For over 100 years the U.S. Open has staked claim to the “Toughest Test in Golf”. With narrow fairways, high rough and lightening-fast greens, it can make even the best players in the world look like your everyday average hacker.
Thirty years ago, winning the U.S. Open required precision, patience and strategy but with the USGA lengthening the site of the tournament nearly every year, it now requires something else – a considerable degree of distance off the tee.
Most of this is due to the recent advances made in equipment technology over the past decade. Players are hitting the ball farther thus the courses needed to be lengthened to remain formidable, and while this practice has certainly helped the U.S. Open live up to its reputation, it has taken away from the rich tradition of the tournament that stood for so many years. This June at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, this won’t be the case.
At only 6,900 yards, the U.S. Open at Merion will be the shortest it’s been in over 10 years. Just to give you an idea of how much shorter, the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in 2008 was 7,600 yards and the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island last year was 7,800 yards. And with temperatures expected to be in the 80 degree range, the ball will be flying farther and the course will be playing even shorter.
What Merion lacks in length, it will certainly make up for in course layout. In addition to the deep rough and signature fairways associated with most U.S. Opens, it will also include tricky pin locations and a number of high-risk, high-reward opportunities.
In the past, players with average length off the tee have been able to compete in the U.S. Open but the longer hitters have certainly had an advantage. Jim Furyk’s win at Olympic Fields in 2003 may have been the last time a player won who didn’t have above average length off the tee.
This year you can expect a plethora of Jim Furyk-esqe players to be in the running coming down the stretch. Merion will require course management to the highest degree and with players having to take more of a strategical approach, it will be much more of a mental test than it has ever been.
Jack Nicklaus once said “Acre for acre, Merion may be the best test of golf in the entire world.” It is without a doubt the most intriguing venue the U.S. Open has been held at in the past decade and with golf legends like Lee Trevino and Ben Hogan having already won this tournament on this course in the past, it will be interesting to see whose name will be etched into the trophy this year.