….?)
I have to admit to being disappointed with the condition of most of the greens. I get tired of the SubAir stuff, having spent a good deal of time as Super at high-end clubs. It creates an attitude that you can fool Mother Nature. I agree with Dave’s comments above.
Did you notice the USGA’s use of tapered flagsticks? I don’t remember them using anything but constant-diameter “Tournament” sticks, and saw numerous shots that struck the pin – only to bounce hard off of it…
And I didn’t hear Johnny Miller utter the word “grain” until Sunday.
Cheers