By Joel Beall
Tiger Woods is not at Torrey Pines this week. At least in person; there are plenty of reminders around this U.S. Open of what Woods did the last time the championship visited these parts. On Wednesday, one of the most indelible images from the week will be memorialised in perpetuity.

The USGA and city of San Diego announced Tuesday evening that a ceremony welcoming fans to Torrey Pines will include the unveiling of a plaque celebrating Woods’ iconic moment at the 18th green during the 2008 U.S. Open. That would be the 12-foot putt that sealed a playoff date with Rocco Mediate, a putt Woods punctuated with double fist-pumps and a yell into the heavens.

Woods would go on to defeat Mediate in sudden death the following day. It was later revealed that Woods played with a double stress fracture in his leg.

The ceremony will be hosted by San Diego mayor Todd Gloria, San Diego city council president Jennifer Campbell and United States Golf Association president Stu Francis and hosted at Torrey Pines’ 18th green.

Woods is recovering from surgeries following a car crash in February. He has not publicly stated a timetable for a possible return to golf.

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By Kent Gray
The five-month rebuild of the most recognisable greens in Middle East golf is underway. In the meantime, may we humbly suggest you brush up on your lag putting.

All 18 greens on the Majlis layout at Emirates Golf Club, plus the practice green beneath the club’s famed Majlis clubhouse, are being dug up and rebuilt to full United States Golf Association (USGA) specification.

Originally built as ‘push up’ greens in the late 1980s, the surfaces are subject to the region’s high-stress climatic conditions so had come to the end of their natural 20-25 year lifespan.

That was evident at January’s OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic but Dubai Golf CEO Chris May is confident the rebuild will impress members and guests when the course reopens in late September and the pros when they are fully bedded for next year’s European Tour stop.

Like for Arabian Ranches Golf Club’s recent greens rebuild project, Emirates G.C. is having the chosen Tifeagle Bermuda grasses flown into the UAE in refrigerated containers from Atlas Turf in Georgia in the U.S.

The most noticeable change will be the significantly increased size of the surfaces, thus the aforementioned tip to work on your lag putting in the intervening five months.

“The greens will essentially remain the same as Karl Litten’s original design,” said May. “The most noticeable difference on re-opening in September will be the increase in size of the greens. The putting surfaces will be brought back to their original size with the average increase being close to 40 percent.”

Scratch beneath the surface and the big long-term benefits can be found.

“The fundamental change will be enhancing the drainage in the greens complexes by building to USGA specifications.

The 1st green on the Majlis is prepped for the rebuild.

“This will enable the golf course maintenance team to manage and present the greens to the world-class conditions that are expected on the Majlis course. The greens will be hand sprigged to ensure a consistent coverage with this work to be complete by the end of June after which the grow in will take place through to opening.”

Dubai Golf is also investing in drainage to the Majlis’ greenside bunkers to improve playability. Al Naboodah Contracting, the company responsible for the majority of golf courses in the region, is undertaking the construction.

American Terry Baller, who has significant global experience with many of the top design companies, is the design consultant.

“We are very much looking forward to reopening for play in September for our members and guests and providing world-class putting surfaces on the Majlis course for many years to come,” said May.

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By John Strege
Mickey Wright undeniably was a gift to golf, one of its greatest champions, her swing alone an enduring work of art. But now comes word from the United States Golf Association that she has gifted the game substantially more than a memorable biography.

“The late four-time U.S. Women’s Open champion Mickey Wright has bequeathed her estate and possessions to the USGA,” the organization announced in a news release on Wednesday. “The preservation of her story is imperative to the USGA’s mission to chronicle the history of women’s golf and share it with generations to come.”

Wright, who at 85 died in February, is donating everything from equipment and awards to scrapbooks, photo albums, films, videos, her library, record collection, personal writings and other materials that involve her wide-ranging interests. These include fishing, the stock market and sculpture, according to the news release.

Among the artifacts are “thousands of pages of correspondence with family, friends and other golfers, as well as personal writings about her golf game and legendary swing,” as well as the Bob Jones Award, the USGA’s highest honor, that she received in 2010.

