Erin Hills

[B. McBannerson]

  what a blast to the state's economy and pr for wisconsin/wisconsin golf-win win win.

Wisconsin is open for business, eh?

[forgetful]

Could they at least have real sand instead of crushed granite?

[GGGG]

Could they at least have real sand instead of crushed granite?

They did use sand to start but rain was washing it off the steap faces of the bunkers.

[forgetful]

They did use sand to start but rain was washing it off the steap faces of the bunkers.

Thanks for the info.  I haven't had much time to watch, until today and caught them saying they were using crushed granite, which just seemed weird.  Glad to know there was a good reason.

[Jockey]

Tell that to the top three golfers in the world

Look at the scores. More like the John Deere Classic.

The Open is supposed to be the hardest test all year for golfers. It was hardly even a light challenge.

[jesmu84]

Dustin and Brooks are gonna do so much coke tonight

[wadesworld]

Golf is like MUScoop. People just looking for reasons to complain. Going into the week the story was the fescue was impossible and ridiculous and the course is way too long. Then once the tournament gets going the story is the course is way too easy and it should be more of a challenge. And even talking about how a blimp crash is a bad look for Wisconsin, because that's something that is totally in the hands of Erin Hills and the people who ran the tournament.

Not sure why people can't just enjoy the best golfers in the world playing amazing golf on a beautiful golf course. Some people played incredibly well and three of the top golfers in the world had an incredible struggle.

[GGGG]

The US Open will not be back at Erin Hills.

[MUfan12]

The US Open will not be back at Erin Hills.

Unfortunately, I agree.

[reinko]

Look at the scores. More like the John Deere Classic.

The Open is supposed to be the hardest test all year for golfers. It was hardly even a light challenge.

Perhaps next year the NBA finals can be played on 13 ft. rims, and in the World Series they can use a 16 in softball.

[jsglow]

The US Open will not be back at Erin Hills.

Well, certainly not for a very long time. But that's true for all but about 5-6 courses where it's contested most often.  But don't underestimate the fact that it could hold 40,000 spectators per day. That's meaningful.

[DegenerateDish]

US Open assignments are funny. Olympia Fields will never get another (nor should it). I hate when Torrey Pines, Pebble, or any regular tour event site hosts. I liked them trying out Chambers Bay & Erin Hills, it should be given some new looks. I don't understand Shinnecock needing to host twice in next eight years. Midwest seems to get the shaft with assignments. I think if it comes back to Chicago, Rich Harvest would be the locale.

[MU82]

Golf is like MUScoop. People just looking for reasons to complain. Going into the week the story was the fescue was impossible and ridiculous and the course is way too long. Then once the tournament gets going the story is the course is way too easy and it should be more of a challenge. And even talking about how a blimp crash is a bad look for Wisconsin, because that's something that is totally in the hands of Erin Hills and the people who ran the tournament.

Not sure why people can't just enjoy the best golfers in the world playing amazing golf on a beautiful golf course. Some people played incredibly well and three of the top golfers in the world had an incredible struggle.

I had no problem with Erin Hills. The course looked beautiful, it's always nice to have a public course in the rotation, and it obviously was enough of a test for Johnson, Spieth, Day, McIlroy, Scott, Westwood, etc. It wasn't the course's fault that the weather was benign.

As a casual golf fan who rarely watches anything other than the majors - and then mostly on the Sundays - I just wish the leaderboard had been more appealing. I like stars as much as anybody, and there were fewer stars visible than on an especially smoggy night in Beijing. This was a Who's That? of golf. The one recognizable name, Fowler, folded like a lawn chair ... as usual.

Nothing Erin Hills could have done about that, either.

[cheebs09]

So jsonline is reporting that an elderly man passed away out on the course today.  Let's hope all his business was settled, he got to all the graduations and weddings he wanted to, spent plenty of time with his grandkids, and that today was a special treat enjoying something he loved on the last day God gave him.

Very interesting read about the man that passed away. His wife passed away on Tuesday. He got to watch his favorite golfer (Stricker) come through before passing.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/golf/2017-us-open/2017/06/19/jacobs-19/407134001/

[Jockey]

Perhaps next year the NBA finals can be played on 13 ft. rims, and in the World Series they can use a 16 in softball.

Dude, this was the US Open - not some minor tournament. How wide do you want the fairways to be?

It is supposed to be the toughest course setup of the entire year in this country. It was hardly that.

[Jockey]

I don't understand Shinnecock needing to host twice in next eight years.

Because it is exactly what a US Open course should look like. It has hosted the Open 3 times in the last 30 years and a total of 3 players broke par.

It is a true test of the best golfer - not a cream puff course. Length is absolutely nothing to these guys when the fairways are as wide as football fields.

