The US Open | What I Learned from Brian Gay

This weekend I was fortunate enough to attend the 111th US Open at Congressional Country Club.  My good friend Kevin lives in Bethesda and was able to score us tickets to the 3rd round.

I've been to live golf events before (the Deutsche Bank Championship, twice), and although professional golf affords you the chance to stand amazingly close to some of the real icons of the game, in general it's somewhat difficult to actually follow the tournament when you're there because so much is happening away from wherever you might be standing.  For that reason I find that more often than not I'd rather watch the events -- and in particular, the final round -- from the comfort of my couch on my plasma screen.

All that being said, seeing the Open was a truly incredible experience.  I give tremendous credit to the USGA for making the event both a real test of golf and a true spectator sport.

I'll give you my impressions of the course and, more importantly, what I took away from the event that is going to help me reach even par below.  If you'd like to see a detailed itinerary of our day at the Open, CLICK HERE.

CONGRESSIONAL COUNTRY CLUB

To put it simply, the course is a beast.  I know the scores didn't reflect that this weekend -- and Rory McIlroy in particular made it look quite tame -- but that is because the conditions could not have been more ideal for golf.  With rain every night and then dry days with no wind whatsoever, the greens were receptive to long irons and hybrids instead of kicking those balls off as we're used to seeing in US Open conditions.

Trust me, it's 7574 yards but plays much longer than that with almost every green elevated, or, in some cases, straight up hill.  The greens, too, are treacherous -- we watched about a dozen or more groups play the 12th green and saw only 2 or 3 one putts; and those were all essentially tap-ins on up and downs after missing the green.  It seemed nobody could correctly read the double break that every angle to the hole presented if the putt was more than 5 or 6 feet.

The course is very nicely routed, with the front 9 somewhat compact and the back 9 a little more spread out.  The green-to-tee distance is essentially zero except between the 9th and 10th, the 11th and 12th and 17th and 18th (all of which require the players to hike a good distance to the next hole, mostly uphill).  Because the holes do generally flow so well it was logistically quite easy as a spectator to essentially walk the whole course.

The USGA set up a number of crossing areas on most of the holes which further facilitated getting around.  It also meant we could stand in the middle of several fairways -- and let me tell you, they are immaculate.  Even the areas that were trampled by the crowds were better than most of the fairways at courses I play.

Even the practice area is impressive, with enough space for about 50-60 people to use the range, a great variety of target flags, and (obviously) pristine grass hitting areas.  And that brings me to...

WHAT I LEARNED FROM BRIAN GAY

Brian Gay is far from the most exciting PGA tour player.  If it wasn't for his typically colorful outfits and the fact that (through a hard to describe series of circumstances) he once left passes for my parents at the Deutsche Bank event, I probably would hardly know he existed.  He's currently the 127th ranked player in the world, ranks dead last in driving distance but first in fairway percentage, and probably gets mistaken for Ian Poulter more than he gets recognized as himself.

Brian Gay

Ian Poulter

I certainly had no intention of studying Brian Gay closely, but when we sat down around lunch time to watch some players on the range he came out and set up shop right in front of us.  There were a number of more fascinating players also out on the range (defending champ Graeme McDowell and number 3 in the world Martin Kaymer come to mind), but the eye is naturally drawn to that which is right in front of you.  That meant we were able to see his entire pre-round routine... and it was so impressive that I'm planning to duplicate it.

Obviously I'm not privy to his thought process, but it seemed fairly evident to both Kevin and I what he was trying to accomplish.  So some of this will be editorializing and assumptions based on what we saw, but I think it's fairly accurate.  Here are the steps:

1. Pick a hitting area that is straight in line with one of the closest target flags.  Set up any alignment tools that you wish to use to keep yourself on line.
2. Warm up and get a feel for the type of crisp contact you want to make by starting with very simple chips or half-shots with a wedge aimed at the target (even if they won't reach that target).
3. Advance to 3/4 wedge shots again aimed at the same target flag, and then full wedge shots, maintaining that same pace and contact feel as from the chip shots.
4. This is most important: as you work through the longer clubs in your bag, don't pick a new target.  Instead, continue to hit balls aimed over the same short flag that you started with.  This creates a mental picture of keeping the ball on line in a narrow scope, like you're hitting the balls through a tube.
5. Work your way up hitting roughly every other club.  Hit 5-6 balls with each, up to and including your driver. 
6. After hitting driver, drop back down to wedges, then 3/4 wedges, then half-wedges/chip shots to again accentuate that straight shot controlled feel.

