Even better than '02

Monday, June 15, 2009 2:52 pm (Eastern)

By David Barrett

Bethpage Black made a smashing debut, and it's been improved since then

It’s easy to remember the 2002 U.S. Open as a lovefest, where the wide world was introduced to a formerly hidden gem at Bethpage Black and came away raving about the course’s quality.

That’s true in terms of the big picture. But there were a number of areas where the course or the Open setup didn’t work so well that year. Nearly all of those problems have been addressed over the past seven years. It’s not the massive makeover that the formerly rundown layout received in the 1990s, when the gem was unearthed, but it’s a final polish that makes for an even better Open setting in 2009.

A look at what’s different this time around:

Photo: © David Cannon/Getty Images The sprawling fairway bunker on the fifth hole will be more in play.

4th Hole: There is a closely mown chipping area behind the green. In 2002, shots rolling over the green with any real pace often continued to roll downhill through the chipping area, reaching a steep downslope, and often ended up going down a road, coming to rest some 60 yards beyond the green. A portion of the chipping area has been leveled off, which should bring most balls to a stop and encourage more players to go for the green in two on the 517-yard par five.

5th Hole: A new tee adds 27 yards, making the par four play at 478. It brings the large bunker to the right of the fairway more into play for the pros. It’s a wonderfully strategic hole for the average player, who must choose how much of the bunker to try to carry. Strategy still won’t be as much of an issue for the pros, but at least this time more of them will have to worry about catching the far end of the bunker if they push their tee shot.

6th Hole: In 2002, the USGA elected to grow rough all the way across a downhill portion of the fairway, forcing a layup at the top of the hill on the 408-yard par four. That’s been turned back into fairway, tempting players to hit driver or 3-wood to the bottom and have a wedge to the green but risking the consequences (rough or bunker) of an errant shot.

7th Hole: A new tee adds 36 yards, making it the longest ever U.S. Open par four at 525 yards. Surprisingly, players should like the change. That’s because the tee has been shifted to the left, reducing the angle of the dogleg right. Players hated this hole in 2002 because it was a long par four where they had to worry about driving through the fairway; many having to hit less than a driver. The fairway has also been widened considerably to as much as 45 (!) yards, though it narrows to about 30 yards at the bend due to trees on the right and a bunker on the left.

Photo: © David Cannon/Getty Images The green has been extended towards the water on the par-three eighth hole.

8th Hole: A pond in front of the green is the only water hazard on the course, but it wasn’t in play in 2002 when this was a fairly dull 210-yard par three. The green has been extended forward, restoring it to its original footprint, and with the hole located on the front for probably two rounds, there will be danger here. The hole might be set up to play as short as 135 yards to a front hole location, while when it is on the back right it might play 225.

9th Hole: An awkward par four for amateurs, most of whose drives are thwarted by a steep hill, and a fairly easy one for the pros in 2002 when they were able to blow it over that slope. A new tee adds 42 yards, bringing it to 460. It brings the hill into play, but strategy has also been introduced in the form of a bunker sitting in the fairway on the left side. Long hitters can try to carry the bunker (and the hill) and shorten the hole. The back tee might not be used in every round.

10th Hole: When the hole played into the wind on a chilly and rainy Friday in 2002, a significant portion of the field couldn’t even reach the fairway, which was a travesty. The fairway has been extended 40 yards back towards the tee, so that won’t happen this time. The tee has been extended to lengthen the par-four hole by 16 yards to 508, but if it plays upwind it won’t be played all the way back.

12th Hole: Another hole that was unfair for the short hitter due to course setup. There’s a carry bunker cutting well into the fairway on the dogleg left, but for those players (a fairly small percentage) not able to make the carry there was little way to play the hole except by laying up short of the bunker. That made the par four (499 yards in 2002, 504 this year) unreachable in two for them. The fairway has been extended to the right to solve that problem, but long hitters have been thrown a bone, too, as the fairway has also been extended to the left beyond the carry bunker.

13th Hole: A new tee adds 51 yards, making the par five play 605. Strategically, this brings a bunker to the left of the fairway into play on the second shot, which was the intention in A.W. Tillinghast’s design. (It will only affect players who find the rough with their tee shot; the bunker can still be carried after a good drive, and long hitters may still reach the green in two). The USGA will probably use the shorter tee one day.

Photo: © David Cannon/Getty Images The expanded 14th green has appealing new hole locations on a new front left tongue and the back of the putting surface.

14th Hole: In 2002, this was a downhill, 161-yard hole to a bland green. It’s still a short par three (158 on the scorecard), but the green has been extended to the rear and a narrow tongue added on the front left. Both areas provide interesting hole locations, where players can elect to attack the pin with short irons to shoot for birdies but risk missing the green if they are slightly off.

18th Hole: The fairway has been widened short of the cluster bunkers in the landing area on the 411-yard par four, making it more “tempting” (if you can put it that way) to lay up with an iron in that area instead of taking on the 25-yard fairway between the bunkers.

Fairway Width: On average, the fairways are four or five yards wider than 2002; some greater than that. This was done to tie the fairways into fairway bunkers.

Rough: The rough was long and thick in 2002, often leading to “hack-outs” with wedges. With the USGA’s graduated rough setup, in place since 2006, there is now a strip of rough closer to the fairway that should allow players to shoot at the green, but with less control than from the short grass. Even the longer stuff should be less thick than in 2002; though the rainy weather New York has been experiencing in the last week might make it thicker than planned.

Green Speed: With relatively flat greens, the USGA let them get up past 14 on the Stimpmeter by Sunday in 2002. But they weren’t quite that fast early in the week; this time, the USGA wants them to be the same speed (around 14) from Monday through Sunday.

Tee Flexibility: In 2002, the tees weren’t moved up on the 10th and 12th holes even when weather dictated they should have been. This time, the USGA not only will react to weather forecasts in its tee placements, but also will move them for the sake of variety and to force players to think about different strategies.

These changes have been conceived and implemented by a combination of USGA senior director of competitions Mike Davis, course architect Rees Jones, and Bethpage superintendent Craig Currier. All should enhance the playing values of this U.S. Open.

It seems they have covered almost everything. Well, except for the severe back-to-front slope of the 15th green, which is not only out of character for the course but could cause problems at U.S. Open green speed.

Maybe next time.

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