Thoughts on the 2014 U.S Open

Well, as far as drama and excitement goes, this tournament had very little.  Martin Kaymer ran away with it, and as soon as I started watching this afternoon, I knew that nobody else had a chance.  He was playing too well, and there was nobody chasing him down.  The people who were closest had no experience doing this sort of thing, and the people who do were nowhere to be found.  But, it was kind of obvious after the second round that this was going to happen.  I was watching because I wanted to see the new Pinehurst, which I've written about before.

I thought the course looked absolutely fantastic.  The big sandy waste areas, the fairways that weren't entirely green, it looked like a place that was just begging for golf.  The fun kind of golf too, the kind where balls roll all over the place, and the most obvious place to hit your ball is never the right place.  I know I have the most fun playing golf when the course is brown and dry, and the ball rolls in all manner of unpredictable ways.  Judging that roll is way more fun that hitting one boring pitch shot after another.  Plus, any course where I can use a putter from off the green is a good course in my book.

I'm probably in the minority when it comes to liking how the course looks.  All these years of being force-fed super green courses has swayed many golfers into thinking that Augusta National is how a golf course should look.  But it isn't.  Pinehurst is how golf courses should look, and I say that without even thinking about the environmental benefits.  But since I've mentioned it now, they're using only a third of the water they used previously.  In a world where water is quickly becoming a very valuable resource, cutting back is not only nice for golf courses, it's basically imperative for the sport's survival.  Hopefully seeing this place in all it's natural-looking glory on such a big stage will really start something in golf, a move away from extravagance and towards reality.

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