[tower912]

I think Erin Hills gets another Open.    I think that after the problems at Chamber's Bay on the greens, and at Oakmont last year with DJ's ball moving, and not really knowing how Erin Hills would play, the USGA got very conservative with the course set up.   If it hadn't rained, it would have been different.   The greens were so soft that all of the huge run offs never really came into play.    The greens were only running around 12 on the stimpmeter as opposed to 14 last year at Oakmont.    But they putted true all week.     And the wind never really howled.    I the USGA was expecting a dryer, windier golf course.    If they had gotten it, the scores would not have been as good.  And in the end, enough big names got their butts kicked when they missed it sideways, that the USGA can rationalize that the guys at the top did what they were supposed to do; hit it straight and make putts. 
   

[jsglow]

One thing has changed pretty dramatically.  When the governing bodies consider a midwest location, the championship level courses of SE Wisconsin get considered right alongside and now perhaps ahead of the courses in metro Chicago itself.  That'll remain true going forward.  Whistling Straits is now on the shortest of short lists for majors.  From what I heard mentioned on the broadcast all weekend, the USGA and the players thought highly of Erin.  I do suspect they'll be back within 20 years.

And I agree with tower that EH can be toughened at the margin but that this year's effort was to have it played 'fair'. No doubt the USGA believes they have something to work with and will recommend tweaks to the young course.  It has two advantages that a landlocked 100 year old course doesn't have. Length and massive spectator capacity.

[jsglow]

http://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/golf/2017-us-open/2017/06/18/golfers-give-erin-hills-thumbs-up-first-time-u-s-open-venue/406788001/

[mu_hilltopper]

It's interesting to step back and ask .. who likes hard courses?

I mean, if you're a pro, your mission is to get birdies.  You want multiple opportunities to do that.  Sure, you don't want mini-golf easy, but you don't want the course to beat you.  Reading those golfers' reviews in the JS .. I can very much see that they liked it.

If you're a fan .. well, maybe you like defensive-gem baseball games that end 1-0, but most people want to see homers (birdies, touchdowns, 3-pointers, goals.)

156 golfers tried Erin Hills .. 27 of them broke par.   Is there a right number?

(Mind you .. I wasn't a fan of Erin Hills .. aesthetically did not understand it.  I like trees, water.)

[GGGG]

It's interesting to step back and ask .. who likes hard courses?

The USGA.

[jficke13]

For what it's worth as a spectator on Saturday, I was impressed by how smoothly things went. From park and ride, to security, to shuttle, to the gate was an easy process. The Merchandise tent was MASSIVE (the cashier told me that they had 5k volunteers at the Open, and 2k were in the merch tent). We staked out a spot by the #5 tee/#7 green/#17 approach. Concessions moved well.

I'm not sure why I underestimated what a logistical undertaking putting the Open on was, but I was consistently impressed with how big it was and how well everything worked.

If "successfully got lots of fans in and separated them efficiently from their money" is a criteria for consideration for future Opens, I'd say Erin Hills passed that test.

[GGGG]

What does work in Erin Hills' favor is that there are not a great deal of midwest courses large enough, and associated with the USGA.  It's one of the reasons they got the Open to begin with.

If the USGA liked what it saw, my guess is that they would schedule the next one there soon.  Right now they are scheduled out through 2026.  And there are no midwest locations on that list.  I wouldn't doubt that within the next five after that a midwest location is selected. 

[jsglow]

It's interesting to step back and ask .. who likes hard courses?

I mean, if you're a pro, your mission is to get birdies.  You want multiple opportunities to do that.  Sure, you don't want mini-golf easy, but you don't want the course to beat you.  Reading those golfers' reviews in the JS .. I can very much see that they liked it.

If you're a fan .. well, maybe you like defensive-gem baseball games that end 1-0, but most people want to see homers (birdies, touchdowns, 3-pointers, goals.)

156 golfers tried Erin Hills .. 27 of them broke par.   Is there a right number?

(Mind you .. I wasn't a fan of Erin Hills .. aesthetically did not understand it.  I like trees, water.)

One of the things that stuck me was how adjustable EH was. Here's what I believe the USGA really wants.  It wants to force the national champion to hit every shot available in golf, be rewarded for success in hitting that shot, and be penalized for failing to do the same. Many times I heard how a mistake would cost the player one full stroke. EH can be set to play 72 distinct holes over 4 days testing all those skills repeatedly.

One reality is that the frequently played courses provide a deep database. EH now has a track record that it didn't have before last week. I think that led into some relatively conservative set-up thinking so that 'unfair' was never uttered, especially given some recent experience in prior Opens.  And the USDA can use that to its advantage going forward.

[rocket surgeon]

I had no problem with Erin Hills. The course looked beautiful, it's always nice to have a public course in the rotation, and it obviously was enough of a test for Johnson, Spieth, Day, McIlroy, Scott, Westwood, etc. It wasn't the course's fault that the weather was benign.

As a casual golf fan who rarely watches anything other than the majors - and then mostly on the Sundays - I just wish the leaderboard had been more appealing. I like stars as much as anybody, and there were fewer stars visible than on an especially smoggy night in Beijing. This was a Who's That? of golf. The one recognizable name, Fowler, folded like a lawn chair ... as usual.

Nothing Erin Hills could have done about that, either.

Can't always have LA and New York eyyyn'a?