Gay went through that routine over about 30 minutes, and we saw him hit only 2 balls that were not exactly on line at or over the target flag.  It was incredible, and you can see immediately why he's the most accurate driver on tour.  I'm certainly not planning to change my game and become a bunter like him, but I do think running through this routine regularly will help my mental approach to ball striking and keeping the ball straight.  At least I hope it will.

The Must Plays

I know what you're saying: "Wow! Two posts in two days, and it isn't even golf season!" I know. What can I say? I have golf on the mind.

I decided (a few days late) on my New Year's Resolutions -- specifically, what my must play courses of the year are, and also my must plays for the next 5 years. Here are the groundrules:

• "Must plays" for the year (or the next 5 years) cannot be courses that I played last year.
• "Must plays" for this year should all be fairly local so that it's realistic; must plays for the 5-year list can be a bit more extended.
• I want to be somewhat pragmatic (you'll see what I mean).

Here we go....

MUST PLAYS FOR 2009

1. Olde Marsh Country Club, Wells, ME. One of my favorite places in the world (Wells, site of my childhood vacations) is now home to #10 on golf.com's list of the Best New Courses You Can Play. That's incredible. If there has EVER been a "must play," then this is it.

2. Red Tail Golf Club, Devens, MA. I last played there in August 2007, so it makes the cut. Red Tail is consistently ranked one of the top public courses in the state, and this year it is hosting the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links -- no small feat. I have to say, my experience is that it is a nice but not great course; I think I need to give it another chance.

3. Cyprian Keyes Golf Club, Boylston, MA. Another course that consistently scores highly in the supposed rankings that I have not played in some time. I need a refresher.

4. Fox Hopyard Golf Club, East Haddam, CT. My brother moved to New York. This is about 1/2 way in between Boston and NYC, and my dad raves about it's sister club (Crumpin-Fox in Bernardston, MA).

5. Presidents' Golf Course, Quincy, MA. This is the pragmatic entry. It's 9 holes, not that well rated, often crowded. But I drive right by it every day and never even think about playing it. Well that's stupid. I need to at least give it a chance before I quit on it entirely.

MUST PLAYS FOR 2009-2013

1. Chambers Bay, University Place, WA. #1 on virtually every single list for best new course last year. Already named the site of the 2015 U.S. Open. Peak season rates are just $139 with $69 for replay. Enough said.

2. Sunday River Golf Club (Bethel, ME) and
3. Sugarloaf Golf Club (Carrabassett Valley, ME). Sister courses based around ski resorts, and according to my uncle 2 of the most beautiful courses anywhere (and he would probably know).

4. The Golf Club at Mansion Ridge, Monroe, NY. Highly touted by my brother and his buddy Chris. I trust them.

5. Bretwood Golf Course (North Course), Keene, NH. Only one on the list that I have played. It remains my favorite layout of any course I've ever played. It's been too long since I've been there... I'll be back.

The Black (The Back)

After getting torched for a 49 (+13) on the front, I had to turn things around on the back -- though a 22 to get to even par was not in the cards....

10 A relatively flat hole in comparison to most of what we'd just seen, and the start of a string of ridiculously long par 4's (it's measures 502 yards from the tips). Fortunately, the tees were up a bit -- it was probably "only" playing 450 yards for us. I hit my best drive in a while, a low trajectory 300 yarder down the left side, into the 1st cut of rough. From there I hit an 8-iron to the green, leaving my first real birdie oportunity of the day, about a 15 footer -- uphill with a little right to left break. I reached the hole (!), but just underestimated the break, and tapped in for par. Score: 4 (+13).