“We are honored that Mickey Wright has entrusted her legacy to the USGA,” Hilary Cronheim, director of the USGA Golf Museum and Library, said in the news release. “We strive to preserve each champion’s story in a multi-dimensional way, speaking to the breadth and depth of an individual’s life, character and impact.

“The story of golf cannot be told without Mickey Wright, and this collection ensures that future generations will appreciate her not only as a defining character in the game’s history, but as an individual with diverse interests, passions and pursuits outside of golf.”

The USGA also will honor Wright’s desire to be interred outside the Mickey Wright Room on the USGA campus is Far Hills, N.J. It will do so in conjunction with a celebration of her life at a date yet to be determined.

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By Dave Shedloski
The process of finding a successor to USGA CEO Mike Davis, who announced Tuesday he will leave the association at the end of 2021, commenced about a year ago with the help of a search firm. So it is, according to USGA president Stu Francis, that the association already has taken meaningful steps toward an eventual leadership transition.

Francis would not divulge how many candidates might have been identified, be they inside the halls of Golf House in Liberty Corner, N.J., or outside them. Chances are, however, that considerably more men and women might throw their visor inside the ropes after reading the following job description.

“It’s demanding, but it’s a pretty cool job,” said Francis, who is heading up the search team. “You get to interact with world-class athletes, you get to go visit many of the great golf courses and sites in United States. There are a lot of things about it that are very cool.

“We’ll see who could be interested, and then we’ll stack them all up together and do a thoughtful decision.”

The reason the association had already begun the search process was that Davis quietly informed the USGA Executive Committee 3½ years ago that he planned to step down in 2021. Davis, 55, succeeded David Fay as the seventh executive director in 2011 and became its first chief executive officer in 2016, responsible for managing day-to-day operations, including its core functions, essential programs and human and financial resources.

It won’t be easy replacing Davis, and not simply because he has 30-plus years of experience at the USGA. Francis rattled off a list of criteria the next CEO must meet. “This is a very important job in an important sport,” Francis said. “It’s also a complex job, so we need someone with multifaceted skills.”

Rob Carr/Getty Images
USGA president Stu Francis (left) will oversee the search team than finds Mike Davis’ successor.

Francis said the next CEO has to be a strong leader with broad interpersonal skills to not only oversee the organisation but also to work with the numerous golf organisations around the world. (Davis serves on a number of boards, including the International Golf Federation, World Golf Foundation, World Golf Hall of Fame and Official World Golf Rankings.) He or she undoubtedly has to possess a keen business acumen with an understanding of the financial structure of a nonprofit sports organisation.

Oh, and, of course, they also have to love the game.

At the top of the list of prerequisites, it seems, is the ability to ensure the financial health of an organization that runs 14 national championships and, with the R&A, administers and manages the Rules of Golf.

“I would say one of the most important skill sets going forward will be the ability to strategically think through the continually changing revenue landscape going forward,” Francis said. “We’re going to need somebody who understands how the landscape is changing from a revenue and a business standpoint, because at the end of the day, it’s a nonprofit organisation.

“Look, we conduct the equivalent of the NBA Finals every year in the U.S. Open,” Francis added. “It’s become a major global event, and the logistics have become extraordinary. It generates about 75 percent of our revenues. We put all that back into the game, but we need to keep generating it so we can continue the types of grow-the-game initiatives. We have Girls Golf, The First Tee, etc. So we’ve got to get it right on a revenue standpoint, and Mike has, but the marketplace keeps changing, and we want to be in a position to do that effectively.”

Davis, also part of the search team, said the plan is for a successor to be in place by May or early June, “so they can get through the U.S. Open, and then I can spend a handful of months with them. And then from there, when you get to the latter part of next year, I’ll hand off the baton, and hopefully it’ll be a good, smooth transition.”

In addition to the financial well-being of the institution, the new CEO will have to take the baton from Davis on any actions the USGA and R&A might enact in accordance with its ongoing Distance Insights Initiative, which already is two years in the making at a cost “well into seven figures,” Davis said. “That might be the most important initiative we have going forward because it affects so many golfers, not just the players at the top, and so many aspects of the game.”

