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The U.S. Open at Bethpage Black: The Stage Is Set

On May 3, USGA Executive Committee members Thomas O'Toole Jr. and James Hyler Jr., as well as USGA Green Section Northeast Region Director Dave Oatis, assistant golf course superintendant Kevin Carroll and Mike Davis did a walkthrough of the Black Course. (John Mummert/USGA)

By David Shefter, USGA

Farmingdale, N.Y. (May 3) – Four men in rain gear emerge from the sprawling clubhouse at Bethpage State Park. Armed with umbrellas to shield off raindrops that have pelted Long Island the entire day, they make their way toward the first tee of the park’s crown jewel, the Black Course.

Most of the day’s golfers have long since departed this immense complex, which features five 18-hole courses. But on this gloomy and overcast first Sunday in May, a few diehards remain on the Black Course, which will host the 2009 U.S. Open Championship June 18-21. Despite the undesirable conditions, these hearty souls refused to eschew their opportunity to play a gem that is rapidly approaching championship form. With tee times being limited on the Black – 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday until it closed on May 31, when the course shut down for the U.S. Open – rounds are precious. Players lucky enough to score a tee time go out, rain or shine.

Except Mike Davis (USGA senior director of Rules and Competitions), Dave Oatis (USGA Green Section Northeast Region director), Jim Hyler (vice president, USGA Executive Committee and chairman of the Championship Committee) and Thomas O’Toole Jr. (member of the Executive and Championship Committees) aren’t looking for a game.

As much as they would prefer to play, it’s time for vital work. The walkthrough with Bethpage Superintendent Craig Currier and his top assistant, Kevin Carroll, is a crucial step in the pre-championship procedure.

Dodging rain and slogging through soggy turf, they begin an 18-hole trek, scrutinizing everything from teeing grounds to green complexes and everything in between. Nothing goes unnoticed.

For the uninitiated, it’s similar to an inspection before purchasing a home. Every nook and cranny must be examined. It’s no time to be timid. If things aren’t right, now’s the appropriate moment to speak up.

With the Open 42 days away, Davis, who is entering his fourth season as the USGA’s top course setup man, and Championship chair Hyler want to ensure the course looks and plays properly.

Davis’ biggest concern: the rough, more specifically, the density of the grass.

Perhaps no characteristic defines a U.S. Open more than rough. If the Masters is about the greens and the British Open is about the weather, specifically wind, the U.S. Open has long been about gnarly rough, the kind that used to force a player to simply chop his ball back into the fairway.

Under the leadership of Davis and Hyler that philosophy has changed.

The USGA introduced the notion of “graduated” primary rough at the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, in Westchester County. Beyond a 6-foot-wide strip of intermediate rough will be a first cut of primary rough, roughly 20 feet wide and approximately 2½ to 3 inches deep. A second cut of rough, measuring 4 to 6 inches in depth, will stretch to the gallery rope lines.

The philosophy is that a player who hits his ball slightly hit off-line is not penalized as much as if the shot goes extremely left or right of the fairway. Or as Davis likes to say, “The punishment now fits the crime.”

The objective: Players in the first cut of primary rough now have a chance to go for the green, but without the spin control of a ball that sits in the fairway or intermediate cut. To achieve this concept, the rough must be a bit less dense. But in the agronomical world, theory doesn’t always translate into reality. Mother Nature can have other ideas no matter how high or low the grass is cut.

Currier and his staff were told not to fertilize the rough, but there’s only so much humans can control, especially in the spring when grasses tend to pop.

Standing in the fifth fairway, a long par 4 that plays to an elevated green, Davis looks toward the rough and throws a ball down. He turns toward Oatis and Currier and asks, “You see how the Poa annua is lower than the rye [grass]? That will not be the case six weeks from now, right?”

“Poa is not as upright,” Oatis explains. “Rye is more upright. That’s why we asked Craig not to over-seed so we would get a little less uniform [with the grasses].”

Davis interjects again, pointing to a ball buried in the grass. “Do you think it will get much less dense? That is a lie you just never want to see in this first cut [of primary rough], where you can’t get the club on it. That’s a layup. Even if you are 170 yards away, touring pros are going to be laying that up almost every time. You want that one [sitting up more].”

The banter between Davis and the agronomic experts – Oatis, Currier and Carroll – carries on throughout the three-hour-plus walkthrough. Twenty years ago, this wouldn’t have been an issue. The USGA simply wanted the nastiest rough around, and if players complained, so be it.

This isn’t to say Davis, Hyler and the Championship Committee have gone soft. They want the U.S. Open to be the stiffest examination in golf without embarrassing the competitors.

They want players to carefully think through a variety of options. It’s about risk/reward. And that, according to Davis, makes for a more exciting championship.

By the time the group reaches the 12th hole, Davis believes that cutting the primary rough to 2½ inches might be the best option. Right now it’s at 3 inches.

“I just don’t think that [3 inches] is going to give us the lie we’re looking for,” said Davis. “Again, if this thins out by the second week of June, we’re OK. I’d rather see it lower and then [see that] it’s changed and say, ‘OK, let’s go back up [to 3 inches].’ ”

Currier barks an instruction to Carroll. “Get a mower out and cut [to 2½ inches] on 13.”