11 Another relatively flat but long par 4, this one comes in at 435 yards. There are maybe 4-5 large sand traps lining either side of the fairway, so it's pretty initmidating off the tee. I pulled my drive left and somehow found a spot in between 2 bunkers, with a pretty clean lie, though the ball was a bit above my feet. I tried to hit a choke-down hybrid but didn't compensate for the lie enough and got a lot of draw spin. The ball came down somewhat about 25-30 yards left of the green, close to the 10th tee, deep into the fescue -- I never found it. After a drop I was able to flop a 60 degree wedge onto the green and 2 putt (again) for double bogey. Score: 6 (+15).

12 A monster dogleg left 501 yard par 4. Read that again. Honestly, this is where the memory of the round gets a little murky. I know I popped up my drive short of the trap that guards the corner of the dogleg; if memory serves, I slashed the ball around 3 times before hitting a lofted wedge onto the green and making 2 putts for another double. Ouch. Score: 6 (+17).

13 The first hole on the back side that wasn't a monster par 4... instead it's a 600+ yard par 5. Despite the length, this is a very playable hole, relatively straight and flat without much trouble. I again pulled my drive into the left rough -- and that was trouble enough. I was able to get a 5 iron through the thick stuff but carried it too far and found the thick rough again on the right side of the fairway. Now I had both rough and a tree to contend with -- I went for a cut 8 iron that came up just short and spun into a deep bunker on the right front of the green. I had a good lie and was able to get onto the green with only about 10 feet for par... but missed and made another bogey. Score: 6 (+18).

14 By far the easiest hole on the course, a straightforward 161 yard par 3. We were dead into the wind, and after watching my brother come up short with 7 iron, I went with a 6. I pushed it a bit right, but found the edge of the green just over the bunker. I left my 1st putt about 6 feet short, but made the 2nd for a rare par. Score: 3 (+18).

15 Now we come to what some have called the toughest 4 finishing holes in golf. I have to agree. The 15th is the number 1 handicap hole, and it deserves it. It's a "paltry" 478 yards, but plays more like 500+ with a severely uphill aproach shot that is all carry over some menacing looking bunkers -- and, as it turns out, the green slopes pretty severely off the back. I hit a terrible drive, pulled dead into the thickest of the thick rough and only a bit more than 200 yards off the tee. The ball was beyond buried, and I hit the hardest 53 degree wedge of my life just to get back to the middle of the fairway -- honestly, it was probably my best shot of the day. I had about 185 left, and had to hit a real good 4 iron to carry the bunkers, and I actually found the right side of the green. I had a real putt for par, but left it way short, then missed the follow-up to end up with a 3-putt double. (I hate 3-putts.) Score: 6 (+20).

16 The 16th comes right back at you with 490 yards of dogleg left par 4 action. This time, though, the tee-box is elevated up above the fairway, and the green for once is on relatively level ground; if there's any chance to score on the last 4 holes, this is it. Having hit my last several drives poorly and to the left, I tried to play more of a fade of the tee and ended up crushing it well right -- making this a very long hole. I tried to advance the ball and get back to the fairway with an 8 iron out of the fescue, but the face closed up in the tall grass and the ball shot almost 90 degrees to my left, all the way across the fairway, and back into the very thick rough. From there a 6 iron stayed a bit too far right and found yet another bunker; a sand wedge and 2 putts later left me with (yet another) double bogey. Score: 6 (+22).

17 One of the prettiest holes on the course, and the touchest par 3 I've ever played. 207 yards, all uphill, with tall fescue all the way to the green -- except for the mown walkway down the center. The green is very shallow, though relatively wide for The Black, and of course is protected by 5 bunkers. I hit a 3 iron and left it just right of the green, somehow finding just about the only spot of grass available between the traps. I had a decent lie and hit a soft SW pitch that settled just a foot left of the hole; a tap-in par I have to say I'm pretty proud of. Score: 3 (+22).