The search process begins in earnest now that the staff of the USGA has been informed of Davis’ exit plan. Francis said there is no mandate that the job has to be filled by a current USGA team member, though that is possible.

“The beauty of Mike’s leadership is that he has brought in and developed a very strong senior team so, we’re going to look at both internal and external candidates,” Francis said. “It would be a shame not to see what’s out there, so we’ll see what unfolds, We’ve been able to be very quiet with this for quite a while. It will be interesting to see who surfaces.”

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By John Strege
Grant Spaeth’s universe was not one dimensional, though at its core was the game that came to define him.

A former United States Golf Association president and a visionary, Spaeth died on Monday. He was 88.

“A titan of the game,” Stanford golf coach Conrad Ray called him on Twitter.

Spaeth, who played for Stanford’s national championship team in 1953, served the USGA in several capacities before his elevation to its presidency in 1990-’91.

He had a role in creating the U.S. Mid-Amateur and U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, recognizing that those 25 and older represented the heart of amateur golf.

Spaeth’s biography was blue blood through and through, yet he often was said to have had a common touch and “humanized the USGA,” his friend and long-time starter at the U.S. Open, Ron Read, noted in a Tweet.

He was born in England and took up golf as a boy in Uruguay, where his father was stationed. The family lived across the street from a golf course, where he was taught by a Uruguayan professional known as Espinacas, or Spinach, for reasons unknown.

Spaeth settled in Palo Alto, Calif., when his father Carl was appointed dean of Stanford’s law school in 1946. Carl became known as the Red Dean, “part of the new wave of liberals who came to the campus,” a story in the Stanford Lawyer publication, said, “and at one point he came under fire for hiring a professor, the later renowned criminal law scholar Herbert L. Packer, whom some conservative critics derided as a communist sympathizer.”

The Red Dean might have foretold Spaeth’s iconoclastic tendencies that eventually made him somewhat of an outsider at the USGA after his presidency.

A Stanford graduate, Spaeth went on to get his law degree from Harvard. He returned to Palo Alto and began practicing law there. In 1978, he served as the Deputy Secretary for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare and also did a stint as a Palo Alto city councilman.

Spaeth once cited a concern for litigation from equipment manufacturers as a principal challenge of his tenure as the USGA president. Just before ascending to the office, the USGA had settled a lawsuit with Ping over square grooves. It has been suggested that the organization, wary of how Spaeth might respond to it, chose a swift resolution instead.

Among Spaeth’s other concerns dating to his tenure as president was the distances the ball was going, “how to anticipate these developments and cap the distance somehow,” he said in an interview with Golf Club Atlas in 2008.

In 1994, Spaeth captained the U.S. team in the World Amateur in Versailles, France. Among his players was Tiger Woods, whose father Earl was concerned for his son, who had encountered difficulties in a prior overseas trip. Earl phoned Spaeth for reassurance that it would not happen again.

“Well, don’t you worry, Earl,” Spaeth told him. “I’ll assign Lori, my wife, to make sure he’s OK.” He followed through on his promise, and forever after, Tiger called her “Mama,” Spaeth said.

Spaeth was inducted into the Northern California Golf Association Hall of Fame, part of its inaugural class, in 2011.

“I want more people exposed to the game,” he said in the NCGA’s news release. “Those who take to it will be lucky and should be thankful.”

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By Dave Shedloski
The field for this year’s U.S. Open at Winged Foot might not look appreciably different than it has in previous years. At least that’s what the USGA is hoping to achieve.

With all local and sectional qualifying cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s championship, postponed to September, will be populated entirely by players selected via various exemption categories—many that already exist and have for some time, and others created for what the USGA hopes is a one-time occasion.

Similar plans are being instituted for three additional championships the USGA still plans to conduct this year: the U.S. Women’s Open, the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Women’s Amateur.

It’s a process that has started from scratch. But at least there is a template of sorts.