Twenty minutes later, Carroll has cut a swath of rough to those specifications.

Davis, Hyler and O’Toole throw more balls down.

Davis isn’t fully satisfied, but he’s clearly more comfortable with staying at 2½ inches for now. This is where they were last year at Torrey Pines and it worked. But at Winged Foot (2006) and Oakmont (2007) the rough density was an issue throughout the championship.

“How do you feel [about 2½ inches]?” asks Davis, turning toward Hyler.

“Absolutely,” says the USGA’s vice president. “I’d rather err on the side of caution.”

Carroll and Oatis begin stepping off the width of the first cut.

“I’ve got 21 [feet],” says Carroll.

“I got 19 and he’s got 21,” said Oatis, noting the differences in steps.

“We only want 10, right?” jokes Currier.

“You are relentless,” says a smiling Hyler.

The width of the first cut of primary rough is supposed to be 20 feet, with a few exceptions like the 389-yard second hole where many competitors will use long irons or hybrids off the tee. There, the first cut of rough might be as narrow as 11 feet.

In terms of hole locations, all of the spots for each hole and for each round were tentatively selected during a walkthrough last fall. Some adjustments might be made, but that won’t occur until a week prior to the U.S. Open when the greens are rolling at championship speeds (between 13.5 and 14.5 on the Stimpmeter).

One thing that players won’t see is a hole cut in the front-right portion of the second green should conditions become similar to those during the second round in 2002. Rain fell the entire day and by the afternoon, maintenance workers were using squeegees to eliminate puddles on teeing grounds and greens across the course.

“This is the area that got saturated,” said Davis, pointing to that section. “I’ve been told it could happen again if it rains.”

Approaching the third green, Davis notices the cut between green and collar is barely visible. That is an important distinction because players can mark a ball on the green, but not the collar.

Currier interjects.

“We haven’t been cutting [the greens] much at all, to be honest,” says Currier. “The green will be lower.”

As the afternoon progresses, Davis continuously points out subtle changes made to the course since 2002. In the seventh fairway, he shows where fairway has now replaced rough to give the player a better angle on what will be the longest par 4 in U.S. Open history, 525 yards.

At the par-3 eighth, he discusses how different teeing grounds will be used depending on the hole location. He tells Hyler that they’ll likely use the lower two when the hole is cut in front. “I’d love to have a little wind that day,” says Davis, knowing that breezy conditions will make the 135-yard downhill shot over water a bit more challenging, especially since the green has been extended toward the pond and the collar shaved, allowing for balls to spin into the water if a player gets overly aggressive.

Currier picks out his favorite hole location. It’s front-middle, making a downhill putt extremely tricky.

“They can easily knock it 6 to 8 feet by, but it won’t go in the water,” says Currier. “I swear. I guarantee it.”

That draws hearty laughter from Hyler, Davis and O’Toole.

“They’ll be testing that theory a lot,” deadpans Hyler. “I can just see it now. Tiger Woods, the final round of the U.S. Open, putts the ball in the water.”

Nobody sees that scenario playing out. All agree the two front hole locations are solid. Depending on the teeing ground chosen and where holes are cut, the eighth will play anywhere from 135 to 230 yards.

Then it’s onto the 460-yard ninth, where a new back tee was added by architect Rees Jones. Davis looks out and marvels how well the new fairway bunker is blending in.

Hyler asks if the back tee will be used all four days.

Davis tells him he might move the tee up one day. The hope is to have players challenge the cross bunker, which requires a 280-yard carry. Those who can negotiate the hazard will leave themselves a flat lie and just a wedge approach to a green they can see. Players who go the conservative route to the right of the bunker likely will face a side-hill lie and a blind approach.

“It’s going to make a difference for guys trying to fly this,” said Davis.

But as they walk in the fairway, a red flag goes up. There’s an issue with a portion of the bunker near the face. Part of the fabric liner used in its construction – the bunker was not there in 2002 – can be seen from the rough above the face. Liners are used now to prolong the life of a bunker. All of Bethpage’s bunkers were restored, but clingstone, a liquid that hardens similar to concrete, was not used on the new fairway bunkers on nine and 13.

Oatis suggests cutting out a portion of the liner and plugging it with blue stem or fescue. Bad weather could contaminate the sub-soil, but it’s a risk worth taking for the short term. Any damage could be repaired after the U.S. Open.

“I’d hate it to have an impact on the championship,” said Oatis. “Then it becomes the Liner Open.”

Davis agrees with the solution.

By the time the group reaches 18, darkness has begun to settle in, not unlike the final hole of the 2002 U.S. Open, when flashbulbs popped as Woods accepted the trophy for a second time.

The exercise has been deemed a success. Outside of a few minor details, Bethpage Black is ready for the world’s best.

“Right now,” says Davis, “We can’t think of one aspect that we’re not happy with.”

David Shefter is a USGA Digital Media staff writer. E-mail him with questions or comments at dshefter@usga.org.

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