18 If I remembered any one hole from the Open in 2002, this was it. Just 411 yards, but steeply uphill for the last 150-200, this is the hole that has a whopping 11 different sand traps, and (of course) they're all in play. I hit a decent drive, about 280 yards down the right side; unfortunately, the fairway narrows down to maybe 15 yards at that point and I found the inside edge of one of the bunkers; I had almost no shot to clear the lip, but it was the 18th so I had to go for it anyway. I blasted an 8 iron... and predictably clipped the top of the lip, ending up in (where else) the thick rough about 105 yards out. The lie wasn't bad, though, and I was able to hit PW to about pin-high. That left about 20 feet for par on the 18th at Bethpage -- something I'm sure many pros will be envious of in 2009. At least I reached the hole; bogey would have to do. Score: 5 (+23).

Suffice to say, The Black got the best of me. But all-in-all, I actually think that I could have been about 5 shots better with better putting (which should have been easy -- the greens are all actually very flat) and a little luck -- mostly notably on the 5th hole where twice being one foot to the left would have changed things dramatically. It was, to say the least, quite an experience.

Final Score: 94. (See the scorecard here.)

The Black (The Front)

I lived in New York for 4 years, including 2002, when Bethpage Black hosted the US Open. I made it out to Bethpage probably a dozen times, but never was able to get on the Black.

Well, it finally happened this week...

Everybody knows it's a challenge, but the sign on the 1st tee really does drive the message home.

If that doesn't do it for you, though, maybe the course stats will: 7468 yards from the Blue tees, with a rating of 76.6 and a slope of 144 (for a par of 71).

The Black was just recently rated as the #7 course "you can play" by Golf Magazine, which makes this theoretically the best course I've ever played. And last year, Golf Digest ranked it as the 6th toughest course in America -- again, theoretically that makes it #1 on my list. So in the spirit of this blog, it wasn't all that likely that I would shoot even par. Here's how it went, hole-by hole...

1 The 1st tee is beautifully elevated and looks out onto a sturdy-looking dogleg right, measuring at 430 yards. It's probably the best example of the signature greenskeeping style at Bethpage -- fairways mowed such that the left half looks dark green and the right half looks light green. I was surprised that I didn't feel any jitters on the tee, and was even more surprised when I smoked one down the middle with just a little draw. Unfortunately, it went through the fairway and left me with about 155 yards out of the 2nd cut of rough.

A quick aside about the rough -- if you haven't played there, then you can't even imagine what it's like. There is about 3 feet of shorter, first cut rough on either side of the fairway, and it's very playable from there. But beyond that your ball disappears into the thickest, darkest, 4 inches of grass you've even seen. As you'll see, most of the time you can't do anything better than punch out back to the fairway. And if you get past about 15 yards of that -- well then you're in the fescue, and you have no chance.

Anyway, I actually had a decent lie, maybe even a flier, so I decided to go for the green. I hit a high, arcing 7-iron which was tracking right at the pin... and landed over the green almost up to the fence guarding the road. There my ball did disappear into the rough, but I was able to flop a 60 degree wedge onto the green, and I 2-putt from about 15 feet. Score: 5 (+1).

2 A more gentle dogleg left, measuring a benign 389 yards. I hit another good drive, right to the center of the fairway, leaving about 110 yards to an elevated green. I bladed a PW a bit and pushed it right -- ended up on the back right fringe (with the pin front and left). I was able to putt from there, but didn't get it very close, then left an 8-footer just short on the lip of the cup. Score: 5 (+2).

3 The 3rd is a visually intimidating par 3, which is essentially all carry to a well-bunkered green that falls off the back side to the woods. The tees were up, and so it wasn't playing at it's full 230 yards (thank God), and instead came in at about 180. I hit 5-iron, but much like the wedge on the previous hole, I bladed it and actually carried over the bunker on the right side of the green. It ended up on the edge of the woods, and I hit a blind SW that (I'm told) landed near the pin but then rolled off and into the rough on the front side of the green. From there I chipped to about 4 feet and... missed the putt. Yuk. Score: 5 (+4).