“We’re trying to create exemption categories that when we produce a field and when we start playing on that Thursday of the championship proper, people will look at the fields and say, ‘You know, they didn’t have qualifying but wait, that looks pretty close to what a U.S. Open field might look like,’” John Bodenhamer, senior managing director of championships for the USGA, told Golf Digest as part of a wide-ranging telephone interview, a portion of which was reported on Monday. “We are looking at data, we are looking at those who play year in and year out in the championship and qualifiers. We want to kind of turn over every stone to build a field.”

Of course, the field can’t quite measure up to modern U.S. Open standards, given that the number of competitors is being reduced from 156 to 144 because of the late-summer date. The championship begins Sept. 17, when the duration of daylight in Mamaroneck, N.Y., is 12 hours, 21 minutes—not all of it effective, mind you, for playing golf. That compares to the 15 hours, 6 minutes of daylight on Thursday, on which the first round of the 120th U.S. Open on Winged Foot’s West Course originally was scheduled.

RELATED: This would have been U.S. Open week, and everyone is feeling the void

Last year, there were 78 players fully exempt into the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links, exactly half the field. A similar number this year would leave 66 spots to be filled by players selected from new exemption categories, which can come from a number of sources, including the USGA’s recent amateur championships and the World Amateur Golf Rankings. Bodenhamer said that, on average, around 15-16 amateurs compete in the U.S. Open annually. Other considerations for filling the field will be given to international tours, senior golf events including past U.S. Senior Opens and club professionals via input from the PGA of America.

“Our endeavour,” Bodenhamer said, “is that when we release what the exemption categories will be this year, we’re going to at least give people an opportunity to in various categories who normally compete in the U.S. Open the opportunity to participate.

“It won’t be perfect,” he added. “We know that, and we hope people understand that it falls in line with what occurs through qualifying. Sometimes some good players don’t make it through qualifying.”

Bodenhamer said that qualifying was eliminated for its remaining championships strictly due to safety concerns for players, caddies, administrators, rules officials, personnel at the clubs that host them, and anyone else who might have engaged in those nationwide events. The USGA leadership had lengthy deliberations over what was the best course of action. They opted for caution. They know what it means to the thousands of golfers who enter the U.S. Open each year hoping that their long-shot bid to play in the championship is realised. Same goes for players who want to compete in other USGA events.

“We like to think about it [qualifying] as the platform we provide for a U.S. Open, let alone any of our 14 championships, for people to follow their dream to play in a major championship or a national championship, a golf championship of importance, whatever their level or demographic,” Bodenhamer said. “It was really, really agonizing for us to not be able to provide that platform to folks.”

Bodenhamer did not give an indication of when the USGA would release the various exemption categories. It is not in a hurry, trying to get it right—even while knowing there is no completely right way in the process.

“We’re not at the finish line yet. We’ve got some work left to do,” Bodenhamer said. “It’s complicated. We keep asking ourselves, ‘What our are options?’ It’s just all so new for us. But our thought, absolutely, is that this is a one-time thing. It’s a one-off. We go back to our traditional DNA in ’21. Qualifying is an important aspect to all of our championships. It’s what we’re about as a governing body that promotes the game.”

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By Kent Gray
Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Beach Golf Club has joined Al Mouj Golf in Muscat in gaining a United States Golf Association (USGA)-endorsed certification recognising world-class environmental practices in golf.

The Audubon International certification underpins a club’s commitment to the protection of natural resources and the preservation and enhancement of wildlife habitat. Saadiyat Beach Golf Club has achieved the “Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary” designation for the first time while European Tour venue Al Mouj Golf has retained the certification after becoming the first course in the MENA region to claim the certification in 2014.

Fewer than 1000 courses in the world have been granted the Audubon International seal where a club must demonstrate a high degree of environmental quality in categories including Environmental Planning wildlife and habitat management, chemical use reduction and safety, water conservation and water quality management.

Audubon International credited Saadiyat Beach G.C. for the protection of its gazelle population and more than 150 bird species, some endangered, that inhabit the seaside layout. The course has also reduced its water consumption by more than 30 percent over the past three years. Furthermore, a local community partnership to allow for the use of recycled water has seen consumption further reduced.

A thriving gazelle population and over 150 bird species inhabit Saadiyat Beach GC.

