U.S. Open Course Setup -- Merion hole-by-hole videos USGA

wolfpack · June 10, 2013

15 looks like a nightmare from the Tee box. You have to carry the entire 16th green and fairway to the right of the quarry (coming up 16) to a left to right narrow fairway with out of bounds at the left edge. No thanks.

jdhallissey · June 10, 2013

Playing a par 4 over 500 yards is getting stupid.... At the 470-490 range they are a brute. Now do I really think they are going to play it all the way back? NO but why not play the 18th as a par 5? You slow up that fairway by changing the mowing pattern and 90 percent of the field wouldn't get there in 2. As the case now I bet you if they do actually play it at 520 90 percent of the field will bogey it. I bet you will be able to count on one hand the number of birdies will be had on that hole. I also hate this stupid split tee they have been doing. Teeing off the 11th hole of major is stupid. I hate split tees but at least keep them playing on the 10th and first.

360_CS · June 10, 2013

Wow 17 and 18 are ruthless.

sammhk · June 11, 2013

i think it all hinges upon how narrow the fairways are. sure there will be bogies out there, but with rain b/n now and thursday, the course will be soft. and playing under 7k yds takes driver out of the pros hands more often than not. the rough will still take it's toll, but i think that gets mitigated by 3w, 5w/2i off the tee. it's got me thinking that close to -10 wins it, and that to me isn't what i expect out of a U.S. Open course.

KYMAR · June 11, 2013

Thanks asleep for posting all of these. Maybe there is a way to do it instantly but that looks like a PITA to post those all separately

ALIF · June 11, 2013

18 under winning score.

mesquite2 · June 11, 2013

There are many pro's that don't carry the ball 280-290 & Merion drains very well, right now the sun is out with maybe a storm later today, Thursday looks rainy.

Asleep · June 13, 2013

102 yard Par 3 13th is easy pickins with this moisture.

sammhk · June 14, 2013

after hearing everything they changed at merion since the last u.s. open...not sure i'm buying this whole "merion is still relevant" stuff, since it's basically a different course now. only thing that's really the same is the distance. they added all kinds of bunkers, put in new greens, changed fairways, list goes on. tough course for sure, but definitely not the same place that jack, lee and ben played years ago.

scttrmsy · June 14, 2013

[quote name='sammhk' timestamp='1371185497' post='7237838']
after hearing everything they changed at merion since the last u.s. open...not sure i'm buying this whole "merion is still relevant" stuff, since it's basically a different course now. only thing that's really the same is the distance. they added all kinds of bunkers, put in new greens, changed fairways, list goes on. tough course for sure, but definitely not the same place that jack, lee and ben played years ago.
[/quote]
I think that's a pretty insightful thought. So much is made of the course name and length, one forgets that the course features and surfaces are what makes the course. +1