Media day is one of those great boondoggles that the media gets for all of its troubles and the U.S. Open media day is an event that I try to attend each year. The key to the day is not that you get to find out from USGA officials how a course is going to play, but you get to sample it yourself by actually teeing it up and playing a round on the host course for that year.
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For me personally, playing Torrey Pines is no big deal. Growing up in Southern California I have played it about 50 times and participated in several tournaments on the course like Junior World. For a junior golfer growing up in the '70s in Southern California, Torrey Pines was always the place to play, not only because it gave us a chance to play the same course the pros played, but it was five bucks for us juniors, something that our parents liked.
So a couple of weeks ago I made the pilgrimage out west to San Diego to experience the course that I hadn't played since they finished the renovations back in 2002. I'm glad I did because I came away from it with a different understanding about U.S. Open courses and the fact that Torrey isn't a "true" U.S. Open-caliber course.
Now before anyone jumps to conclusions that I am slamming the course or the USGA, that isn't the case. Torrey Pines is very charming, but lets face it, a lot of money has been poured into the course, not because it's a hidden gem like Bethpage, but because of its location and the fact that the size of the property makes for a financial bonanza for the USGA. It also helps ease the embarrassment for the USGA, which hasn't held a U.S. Open in Southern California in 60 years. Let's also face the facts: If this course was 30 miles inland in Temecula, we would all be elsewhere when the U.S. Open begins in a few weeks, probably Riviera.
Over the years the USGA has looked for public facilities to hold its crowning jewel. The first public facility to hold the U.S. Open was Pebble Beach in 1972 and another one didn't join the rotation until Pinehurst in 1999. Now with Bethpage holding the Open in 2002, Torrey this year and Chambers Bay in 2015, the reverse of this trend is happening. Between 1999 and 2015, nine of the 17 U.S. Opens will be held on courses that anyone can play, that is if you don't mind taking a second mortgage on your home. And with Erin Hills in the mix for possible Open consideration there is no two ways about it, public facilities are becoming the norm for the USGA.
When the USGA picked Bethpage in 1995 to be the first "municipal" course to hold the U.S. Open, it was a hidden gem. The Tillinghast course had all of the characteristics for an Open: fairways and holes that bend around and aren't straight forward in which shot-making is important, bunkers that are hazards that give a challenge when hit into and lots of undulation in the greens. So when the USGA chose Bethpage it didn't need much changing around, all it needed was an upgrade in its playing conditions and a very minor "tummy tuck."
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For those wondering why the USGA picked a course like Torrey Pines, there are a lot a positives. First is the location. The course sits on a high bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean with some of the prettiest views in golf. With its location brings the added challenge of Mother Nature playing an important role as winds will make the course more challenging. But when you look at the true reason Torrey was chosen, it's the size of the property and location in a affluent area of the country in which the USGA will be able to sell more than $25 million in hospitality options. As the USGA's Chief Business Officer Pete Bevacqua told the San Diego Union, “It has been terrific, as good as it gets.”
Now, what about the golf course. I have been pretty negative so far but there are a lot of good things going for the course. Yes, it doesn't appear on any top-100 lists at Golf Digest or Golf Magazine but that doesn't mean it's not a tough test because it is. But for it to be an overriding success, Mother Nature has to cooperate with brisk ocean breezes coming in the afternoon. Unfortunately as we have seen at courses like St. Andrews, you can't always count on Mother Nature, so when winds don't blow -- like what happened in 2005 at the Old Course -- the best players tear the course apart. So that is the tricky proposition for the USGA, making sure the course is long and hard with fast, dry conditions that will play tough in windless conditions. But if it gets a forecast of windy days, it can adjust the length and the way the course plays.
In talking with Mike Davis, the USGA head of competition who is responsible for setting up the course, he feels that only Pebble Beach has wind that blows harder than at Torrey, and the small Pebble greens present a more difficult challenge for him. But for Davis the combination of the marine layer, which will be around most mornings and evenings at Torrey, present the big problem. With the morning mist, the greens and fairways will be moist, but will dry up when the sun appears. Then it usually gets windy so that creates another element in which the greens firm up and get harder. Another problem is the potential of heavy morning fog that makes it impossible to see and softens up the course. And as Davis said to me in a e-mail, if the forecasters don't get the forecast right and predict a cloudy mild day and all of a sudden it blows crazy like in did in 1992 on Sunday, the course could be set up to tough and cause a lot of problems and a lot of complaints.
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As for the length, Davis said it will play at 7,643 yards at a par of 71, which, compared to other past Opens, will be longer than ever. Six of the par 4s will play more than 450 yards, but what is really interesting is that the course will be very flexible from day to day. An example of this is the third hole, a par 3 played down to a small green. On the scorecard it says the length will be 195 yards, but as Davis says he hopes that a couple of days it will play at 142 yards. The par 5, 13th hole will also be a source of conversation, with a new added tee it will require up to a 230-yard carry over a canyon. But as Davis says the hole will play from three different tees over the four days, once again changing the characteristics of the hole.
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So the jury is still out on Torrey Pines. Will it be a great Open venue like Pinehurst or Bethpage has turned into? Or will it turn into a dud like Olympic Fields? Truth be told, I would say barring any real problems it will be somewhere in the middle. But if the USGA can make it exciting and memorable instead of a grind like Winged Foot and Oakmont, it will help and with Mike Davis at the helm I can see that happening. That's because Davis has the same attitude that the PGA of America and the R&A have when setting up a course that is tough, but very fair while allowing Mother Nature to take her course. If low scores happen during the British Open or the PGA Championship there is no embarrassment in those organizations. As a matter of fact they take the high road and say it was the great play for the low scoring and applaud that. In the past the USGA seems to have had a number fixation, always looking to see a score around even par and sometimes going out of the way to make sure that happens. With that creates problems when conditions get away from them like at Shinnecock Hills in 2004. But thankfully with Davis, who has been in control since after that debacle at Shinnecock, it seems those days are over.
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So despite the fact that Torrey Pines may not be a Winged Foot or a Oakmont, it will be a course that wuill generate more money, provide potentially higher television rights fees and draw a paid attendacen of 42,000 with over 200 hospitality tents and buildings.
Let's be realistic, if Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson win with no course debacles and complaints that will seal its fate. But what happens if Tiger Woods isn't competitive on a course that he has owned over the last decade and Phil Mickelson over practices and hurts himself and the U.S. Open is won by Shaun Micheel, Ben Curtis or a Todd Hamilton-type? There could be some question on the viability of Torrey and the USGA. But I don't foresee that happening. Maybe, just maybe we'll have an epic battle between Tiger and Phil and you can bet your house that Torrey will have another U.S. Open right around 2016, 2017.
