The U.S. Open from June 15-18 at the Los Angeles Country Club brought back some fond golf memories of having played at some Open venues over the years.
Bill Kennedy, Golf Columnist Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
• Bethpage Black, in Farmingdale, New York, comes to mind immediately. It is one of several courses in the complex, owned and operated by the State of New York, which made it unique as an Open site in 2002. The fact that everyone on that course must walk is another reason Bethpage Black is different, with big-time hikes between some greens and the next tee.
What stood out most, however, was the rough, which traditionally is snarly at the U.S. Open. In some places, that rough/fescue was up to a player’s knees. That, being more than 20 years ago, was OK because this writer mistakenly thought he could advance the ball from there. Uh-uh! It was quickly learned that the only solution was to hit the ball sideways and hope to return to the fairway.
Attendance for that Open averaged 70,000 a day.
• Shinnecock Hills in Southhampton, New York, was a challenge as the Open site in 2004 and will be in 2025. Several USGA championships have been played there.
What stood out to a high-handicap player were the greens. Generally, they were uphill and slanted. If your approach shot wound up above the pin, you needed to make the putt. If that putt was errant, most likely it would roll off the green — by a lot because the greens were extremely slippery — which meant another approach shot and a putt or two. There were triple-bogey greens galore.
• The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, was played as a reward to a Maine friend, Jack Manning, who was the successful bidder on a package of quality Boston-area courses. The 1988 Open was played there. And it was being groomed for the 2013 U.S. Amateur, as we played it.
The U.S. Open also was held at The Country Club in 2022, and it is believed to be the oldest golf course in the USA, dating back to 1882. That makes it older than Poland Spring, the oldest course in Maine.
On that day at The Country Club, there was a par-3 hole on which you could bet on yourself hitting the green. Frugal as I am, and knowing my limitations in terms of hitting greens on par-3s, a paltry $25 was put up, and miraculously the tee shot hit the green. That became $50 in pro shop credit, and resulted in the purchase of some great Country Club souvenirs.
• Then there is Ridgewood, located in Paramus, New Jersey. Never the site of the U.S. Open, Ridgewood has been the site of the 2008, 2010 and 2014 Barclays FedEx Cup and 2001 PGA Senior Championship, along with many USGA and PGA championships.
Ridgewood is 27 holes, and the 18 best of them were selected for that tournament and many others. They were a challenge, but fair, even to a hacker.
• Baltusrol in Springfield, New Jersey, probably is this writer’s No. 1 choice among Open sites, with that championship being held there numerous times since 1935, the year it was played on the Upper Course. All other big-time tournaments have been played on the Lower Course, more adaptable for television cameras. This writer found the Upper Course more difficult than the Lower Course.
Throw in the fact that in 2005, the year that the PGA was there, this writer won his only Metropolitan Golf Writers Association (MGWA) tournament there, (a flight title) and it is easy to understand why it is a “fave.”
If you think that there is a conspicuous absence from this list of metropolitan New York golf courses — specifically Winged Foot — you are correct. For some sad reason, that never has been played by this aging left-handed golfer.
With apologies for not mentioning Wyndham Clark’s magnificent title run to the 2023 Open crown, it also became a reminiscent weekend here.
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The upcoming tournament schedule is highlighted by the Maine Event, June 26-27 at Augusta. It is one of Maine’s most competitive events and includes many of the state’s top men’s and women’s golfers, and offers the most prize money to professionals in the field.
Then there are the Maine Golf Play Days — for men, June 30-July 1 at Sheepscot Links, and for women, June 27 at Fairlawn.
Bill Kennedy, a retired New Jersey golf writer and editor now residing on Thompson Lake in Otisfield, is in his 11th season as Sun Journal golf columnist.
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