It's a weekend of prime time golf for us in the eastern half of the United States, as the U.S. Open makes one of its trips to the West Coast. This year's National Open is being played at the North Course of the Los Angeles Country Club, a legendary (and highly exclusive) course that has not hosted any significant event since the 1940 Los Angeles Open. So most of us golf fans have literally never seen the course. Here is the scorecard:
1. 590 yards (par 5)
2. 497 yards (par 4)
3. 419 yards (par 4)
4. 228 yards (par 3)
5. 480 yards (par 4)
6. 330 yards (par 4)
7. 284 yards (par 3)
8. 537 yards (par 5)
9. 171 yards (par 3)
OUT: 3,536 yards (par 35)
10. 409 yards (par 4)
11. 290 yards (par 3)
12. 380 yards (par 4)
13. 507 yards (par 4)
14. 623 yards (par 5)
15. 124 yards (par 3)
16. 542 yards (par 4)
17. 520 yards (par 4)
18. 492 yards (par 4)
IN: 3,887 yards (par 35)
TOTAL: 7,423 yards (par 70)
That's an odd routing -- you don't often see a course with five par threes and three par fives. But it could be a lot of fun -- I tend to get bored with just one 450-yard par four after another. And while the course does end with three long par fours (which tend to be the worst scoring holes), for most of the round you are dealing with a broad variety of holes.
Also, the USGA seems to have gotten away from their old habit of tricking up the course to keep scores high. In fact, a glimpse at the scoreboard indicates that scores are likely to be quite low by U.S. Open standards. But that doesn't bother me, so long as we get a worthy champion.
As of now, the top of the leaderboard looks like this:
1. J. Solomon: -4 (15 holes)
T2. R. Gerard: -3 (14)
T2. D. Wu: -3 (13)
T2. R. Fowler: -3 (9)
T2. X. Schauffele: -3 (8)
But, of course, a lot of the favorites have yet to tee off.
This course opened in 1911, and is in the middle of Beverly Hills. It's fascinating to see a golf course in the middle of a major city -- almost every TV shot features apartment buildings and office towers in the background.
ReplyDeleteMy sense of 1900-1925 is still awful, but it's a lot better than it was 10 years ago.
DeleteRickie Fowler is now 5 under through 11. He has a two shot lead.
ReplyDeleteXander Schauffele moves to 4 under through 10, one shot behind Fowler.
ReplyDeleteFowler is now 6 under through 12.
ReplyDeleteSchauffele is 5 under through 11, one shot behind Fowler.
ReplyDeleteWell, a whole bunch of stuff has happened, so we'll just update the leader board:
ReplyDeleteT1. R. Fowler: -8 (18 holes)
T1. X. Schauffele: -8 (18)
T3. W. Clark: -4 (9)
T3. B. Harman: -4 (7)
T3. R. McIlroy (NIR): -4 (7)
Yes, Ricky Fowler and Xander Schauffele both shot 62's in the first round. No one had ever shot a 62 at the U.S. Open before.
ReplyDeleteIn 1980, both Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf opened with 63's at Baltusrol. Weiskopf shot at 75 the next day and finished well out of contention. Nicklaus went 63+71+70 and went into the last round tied with Isao Aoki, who had gone 68+68+68. On the last day, in one of the most dramatic rounds of golf I can remember, Nicklaus outdueled Aoki 68 to 70 and won his final U.S. Open title by two shots.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, now we'll see what happens here. Here are some other notables:
ReplyDeleteB. DeChambeau: -3 (18)
S. Scheffler: -3 (18)
D. Johnson: -2 (7)
V. Hovland (NOR): -1 (18)
J. Rahm (ESP): -1 (18)
P. Mickelson: -1 (9)
S. Garcia (ESP): Even (18)
Justin Thomas shot a 3 over 73, and is currently tied for 112th, along with Jason Day. Koepka is 3 over through 6, so he needs to get going. Justin Rose shot a 6 over par 76, which seems impossible. He's tied for 148th.
ReplyDeleteJordan Spieth is 1 over through 7.
ReplyDeleteRicky Fowler attended Murrieta Valley High School, which is in Riverside County. Xander Schauffele attended Scripps Ranch High School in San Diego. So it's been a good day for Southern Californians.
ReplyDeleteI can remember with SoCal was the coolest part of the whole country, and probably the coolest region in the whole world.
ReplyDeleteBut hold the phone: Brian Harman is 5 under after only 8 holes. He's from Georgia, so apparently you don't have to be from SoCal to go low.
ReplyDeleteAnd Rory McIlroy is 4 under through 7. He's got to feel like he's going to win this thing.
ReplyDeleteT1. R. Fowler: -8 (18 holes)
ReplyDeleteT1. X. Schauffele: -8 (18)
3. B. Harman: -6 (10)
T4. W. Clark: -5 (12)
T4. R. McIlroy (NIR): -5 (9)
Koepka is now 1 over through 10.
ReplyDeleteMickelson rolls in a very long birdie putt, and he is now 3 under through 13 holes.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that on the one hand, the leaderboard is looking really solid. On the other hand, this course does appear to be wide open. I haven't seen a single golfer who appeared to be in real trouble.
ReplyDeleteT1. R. Fowler: -8 (18)
ReplyDeleteT1. X. Schauffele: -8 (18)
3. B. Harman: -6 (12)
T4. W. Clark: -5 (14)
T4. R. McIlroy (NIR): -5 (12)
T1. R. Fowler: -8 (18 holes)
ReplyDeleteT1. X. Schauffele: -8 (18)
3. W. Clark: -6 (16)
T4. D. Johnson: -5 (14)
T4. B. Harman: -5 (13)
T4. R. McIlroy (NIR): -5 (12)
Mickelson has run into some trouble, and is now 1 under through 16.
ReplyDeleteT1. R. Fowler: -8 (18 holes)
ReplyDeleteT1. X. Schauffele: -8 (18)
T3. W. Clark: -6 (16)
T3. D. Johnson: -6 (15)
T5. B. Harman: -5 (14)
T5. R. McIlroy (NIR): -5 (13)
This is a very impressive leader board:
ReplyDeleteT1. R. Fowler: -8 (18 holes)
T1. X. Schauffele: -8 (18)
T3. W. Clark: -6 (18)
T3. D. Johnston: -6 (16)
T3. R. McIlroy: -6 (15)
Mickelson finished at 1 under. Koepka is 1 over through 15. Spieth is 3 over through 15.
ReplyDeleteHarman birdies 16, and he joins the gang at 6 under.
ReplyDeleteCheck out Dustin Johnson:
ReplyDeleteT1. R. Fowler: -8 (18 holes)
T1. X. Schauffele: -8 (18)
3. D. Johnson: -7 (17)
T4. W. Clark: -6 (18)
T4. R. McIlroy (NIR): -6 (16)
Dustin Johnson bogeys the last to finish with a 6-under par 64.
ReplyDelete