With its figurative winged feet, Gourmet Golfwrx is everywhere. Walter Dagwood, a G.Gwrx contributing editor, made his way around the course for Tuesday's practice round and brings us an exclusive look behind the scenes at this year's U.S. Open Championship. Dagwood is no stranger to New York and is widely known for his cosmopolitan and golfaholic tendencies. Interested in seeing more of Dagwood? Let us know in the comments.

Enjoy!

A Look Inside The Open

by: Walter Dagwood 6/13/2006

Commentary on 'The Grounds'

The site of the US Open 2006 is a venue requiring the test of skill, patience and risk/reward. To no surprise, the USGA has taken a historic course, and through the redevelopment of Tom Fazio, and the characteristics of the Association, they have tweaked and modified the course to represent the very challenge indicative of its reputation.

This is my first PGA event in 15 years and my impressions are much different this year than when I was a 12 year old boy who never picked up a stick before. At an age when everything in life is
impressionable, the enormity of professional golfers tackling 400 yrd. par 4's seemed nearly impossible. Certainly the size of the course has grown, yet so have I.

To my surprise, my initial look at the course did not seem difficult. I walked the holes in order, followed a few groups of favorites and watched the Pro's attack the greens from various lengths and angles. As I stood at tee boxes visualizing holes or walking across fairways imagining my approach, I didn't feel the discomfort of being unmatched to a Major Championship course. But it was best once said, "The Devil is in the Details." And I suppose that's just what makes the US Open
so difficult.

ITS NOT WHAT YOU GOT AS MUCH AS WHERE YOU PUT IT
Yes, tees are lengthened and even a few holes are damn near impossible to get to in regulation. (Note: The 260 par 3 3rd or the 514 par 4 9th). But theres also a 162 yrd Par 3 which seemed, at first glance, attackable. Most holes dog leg (either left or right) yet unlike "tight" courses (lots of trees or 'jail' off the fairways), the trees don't seem to come into play too much. Oddly enough though, from the tips, it doesn't feel tight. But again, that's the mistake most players will make. If you let it out even a little, it will be costly. With the new USGA strategy "graduate rough" missing the fairway is all you need to make critical contention making mistakes.

BUSHWHACKED IN THE ROUGH
On the first hole I watched Vijay, Muthiya, and T. Armour III all attempt shots from the rough. (The first cut is comparable to average rough on your home course). Two more cuts in and you cant even see the ball let alone players shoe tops. Not one of them was able to get to the green from 165 out. Vijay tried a rescue club, but opted to aim 30+ yrds in front of the green. David Howell also played a few shots from the rough on the back nine, none of which successfully made it. The end result was to take your 'penalty' and throw a 8/9/W on the ball and pull it out of the rough and 100 yrds. (approx) down the fairway. At least from what I saw, it would take a feat of super-human strength to get home in two from the rough...and even then you probably aren't going to be happy.

LIKE A GLOVE
If the first trick is getting in the fairway, and the second staying out of the rough, then the third is Proximity to the Hole. The one advantage these players have is that most greens roll from back to
front. Furthermore, most greens are elevated a few feet off the ground, so it almost looks like pro's throwing lawn darts into the green. However, most greens are guarded with bunkers (mostly frontside) and there is heavy rough on the mid green and in back. Its tricky because you have to carry the bunkers in the front, but you have to be straight so that the ball can spin back. If you can do that, you can ACTUALLY score. But again, you can only get that approach if you are in the fairway!

SNEAKY SNEAKY
I suppose what makes the course most interesting is the difficulty of the greens. Its hard to gauge a green when you don't stand on it or get to putt a few. Plus, from the gallery, you are a little further
away than the fairway, so you cant actually see the subtleties. But if there is an advantage to having greens that roll back to front where you can aim long and pull it back, the advantage is lost once you look at birdie putts. Unlike Bethpage (another US Open favorite) there doesn't appear to be any straight putts. Everything will break....and most likely it will be fast. I suspect players fear let a ball roll by the hole, because they are too fast and going downhill, so stopping putts will be tough. I guess that means that the players wont be too aggressive with birdie putts.