4 517 yards of all uphill par 5, wonderfully framed by bunkers down the left side, then across the fairway about 1/2 the way home, and again surrounding the green (a common theme). Really a beautiful hole from the tee. I hit my drive into the right rough, but again was surprised to find a decent lie. I managed to carry the cross-fairway traps with a muscle 5 iron that left me with about 70 yards to the green. A nice soft SW and 2 putts led to my first par of the day. Score: 5 (+4).

5 The first of the real monster par 4's, measuring 478 yards from the tips, and starting with about 250 yards of carry over an enormous series of bunkers. I hit what I though was a good drive, but just barely made it over, and I would have been better off to have stayed in -- my ball was nearly buried in a tangled mess of long grass. I still had about 200 yards and tried to hit my hybrid (2-H) but only managed to run it forward about 90 yards -- in truth, probably about the best outcome I really could have gotten.

And that's when it really started to fall apart.

I pulled a PW a bit, and figured based on the way it was hit that it had flew the green. But when I got to the top of the hill, it was no where to be found. There were a couple of guys from the greens crew off to the left, and they told me it was in the bunker on the long side of the green -- but it wasn't in there either. After a few minutes I did find it -- and just like my shot off the tee, it was right on the edge, but not quite in the bunker, and completely buried in what must have been 10 inch, incredibly thick rough. To make matters worse, I had to stand in the bunker, and the ball was at about waist height. I took one hack with my 60 degree wedge... and the ball only went in deeper. I took another hack... and could no longer see the ball at all. Took a drop, chipped on, and made the putt for a snowman. Score: 8 (+8).

6 After a hot dog from the particularly grumpy snack bar attendant, I hit a cautious drive on this downhill 408 yard par 4. With about 165 from the right side of the fairway, I felt pretty good about an easy 7 iron to the green -- but had a bit too much draw spin and didn't catch it completely clean. I somehow managed to avoid the array of bunkers and was able to pitch onto the green, but again had to settle for a 2 putt bogey. Score: 5 (+9).

7 The 7th is a par 5 for us amateurs (read: hackers), but we were told it plays as a par 4 for the pros (read: still hackers on this course, if memory serves). I can't really imagine they play from the real tips, though, because it's listed at 553 yards; but was playing at closer to 490 where the tees were for our round. Much like the 5th, there's a forced carry over a bunker off the tee, but you could play it safe(r) to the left side of the fairway. I popped my drive up a bit and ended up in the bunker and somewhat blocked out -- the hole doglegs to the right, and there are tall pines that stand in the way if you're still in the bunker. I managed to pick a 7 iron clean and cleared the trees, giving myself a shot at the green; but again I mishit my wedge, had to pitch out of the thick rough around the green, and 2-putt for bogey. Score: 6 (+10).

8 The only water hazard on the course is a small pond in front of the green on this 210 yard par 3... and I found it. I actually hit a decent 4 iron, but clipped a tree branch that overhangs the green on the right side, and my ball shot straight back and into the water. After dropping in the drop zone on the short side, I flopped a SW to about 15 feet and 2 putt for a double, again leaving the putt just short (another theme for the day). Score: 5 (+12).

9 The finishing hole on the front is unique for the course -- most of the fairways are pretty flat, but this one is severely sloped from right-to-left. The hole itself is a monster dogleg 460 yard par 4 -- you could cut the corner, but there's naturally a hefty-sized bunker right in the driving zone. I ended up a little short and right of the bunker, with the ball a little above my feet -- a position I actually liked because it allowed me to hit my favorite shot, a sharp low draw. My 4 iron found the back-right part of the green, and I thought I was about to make a really good par. But 3 putts later I was staring at another bogey, and an abysmal 49 on the front side. Score: 5 (+13).

13 over obviously wasn't going to cut it -- I didn't have much chance at even par at the Black, but I had hoped to play better than that. I had a bit of bad luck (see the 5th hole), but I also left a number of shots out there -- most notably some wedges out of the fairway, and 2-3 putts I should have made.

I'll go through the back nine with the next post.