Post by Richie3Jack on Apr 19, 2012 11:55:38 GMT -5
THE BEST: Winged Foot
I would have given this to Oakmont which always seems to put forth a great champion. But, the recent changes to Oakmont with gazillion yard par-3's has left me flat. Shinnecock could be considered as well, but it's links style and I don't think that reqlly quite captures the essence of the US Open which is more like insanely difficult parkland style courses.
THE WORST The Country Club
It's incredibly banal and while the story of Francis Oimet will live on for centuries and it's close to Boston, I don't see much of a reason behind having it hold such big events.
MOST OVERRATED: Olympic Club
Too many goofy designs because the course is meant for a par-72 and a lot of holes do not adhere to form following function. 17 is utterly ridiculous and I'm sure the 18th green will be a catastrophe. It will likely give a 'proper' champion and then John Erickson can gripe about how many poor shots he saw
MOST UNDERRATED: Hazeltine
It got the deserved flak for the 1970 Open and that hurt some of the enthusiasm towards the course which has been utterly better ever since and is really a great golf course that doesn't get its due.
AGED THE BEST: Bethpage
So many illustrious holes designed by Tillinghast and then redone beautifully. My only issue was in the '09 Open they clearly made it to favor the bomber and that still aggravates me like a 5-hour round of golf.
AGED THE WORST: Canterbury Golf Club
A friend of mine was a member there for a while and it's still a fine course to play, but it's not suitable for modern US Open golf with the ball flying around like it does today. The sadness of modern technology in golf.
3JACK
I would have given this to Oakmont which always seems to put forth a great champion. But, the recent changes to Oakmont with gazillion yard par-3's has left me flat. Shinnecock could be considered as well, but it's links style and I don't think that reqlly quite captures the essence of the US Open which is more like insanely difficult parkland style courses.
THE WORST The Country Club
It's incredibly banal and while the story of Francis Oimet will live on for centuries and it's close to Boston, I don't see much of a reason behind having it hold such big events.
MOST OVERRATED: Olympic Club
Too many goofy designs because the course is meant for a par-72 and a lot of holes do not adhere to form following function. 17 is utterly ridiculous and I'm sure the 18th green will be a catastrophe. It will likely give a 'proper' champion and then John Erickson can gripe about how many poor shots he saw
MOST UNDERRATED: Hazeltine
It got the deserved flak for the 1970 Open and that hurt some of the enthusiasm towards the course which has been utterly better ever since and is really a great golf course that doesn't get its due.
AGED THE BEST: Bethpage
So many illustrious holes designed by Tillinghast and then redone beautifully. My only issue was in the '09 Open they clearly made it to favor the bomber and that still aggravates me like a 5-hour round of golf.
AGED THE WORST: Canterbury Golf Club
A friend of mine was a member there for a while and it's still a fine course to play, but it's not suitable for modern US Open golf with the ball flying around like it does today. The sadness of modern technology in golf.
3JACK
