Kristen LaCount, basic supervisor of The Country Club, stated final month that within the leadup to the U.S. Open she additionally wanted to arrange the employees for the day after, virtually like a interval of mourning. In stark distinction to final week, the crowds didn’t file by way of the gates on Monday to observe all the highest golfers on the planet in a single place.
It may have been the final time that occurs in America as the sport awaits how Augusta National Golf Club, PGA of America and USGA, the organizations that run the three U.S.-based majors, deal with the gamers who selected to defect from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf.
USGA CEO Mike Whan defined it might have been onerous to disqualify gamers who performed in LIV’s debut however had met the factors wanted to play within the U.S. Open. But he additionally stated that he may foresee a day the place the factors the USGA makes use of to create its subject may change as effectively, probably making it harder for gamers who joined the Saudi-backed enterprise to qualify.
The chasm between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf threatened to overshadow the Open’s return to Brookline following a 34-year wait. But as soon as Michael Thorbjornsen and Fran Quinn teed off at 6:45 a.m. on Thursday, the course and the gamers – whether or not they be from the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, highschool, school, finance – making an attempt to tame it moved to the forefront.
Following Matthew Fitzpatrick’s one-shot victory over Will Zalatoris and Scottie Scheffler on Sunday, the following query turned how rapidly can the U.S. Open – or any occasion – return?
“We’ll sit down with the club, see what their experience was, look at what ours was. It’s been wildly positive from our standpoint and I assume from the club’s standpoint based on my engagement with them,” USGA chief championship officer John Bodenhamer instructed the Herald. “I think we’d love nothing more than to see the continuation of the tradition that’s been here.”
Excitement was extraordinarily excessive for the membership in accordance with Will Fulton, the final chair of the match and host of the winner at his home for each the U.S. Amateur in 2013 and final week, who instructed the Herald on Sunday shortly earlier than the leaders teed off that 96.5 % of the membership had both volunteered, purchased tickets or hospitality packages for the match.
The Country Club, one of many 5 founding members of the USGA, has hosted 17 USGA tournaments starting in 1902 with the U.S. Women’s Amateur, tied for second most with Oakmont Country Club and trailing solely the 19 for Merion Golf Club, each situated in Pennsylvania. There are three key dates within the subsequent 25 years that might make sense to have a marquee occasion on the membership.
The first is 2032, the membership’s a hundred and fiftieth anniversary. While Pebble Beach was awarded the U.S. Open for 2032, it’s the subsequent out there date for the U.S. Women’s Open – an occasion TCC has by no means hosted and wouldn’t require an identical measurement buildout as final week.
The a hundred and twenty fifth anniversary of Francis Ouimet’s historic win within the 1913 Open might be in 2038. The solely openings for an Open earlier than that point are in 2028, 2031 and 2036.
The different can be 2045, the a hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the USGA.
Despite the profitable rating being 6-under-par and simply 9 gamers scoring underneath par, The Country Club acquired rave evaluations.
“I think it’s one of the best golf courses in the world, and alongside probably the best sports fans in the world,” stated Vermonter and Hopkinton High graduate Keegan Bradley, who completed tied for seventh at 279. “Combine those two, and you get this out here.”
But it wasn’t simply the native New Englander singing its praises.
“It’s enjoyable to be able to battle against this golf course,” stated Masters champion Scottie Scheffler.
Gary Woodland, 2019 U.S. Open Champion: “(Saturday) was what they wanted, and that’s what you want in a U.S. Open. It was hard. Conditions were brutal. The golf course set up perfectly.”
Jon Rahm from earlier than the match began: “I think it’s a wonderful course. I like to think of myself as a bit of a historian of the game, and to come to a place like this where the whole Francis Ouimet world happened, it’s very unique.”
Between the response from the gamers and the crowds that lined the fairways and packed the grandstands and hospitality tents, final week proved the U.S. Open needs to be round extra regularly than 34 years from now.
Source: www.bostonherald.com