It Ain’t Easy Being Green
by Bryan Outram
If there has been a major championship in recent history that’s taken as much heat for the condition of its greens, this writer certainly can’t remember it.
It’s not uncommon practice for the USGA to have its championship layouts become progressively harder and faster as a tournament goes along, but it appears in this case they’ve taken the firming of the greens to a new, and not very popular, level.
According to Billy Horschel there’s virtually no grass on several of the ‘greens’ and that the hole on number 10 is literally in dirt - as in there is no grass around the hole.
Horschel went on ad infinitum after his 4th round was finished about how upset he was with the condition of the greens - and he shot 67 with 4 birdies and an eagle on 12 - gaving no quarter when it came to taking it out on the USGA and Mike Davis.
“I’ve known Mike for roughly ten years now since I was on the Walker Cup team,” Said Horschel, ”And I don't know. I don't know what he is. Obviously he is inside the ropes the last couple of days, but he's not on the putting green, on the greens seeing the way the balls move.
He's from a little bit of a distance. And maybe, you know, when he sets the pins in the morning, if he's out there and they roll the greens, yeah, they roll great first thing in the morning. Right after they've been cut they're great. But shortly after that they get bad.”
Asked about which hole or holes were the worst he went on to say, “No, 6 isn't the worst. I think 15 is not very good -- well, 6 obviously I missed that putt and I showed my frustration on it. There's a lot of poa around that green. 4 is awful. 4 is God awful. 10 is not much better where I was.
I literally just tapped the putt from about 9 feet above the hole and it took 10 seconds to get to the hole, and it still rolled 4 feet by. That hole is in dirt. It's literally dirt. There's no grass around that hole. It's a frustrating week for a lot of players.”
image credit bryan outram
Don't Get Billy Horschel Started On Those Greens At Chambers Bay - C'mon Man
You could fill the rest of this column with Horschel’s rant, but lest you think he was the only one with harsh things to say about the putting surfaces here are just a few of the thoughts from some of the other players in the field:
Henrik Stenson: “I kind of lost my patience on the 8th more than anything, and hit a lovely shot into 9 and was putting down on something that looked like the surface of the moon and three-putted.”
Stenson Again: “I don't know, it's borderline laughable at some of the greens and some of the pin positions, when we're actually almost better off plugged in a bunker than being on the top of a ridge, like on the 4th. And it's pretty much like putting on broccoli, as well.”
Louis Oosthuizen: “There's no grass on a few of them. So it's just dead. There's a few holes where it doesn't look really, really good.”
Sergio Garcia: "I think a championship of the caliber of a U.S. Open deserves better quality green surfaces than we have this week, but maybe I'm wrong. To me, it's like playing the NBA Finals on a court with holes and slopes and no backboards.”
Geoff Ogilvy: “There's some pretty questionable surfaces, for sure. I don't understand agronomy at all. The whole course is the fine fescue and there seems to be no poa at all in the fairways, but it's all in the greens. So obviously, something goes on with however they treat the greens. If people bring it in on their feet, you'd think it would get on the fairways, as well. It's interesting. I'm sure if they had their time again, they'd go back four or five years and put some sort of bent into the mix and try to do something a little bit different.”
Even though a lot of the players made sure to point out that the conditions are the same for all of them, it was still pretty evident that the overwhelming feeling was one of frustration when good shots were not rewarded with birdies due to the ball ‘plinko-ing’ along (Horschel’s term) on their way to the hole.
Suffice to say the Chambers Bay course has proven to be an extremely challenging layout and almost to a man considered to be fair from tee to green. At least until you get to the green ...or the brown....or the dirt, in some cases.