Open Will Get Rougher

If you thought the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in North Carolina was difficult last year, with its narrow fairways lined with rough and its crowned greens hard as a two-car driveway, then it probably will come as no surprise that Winged Foot in June will be no walk in the park.

Narrow fairways, high rough, hard and fast greens, that has always been the style of the U.S. Open, but at this year’s edition over the venerable West Course in Mamaroneck, N.Y., there will be even narrower fairways, with more and higher rough.

When the going gets rough, the rough gets growing?

“That’s going to be a big challenge,” said Phil Mickelson, who practiced two days at Winged Foot two weeks ago.

The changes are the work of Mike Davis, the USGA’s senior director of rules and competition, who is making his debut as the man responsible for the U.S. Open course setup after 17 years on staff.

For example, on a 28-yard-wide fairway, expect about two yards of intermediate rough cut to 1 1/2 inches. Eight yards beyond that will be four-inch primary rough, and for drives that stray even farther off-line, rough six to eight inches high.

That last part is the biggest departure from the USGA’s norm. Previously, that area had been beyond the spectators’ ropes and the grass trampled down. This year, the gallery ropes will be moved farther back and eight-inch rough will be in play for anyone who hits the ball that far off the fairway.

“It’s a change, but it’s not so dramatic,” said David Fay, the USGA’s executive director. “It’s more of a tweaking.”

Davis says it’s not so much a shift in philosophy as a redefinition.

“We’re tailoring the rough to where the penalty fits the crime,” he said. “The further off line you are, the more penal the rough.”

Davis added that it made no sense to him that players who missed the fairway by a lot often had better lies because of the trampled-down grass than players who missed the fairway by a little.

Davis conceived the change and wrote a memorandum to Fay and USGA President Walter Driver, who passed the recommendation to the championship committee, which stamped its approval.

“On paper, it sounds good,” Davis said. “I just hope it works in practice.”

Winged Foot, which plays to a par 70, is 287 yards longer than it was at its last major event, the 1997 PGA Championship won by Davis Love III at 11-under 269. Winged Foot, the site of four U.S. Opens, now measures 7,274 yards. Fay says he expects the philosophy of more and higher rough to prevail at other U.S. Open courses.

“I see no reason why it shouldn’t be in place,” he said. “There is absolutely no reason against it, it’s so logical.”

Fairways at Winged Foot will range in width from about 20 yards at the 320-yard par-four sixth to 30 yards at several holes.

Masters champion Mickelson, who is trying to win the second leg of the Grand Slam, says it’s not going to be simple.

“It’s going to be the longest test of golf with the tightest fairways that I’ve seen,” he said.

“The rough is going to be extremely deep and the greens are very difficult and undulating. So I think we will not have to worry about par being a good score.”

Rough in the landing areas of many holes will be as tall as eight inches. That includes the area around the green at the drivable sixth. If you take the risk and miss the green, you’re in deep trouble.

At the 640-yard par-five 12th, a three-shot hole, the greenside rough also will be thick, but the tee will be moved up to about 560 yards for at least one round and maybe two, to entice players to try to reach it in two shots.

“It’s a long, tough golf course,” Mickelson said.

Davis says he sees his mission as retaining the philosophy of what a U.S. Open setup should be. His toughest critics will show up for the first round June 15. He isn’t sure what they will say, but he is ready for just about anything.

“If things go well, you really won’t be talking about me,” he said. “Personally, I just want to see the golf course set up properly so it’s a rigorous test of golf. You can talk about the setup, but it’s my hope, a few years down the road, they don’t even know who I am.”