Clinton Southorn, Troon Abu Dhabi Cluster Director of Agronomy, praised Senior Assistant Superintendent Corey Finn for driving Saadiyat Beach G.C.’s drive toward certification.

“Saadiyat Beach Golf Club was designed with sensitivity to the surrounding natural environment of Saadiyat Island. Through this certification, we demonstrate our responsibility when it comes to environmental stewardship, and in ensuring a safe and healthy environment for the wildlife that inhabit the golf course, and are vital to Abu Dhabi’s ecosystem.

“I’m proud of the dedication and work of Corey Finn, who led the certification effort in collaboration with our teams. We look forward to continuing our work with Audubon International to drive sustainable and positive impact in our local community and across the globe.”

Francisco de Lancastre David, Cluster General Manager at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, Saadiyat Beach Golf Club and Yas Links Abu Dhabi said: “Our vision for Saadiyat Beach Golf Club is to successfully operate a world-class golf course in full harmony with its natural environment. The club is immensely proud to be a certified Audubon International golf course and we will continue to assess our ongoing practises to ensure we are operating at the most efficient levels.”

AL MOUJ GOLF

Al Mouj Golf in Muscat.

Al Mouj Golf’s recertification by Audubon International means it is one of just 20 courses worldwide to be certified by both Golf Environment Organisation and Audubon.

The Muscat club was first designated as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary in 2014 becoming the first golf course in the MENA region to be certified. Al Mouj Golf has now achieved this distinction three times, thanks to the eco-friendly management approach of the wider team and the practices they have adopted toward the maintenance of the club as a habitat for a diverse range of wildlife. These efforts have been escalated by the Al Mouj Golf team, who have conducted regular assessments of the facility to ensure it has once again been recognised for the third time by Audubon International for environmental stewardship in 2020.

Al Mouj Golf is now just one of 200 golf clubs to be Golf Environment Organisation (GEO) certified worldwide and less than 20 courses to be certified by both GEO and Audubon, meaning that Al Mouj Golf is just one from approximately 20 courses worldwide to be certified by both organisations.

“I am incredibly proud of the team at Al Mouj Golf for successfully retaining the natural heritage of our golf course, as well as being recognised by Audubon for a third time,” said Nasser Al Sheibani, CEO of Al Mouj Muscat.

“This is a significant environmental and sustainability achievement in balancing such a wonderful lifestyle asset with nature. Maintaining the biodiversity of the grounds at Al Mouj Golf is central to providing golfers with a world-class facility. Thanks to the efforts of the Al Mouj Golf team, we were able to become the region’s first achievers of this outstanding certification back in 2014. By continuing this success and retaining this certification, Al Mouj Golf continues to put Oman on the map as a leading party in environmental protection and management.”

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By Kent Gray
Another major championship, the same old, scarcely believable story for golf fans in one of the game’s global hotspots.

Just two days out from the start of the third major of the year, it appears there will be no live TV or online broadcast of America’s 119th national championship from fabled Pebble Beach for viewers across the Middle East.

After OSN’s decision to jettison all but two of its sports channels on April 1 this year, angst among fans suddenly starved of their usual diet of pay TV golf has steadily increased. An 11th-hour deal saw the Masters tournament later in April shown on Facebook Live but last month’s PGA Championship at Bethpage Black wasn’t screened. Now it seems limited ‘featured holes’ and ‘featured groups’ coverage on the United States Golf Association website and APP is the best fans here can hope for this week.

As the governing body, the USGA is responsible for the distribution of TV rights from the U.S. Open. Golf Digest Middle East has approached the USGA for comment on any possible deal for the Middle East but has thus far had no response. 

@usopengolf @GeoffShac @GolfDigestME There is no word that the US Open will be available to watch in the Middle East, how long will this farce continue?

— Ernie Fahey (@efahey81) June 10, 2019

European Tour back on the small screen
The brighter news is that coverage of European Tour’s Race to Dubai is back on the small screen across the MENA region via Dubai Sports Channel.

European Tour Communications Director Scott Crockett confirmed the tour had signed a  deal with Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI) to screen European Tour, Challenge Tour and Staysure (over 50s) Tour events on Dubai Sports Channel for the remainder of 2019.

