| US OPEN PREVIEW
Divine nine: the front nine at Merion closes with this challenging par-3
The
Resurrection of a Classic It has taken over two decades for the US Open to return to the East Course at Merion, one of the most historic clubs in America. But as Paul Prendergast explains, the wait will be more than worth it.
E Courtesy of the USGA
ven the most ardent of Merion Golf Club members thought they would never see the day when their pride and joy, the historic Dick Wilson-designed East Course, would once again grace the world stage by hosting a major championship. Like many of the grand old layouts created in the early part of the 20th century, an era that has become known as the golden age of golf course architecture, Merion, the pundits said, had been outgrown by "developments" in the game. Modern technology and the increasingly large logistical exercise that today's professional events thrust upon a host venue had rendered Merion, situated on the outskirts of Philadelphia, obsolete; it was just too short and too small to host a fifth US Open. Fortunately, the pundits were wrong.
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That six-footer to win the Ryder Cup “was such a fine line between being the hero and the biggest idiot,” he says.
Despite its grand history, Merion will be unfamiliar territory to most golf fans and all but a few players ... defending US Open champion Webb Simpson hadn't even been born when the championship was last staged.
Courtesy of the USGA
In the mid-1990s, this historic club took a long, hard look at itself and came to the conclusion that it would take something radical to convince the USGA that it had the wherewithal to test the world's best; it needed to tend to its famed bunkering, restore its wily greens to their former glory and embark on a significant tree removal programme. Remarkably, the club took on these changes "in-house" without the project being led or guided by a full-time course designer. The results were impressive, even to the USGA who duly granted the club the 2005 US Amateur Championship. Of the 312 players that entered, only six broke par and nobody shot better than a 69 in the stroke play portion of the event, which was eventually won by Edoardo Molinari. Merion's membership, who knew full well that the USGA loves nothing more than when a course comes out on top, wore broad smiles: Merion was back. Following the success of the Amateur, the USGA formally made the announcement that 50
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had traditionalists cheering: the US Open would return to Merion in 2013, adding to the memorable championships of 1934, 1950, 1971 and 1981, the last of which was claimed by Australian David Graham. "No potential Open site had been through such rigorous review," says Craig Ammerman, a former member of both the USGA's championship and executive committees, when recalling the vote and preceding debate that took place. It now means that this month's winner will join a roster of Merion champions that is second to none. It has also returned a sense of pride to the members of this most distinguished and traditional of clubs. "[The US Open] It's kind of in the DNA of the club," 2005 US Walker Cup Captain and Merion member Buddy Marucci says. Olin Dutra, Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino and David Graham have all been crowned US Open champions at Merion but the venue was also the setting for the historic "Grand Slam" in 1930, achieved when Bobby Jones clinched the final at the 11th hole to win his second US Amateur at the club. Jones had earlier set himself up for a tilt at the Slam by winning the US Open, the Open Championship and the British Amateur, criss-crossing the Atlantic by ship over a four-month stretch. Jones promptly retired from tournament play following this win and a gold plaque to the right of the 11th tee commemorates the momentous occasion. HKGOLFER.COM
Despite its grand history, Merion will be unfamiliar territory to most golf fans and all but a few players who were fortunate enough to have played in the US Amateur and Walker Cup in recent years. Defending champion Webb Simpson hadn't even been born when the championship was last staged, although he did contest the 2005 Amateur, losing in a second round match to Anthony Kim. WGC-Match Play champion Matt Kuchar was celebrating his third birthday on the very day Merion last crowned a champion back in 1981. Australian David Graham, already a major champion after winning the US PGA Championship in a play-off over Ben Crenshaw two years earlier, shot a near flawless final round 67 to defeat playing partner George Burns and a fast-finishing Bill Rogers by three strokes. The then 33-year-old Graham’s performance that day was heralded by none other than Ben Hogan as one of the greatest final rounds in history, an accolade of the highest honour coming from the man who set the benchmark in history for shot making and ball striking. Graham hit all 18 greens in regulation and found all but the first fairway off the tee in an exhibition of control as he climbed from three strokes behind Burns to win. Hogan himself had famously won a the 1950 US Open at Merion after returning to competitive HKGOLFER.COM
golf following the car accident that nearly claimed his life the previous year (see The Miracle at Merion on page 54). Graham’s win upstaged the title defence of Jack Nicklaus, who was seeking a record fifth US Open title, and Tom Watson, who was at the peak of his game, bidding for a first national championship which would ultimately arrive the following year at Pebble Beach. A decade earlier, Nicklaus had lost in a play-off to Lee Trevino at Merion which has been enshrined in golfing folklore for Trevino tossing a rubber snake from his golf bag at an amused Nicklaus as they waited to tee off on the first hole. Nicklaus had written his own chapter into the Merion history book many years earlier when, as a 20-year-old amateur, he won the inidivdual title at the 1960 World Amateur Team Championship – the Eisenhower Trophy. Nicklaus' four-round total of 269 was 13 strokes clear of his nearest challenger. The US team won the event by a record 42 strokes. Graham’s seven-under par total in 1981 was at the time the second lowest 72-hole score in US Open history over a Merion layout that measured a little over 6,600 yards. This was in the era of wooden clubs and balata golf balls and even then, the USGA were nervous about the length of the golf course and its capacity to protect itself from the greatest players in the world.
