Is not really the tournament this year. It’s how the USGA is directing the maintenance of the golf course. USGA President Jim Hyler has decided to use the Open at Pebble Beach as a statement about how golf courses should be maintained.
Hyler calls the current maintenance of golf courses, “unsustainable” when it comes to not only agronomic turf health, but also the impact on the environment. Hyler is promoting the thought that brown is actually “green” in terms of golf course maintenance. He feels that golfers at the local level have been seduced by how the courses on TV look, with their wall-to-wall carpet, perfectly manicured bunkers and green speeds that would be illegal in 20 states.
Hyler has directed the grounds staff at Pebble to NOT water the course any more than is needed to maintain the health (not the appearance) of the turf prior to and during the US Open. The fact is, a firmer golf course allows the layout and topography of the course to become integral to the successful playing of it, as opposed to the “flying it to the pin” mentality that many golfers -both pro & amateur- currently live by.
I can tell you that in Scotland (where I’ve been three times and the golfers know a little about the game), players are more interested in the layout and challenge of a course, and do not express, what I feel, is this unrealistic “no blade of grass should be out of place” mindset that American golfers cling to vehemently.
Should Pebble Beach this week appear a bit brown in places, I will applaud the efforts of President Hyler and the USGA in their effort to bring a more sustainable and ecologically friendly approach to golf course maintenance. If they, and ultimately we who operate golf facilities, can get the general golfing public to buy into the fact that a course does not (and should not) need to look like museum art to be of high quality, then this first cannon shot by the USGA will be well worth it.
Golfers must understand that courses are prepared for weeks, and in the case of a US Open, years, in advance of the one week of television that they enjoy each weekend. I believe that they need to be realistic about their expectations of course conditioning, especially when you take into account that everyone wants to play as much golf as possible for as little money as possible. The disconnect there is gigantic!
I’ll be watching this week. But it will be for this reason as much as for that of seeing who will win. BTW….my pick? Lee Westwood.
Enjoy our National Championship.