DMI is the official media organisation of the government of Dubai.

“As I am sure you are aware, Dubai Sports Channel is available in the MENA Region, defined as Free-to-Air Satellite Territory being the footprints of the Arabsat and Nilesat satellites, which includes Bahrain, Comorres Islands, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Algeria, Chad, Libya, Morocco, Somalia and Tunisia,” Crockett told Golf Digest Middle East.

The deal is a major relief for the European Tour given the emirate’s investment in the tour via the Race to Dubai and the amount of high profile events it hosts in the region, including the main tour’s early-season Desert Swing in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Saudi Arabia and later in Muscat and Doha, and the season-defining DP World Tour Championship held at Jumeirah Golf Estates each November.

According to Crockett, Dubai Sports Channel began screening European Tour events late last month, starting with the Made in Denmark championship. It has also shown the Belgian Knockout and GolfSixes but won’t carry the U.S. Open as the European Tour doesn’t hold rights.

Strangely, the deal with the DMI has caught fans on the hop; there has been little fanfare (and no official media release GDME can find) despite the importance of the announcement given the Race to Dubai link and all-important fan engagement.

The return of European Tour coverage means fans across the MENA region now have access to the game’s two main tours.

GolfTV was launched in the UAE on April 1 offering coverage of PGA Tour events. GolfTV is Discovery’s new live and on-demand video streaming service conjunction with the PGA Tour and Tiger Woods. Golf Digest was recently acquired by Discovery Inc. Golf Digest Middle East, a licensee to the U.S.-based parent body, is published in the Middle East by Motivate Media Group.

RELATED: Golf Digest sold to Discovery, Inc., joins GOLFTV to create global editorial powerhouse

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As we walked down the 17th fairway on a bright, beautiful San Francisco afternoon, Couples turned to Watson and said, “Hey Tommy. If I offered you even par right now, would you take it?” Watson grinned. “In a heartbeat,” he answered. “Give me even par around here for four days and I’m the winner.”

He was close. Had Watson shot even par for four days that week, he would have played off with Lee Janzen, who beat Payne Stewart by one shot to win his second U.S. Open.

“Does that mean you don’t like the course?” I asked Couples after he’d hit his second shot at 17. Couples shook his head. “No, I love it,” he said. “But you can bet there will be lots of complaining about balls running off fairways into the rough.”

He paused. “Look, I don’t see anything wrong with playing one major championship, heck one tournament nowadays, where even par is a great score. That’s the U.S. Open. We all know it when we get here, so why complain?”

Which is why I come here on Monday of another U.S. Open week not to bury the USGA, but to defend it. Someone’s got to do it.

Has the USGA made plenty of mistakes in golf course set up through the years? Absolutely. If you’re going to try to make a course truly difficult, you’re going to make mistakes.

“We know we push our courses to the edge,” then USGA executive director David Fay said after the first Shinnecock Hills debacle in 2004. “Yesterday, we went over the edge. We screwed up.”

That wasn’t the first time—or the last.

During that ’98 Open at Olympic, the hole location on the 18th green on Friday was a disaster, with players watching helplessly as putts rolled back to their feet. Things finally reached the height of black golf comedy when the normally reasonable Kirk Triplett, stopped the ball with his putter as it rolled back to him—a harbinger, as it turned out of what Phil Mickelson would do in reverse at Shinnecock 20 years later.

Everyone knows that Shinnecock in ’04 was a Sunday to forget because the USGA didn’t water the greens overnight. More recently, there have been other issues: the greens at Chambers Bay in 2015 were inconsistent for a national championship; Erin Hills in 2017 had uncharacteristically highway-wide fairways that upset many; and USGA officials somehow didn’t calculate for afternoon winds on Saturday at Shinnecock last year, leading to the Mickelson’s meltdown on the 13th hole, when he hit his moving ball on the putting green.

There was also the Dustin Johnson mess at Oakmont in 2016, when Johnson was first told he wasn’t penalized after his ball moved on the fifth green, then told he MIGHT be penalized when after the round and finally WAS penalized. The only thing that prevented a complete catastrophe was Johnson keeping his cool to win by four shots and then, after the penalty, three shots.