David Graham (top) put on a putting clinic during the final round of the 1981 US Open, the last time the championship was played at Merion; red wicker baskets, rather than flags, are the order of the day at this throwback-era course HK GOLFER・JUN 2013
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Courtesy of the USGA (Merion); Getty Images (Trevino)
Clockwise from top: the famous “Quarry” hole – the 16th – at Merion; rugged bunkering is very much in evidence; Lee Trevino and his now infamous “snake” routine 52
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The Championship Committee ensured the small, undulating greens were lightening fast and the rough off the fairways and around the green complexes was thick enough to complement the property’s sandy waste and quarry areas, along with the dune grasses and ‘Scotch Broom’ that frame many of the bunkers and waste areas. Despite their concerns, the "Old Lady" was up to the test with only five players in the field of breaking par that year. This month, the players will still face a golf course that is considered short by modern standards – it comes in at just under 6,900 yards – despite the clubs acquisition of some neighbouring land and by broader decisions to reduce spectator movement and hospitality in some areas of the property. The fact of the matter is that with only 126 acres of room to play with, the golf course can't be lengthened any further because there is simply no room. Changes to the course in preparation for this particular championship have been made progressively. Strategic bunkering has been added on the second, 15th and 16th, while the third sees a new tee,and will now play a backbreaking 256-yard, uphill par-3. Fairways will be narrowed to between 22 and 24 yards and the USGA will do away with an "intermediate" or a "first cut" of rough due to the prevalence of shorter holes. “Merion is not a golf course that jumps out for the graduated rough like others because of the premium of short holes,” USGA Championship Committee Chairman Tom O’Toole said
recently. “With short holes you have to play from the fairway and if you are not, there has to be a punishment. You’re not going to see the graduated rough on the short holes.” One idiosyncrasy of Merion, one that is sure to both charm and intrigue players and spectators alike, is the use of wicker baskets that replace
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flags on the top of the pins. The baskets have been a feature since the club opened and reputedly came about after course designer Dick Wilson, on a trip to Scotland, noticed the local sheep herders using wicker baskets atop their staffs in order to protect their lunch from the animals. Other versions of the origin of the baskets abound and many golf courses of the era in the United States and the British Isles reportedly used them, although most spurned the idea fairly quickly. The baskets, of course, give no help to players trying to ascertain wind direction on their approach shots. “A lot of today’s greatest tour golfers haven’t played here, or maybe didn’t even know about Merion until it came back into the US Open lineup again,” says Hank Thompson, the USGA’s championship director. “Based on the number of tour players who came over to play Merion while they were in town for the AT&T National (in 2011) at nearby Aronimink Golf Club, I’d say there is quite a mix of curiosity and excitement.” All of the greats in the history of the game have tested their skills under championship conditions at Merion and only the worthiest of champions have been identified on each occasion, results that have no doubt pleased the USGA over the years who justify the setup of US Open courses to achieve this singular goal. It will not be lost on the players that they face a rare opportunity to win a national championship at a truly historic venue and a wonderfully, unique golf course. Jack Nicklaus has said that "acre for acre, Merion may be the best test of golf in the world," and it will be intriguing to watch the players of the modern era approach the challenge set by the century-old course. Will the subtleties of the layout finally be overpowered in true US Open conditions or will discipline, strategy and shot making once again reign supreme? No matter the outcome, having a golf course of this calibre and tradition host America's national title will be a thrill for all concerned. Particularly those who thought they'd never see it held at Merion again. HKGOLFER.COM
Jack Nicklaus has said that "acre for acre, Merion may be the best test of golf in the world," and it will be intriguing to watch the players of the modern era approach the challenge set by the century-old course.
NUMBERS GAME
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On completion of the 2013 championship, Merion will have hosted the US Open on this number of occasions. One of the most historic and decorated clubs in the country, Merion enjoys the distinction of hosting more USGA events (the US Open will be its 18th) than any other club in America. I t was this many months after Ben Hogan sustained lifethreatening injuries in a car crash that he won the US Open at Merion. Hailed the greatest comeback in the history of the game, Hogan defeated Lloyd Mangrum and George Fazio in an 18-hole play-off. He would go on to win another five majors for a total haul of nine to cement his legendary status. Is the length, in yards, of the East Course at Merion. The layout, which plays to a par of 70, is the shortest course to stage a US Open since Southern Hills, was which 6,973, in 2001. "There's going to be more birdies made at this US Open than any we have seen in recent history," said USGA Executive Director Mike Davis.
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