So, when players blast the USGA—some on the record, some behind anonymity—they’re right, right?

Yes. And no.

Scott Halleran/Getty Images USGA CEO Mike Davis’ initial changes to how he set up U.S. Open courses drew praise.

Here’s the no: Even though USGA CEO Mike Davis denies it, the USGA is trying to protect par. However, as Couples pointed out, there’s nothing wrong with that.

It’s worth remembering that when Davis took over the U.S. Open setup duties from Tom Meeks in 2006, he was lauded for changes he made. Davis employed the concept of graduated rough, changing the long-standing Open tradition that if you missed a fairway by a foot, you were penalized just as harshly as if you missed it by 20 yards—sometimes less so if you found trampled down grass outside the ropes.

Davis also integrated reachable par 4s at most venues to spice up the courses from a strategic standpoint, as well as moving tees forward and backward between round—sometimes as much as 100 yards. Some players found this dizzying—which was Davis’ point, to make golfers have to think as they worked their way around the course. Davis probably did get too far over his skis at Chambers Bay, however, when he played the 18th hole as a par 4 twice and as a par 5 twice.

What’s important is this: Davis was trying, trying to hear the players’ complaints, trying to move the U.S. Open into the 21st century, trying to let people know exactly what the USGA was doing on a daily basis during the Open.

RELATED: How Pebble Beach became the USGA’s crown jewel

If you ask the green jackets at Augusta National the speed of their greens, they’ll look at you as if you just asked them to supply you with tax records for the entire membership. Even Kerry Haigh, the much-praised setup man for the PGA of America dodges the question: “The greens will be at PGA Championship speed,” is his stock answer.

Davis told people before the Open began the green speeds he wanted and then reported what they were to the public—and, more importantly, the players—each morning.

In reading the recent Golf Digest piece in which 57 people in golf were granted anonymity to talk frankly about the USGA, I found it fascinating that they revealed there was serious discussion about a boycott after Oakmont in 2016. Were they finally fed up with setup mistakes? Were they demanding more transparency, or were they just appalled by the Johnson mess?

No. It was—surprise—also a lot to do with money. The players thought they should be getting more money than they were getting after the new FOX contract provided the USGA with a financial windfall. The total prize money at Oakmont was $10 million, with Johnson getting $1.8 million.

Maybe the USGA could have dispersed more of the FOX money (it did raise the prize money in 2015, and a year after Oakmont in 2017 and has done so again in 2019) but it was fascinating that not one player quoted said, “They should give more money to The First Tee or getting more minorities into golf.” Or, to charities in general. It was, “make us rich guys richer.”

I give Justin Thomas credit for criticizing the USGA earlier this year on the record, saying he opposed many of the new rules changes and that the USGA should set up courses for the Open the way the PGA Tour does for weekly events. I credit him for honesty and for not hiding behind anonymity.

And I completely disagree with him.

The majors are supposed to be different. One reason why the PGA Championship is the fourth of the four majors is because it is the one most like a regular PGA Tour event. I’m not saying that critically, it’s just a fact.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Thomas has been upfront about his issues with the new Rules of Golf and U.S. Open course setups.

The USGA was criticised—correctly—at Erin Hills because Brooks Koepka’s winning score was 16 under par and scores in the 60s abounded all week. Rory McIlroy also shot 16 under at Congressional in 2011, but he won by eight shots and only 20 players broke par (31 did so at Erin Hills). Of course Davis’ “we’re not worried about defending par” comment sort of goes out the window when one realizes the USGA abandoned Congressional after the 2011 championship. And you won’t be buying any ticket packages for Erin Hills anytime in the near future, either.

The USGA has no interest in setting up a golf course like a PGA Tour event. It wants the Open to be a different challenge. As Couples noted all those years ago, it’s supposed to be hard.

There’s no doubt the USGA has made it easy for critics by making the mistakes that it has made. As Fay said, you push any golf course to the edge, there’s potential to go over that edge.

That’s what happened on Saturday at Shinnecock a year ago. Davis miscalculated how much the afternoon winds at the eastern edge of Long Island would affect some of his hole locations. He was attacked—justifiably—for that error. And he also owned up to it after the round.

All that did not excuse what Mickelson did on the 13th green, chasing down a wayward putt and hitting it while it was still in motion. Mickelson then said after the round he figured he was better off with a two-shot penalty for hitting a moving ball than letting the ball roll of the green.

For whatever reason, the USGA didn’t disqualify him—which the association had every right to do, and perhaps even an obligation to after Mickelson explained how he broke a rule intentionally.

And yet in the Digest piece many players defended or applauded Mickelson for his action. Forget the fact that 66 other players dealt with the setup without blatantly breaking a rule. It’s worth remembering that Mickelson shot 77-69 the first two days when no one was complaining about setup and was among the earlier starters on Saturday. If he had made par at 13—instead of making a 10 with the two-shot penalty—he still would have shot 75. Tough to blame that on the setup.

Even caddies got into the act in the Digest piece. One complained about a walking rules official reminding him on the first tee to make sure there were only 14 clubs in the bag. “I need him to tell me how to do my job?” the caddie asked rhetorically, and with plenty of angst.

Well, it can’t hurt. Ask Ian Woosnam, who started the last round of the 2001 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s tied for the lead and birdied the first hole only to have that two turned into a four when he discovered that caddie Myles Byrne had 15 clubs in the bag.

Or, ask Dustin Johnson, who might have won the PGA Championship in 2010 if a PGA of America official had reminded him that, under a local rule at Whistling Straits, his ball was in a bunker on the 18th hole on Sunday—regardless of the garbage and the footprints in the sandy area.

My point is this: There are certainly moments when the USGA deserves every bit of criticism it receives. But I know the staff is trying. I’ve walked with Davis in the past while he did setups, and I know how much thought he always put into that job—and how much he loved it. The fact that he gave it up to John Bodenhamer after Shinnecock is proof that he desperately wants to do what’s best for the Open.

Will there be whining this week at Pebble Beach before a single ball is struck? Of course, that’s as much a part of the U.S. Open tradition as fast greens, tough hole locations and high scores.

To paraphrase Couples: Once a year, there’s nothing wrong with that.

The post U.S. Open 2019: What the USGA’s critics get wrong appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
USGA CEO Mike Davis will cede U.S. Open course setup responsibilities, beginning with this year’s tournament at Pebble Beach.

According to a Golf Channel report, Davis is voluntarily stepping aside and handing the reins to John Bodenhamer, the senior managing editor of championships.

“This decision has been in the works for more than two U.S. Opens,” Davis told Golf Channel’s Jaime Diaz. “Whether people want to believe that or not, that’s for them to decide.”

Davis is referring to the controversy at last summer’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. Davis and his team were accused of mismanaging the venerable Long Island links on Saturday, with pins in unreachable spots, their severity amplified by the wind. At the height of the craziness, Phil Mickelson purposely hit his moving ball on the 13th green, creating its own level of hysteria.

The conditions resulted in 19 players firing 78 or higher, with the final two groups finishing a collective 31 over par. The setup was considered by many to be unacceptable, especially given with the errors of the 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock still fresh. Players were vocal in their outcry, forcing Davis to offer a public mea culpa.

“We want the U.S. Open to be tough, but this afternoon was too tough,” Davis said that night. “It was a tale of two courses. Their were some aspects of this setup that well-hit shots were not rewarded but penalized.

“Frankly, we just missed it with the wind. The greens got fast. The firmness was OK but the speed was too much.”

Combined with issues from the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay (green conditions) and 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont (Dustin Johnson ruling), the mistakes were beginning to pile under Davis’ tenure.

Still, Davis, who will continue to serve as the governing body’s CEO, maintains he would have surrendered this task no matter what happened in 2018.

“Absolutely,” Davis told the Golf Channel. “I told our [executive committee] president and our next president this was happening long before the Open at Shinnecock.”

Davis asserted he will still be part of the setup process, but act as “more of an overseeing consultant” going forward.

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