Matt Shaffer, director of golf course operations at Merion Golf Club, says the club is still basking in the glow of hosting the U.S. Open a month ago.
(Times Staff/JULIA WILKINSON)Matt Shaffer couldn?t get the U.S. Open off his mind before it happened.
Nearly a month after the Open finished at Merion Golf Club?s East Course in Haverford, he now knows it?s an experience he will never forget.
?Once they announced the Open (coming to Merion seven years ago), it pretty much occupies your thoughts for years,? said Shaffer, Merion?s superintendent who has worked at the club for 11 years. ?My whole premise was to have Merion gain control of the players? destiny. I felt like 6-under and below would capture that. I thought if the winning score was 6-under that we would be successful.?
The course did better than that, as Justin Rose won his first U.S. Open with a final score of 1-over par.
?Personally, I can?t come to grips that plus-1 won the tournament,? Shaffer said. ?The pressure the players are under is obviously an ally for the club, but they really struggled here.?
At 6,996 yards, Merion?s East Course is considered a short layout for PGA Tour players. Most U.S. Open courses measure in the 7,200-yard range.
?I didn?t think they would tear it up,? Shaffer said. ?You have to think your way through every hole.?
Shaffer and his crew certainly dealt with their share of pressure during the week, working from about 3 a.m. to 11 p.m. each day.
?You?re dead tired but there is so much adrenaline, there is no time to worry about how tired you are until the Monday after the tournament,? Shaffer said. ?We started preparing this prior to the (U.S.) Amateur (in 2005). So we?ve been running at breakneck speed for years. When you?re used to driving 95, what?s 120?
?But it was an enormous privilege to do this. I feel really lucky.? Continued...
And while he feels mostly recovered from the physical grind that presenting an Open championship takes, it will take much longer to return the course to its normal state.
?We opened the East course the week after the Open,? Shaffer said. ?Inside the ropes, it is really good. Outside the ropes, that?s another issue. They are still in the process of tearing things down. The rains have helped in one regard in that we seeded all of the bad areas and that helped the germination of the seed.?
While the outside the ropes area where fans stood and walked was expected to be beaten down by foot traffic, it became even worse due to the rain during the tournament, creating muddy paths.
?When you have an Amateur or Walker Cup (which Merion hosted in 2009), that is usually later in the season and the course can recover quicker then,? Shaffer said. ?Having a U.S. Open in the summer though is brutal. It?s not the most conducive time to grow grass.?
Hosting the Open helped Shaffer and his staff see where the course can improve, like addressing how water drains from the 11th green. But besides that, he said, ?... I really can?t imagine us having done anything differently.?
Few may have wanted United States Golf Association Executive Director Mike Davis to come up with different pin placements on some holes. But Shaffer said those all were carefully planned.
?Historically, when the players struggle, they have a lot of complaints,? Shaffer said. ?There were almost no complaints whatsoever. Many of them made an assumption that since the course was short and tight they could manage it.?
Shaffer said Davis made the pin placements with a smart tool that digitally reads the slopes on the greens. And he said Davis put a lot of time into figuring out where to put the pins on each day.
?With Mr. Davis, if you?re in a mind game with him, you might as well prepare yourself to lose,? Shaffer said. ?There were some complaints about the pin placements, but they have no idea how thoughtful and studious he was in setting up the course for the week.
?He spent an hour and 20 minutes on No. 10 for the championship. It?s not like he just putts the ball two or three times and says this is a good place. It?s such an education for me. Each and every time I learn more about the greens.? Continued...
What appeared to be the biggest complaint from the players concerned the distance from the driving range ? which normally serves as first hole on Merion?s West course ? to the No. 1 tee on the East course. It involved a shuttle ride.
?They are used to being able to walk over,?? Shaffer said. ?It was a different mind set for them. The USGA did such a good job of getting players there well in advance, I don?t think there was ever an issue for them feeling rushed. That was well-coordinated. But they are such routine-oriented athletes, and have such a rigid schedule, that any deviation might set them off.?
The USGA?s future schedule at Merion is unknown. That will be up to the membership and the USGA.
?It?s a real inconvenience for the membership to host an Open,? Shaffer said. ?They had three championships in seven years. They love amateur golf, so you never know what they will do.?
Whether the U.S. Open returns to Merion is a topic of much debate. There has been talk of it returning in 2030, the 100th anniversary of Bobby Jones? U.S. Amateur victory there. Shaffer said if that happens, it will be on some other superintendent?s watch ? he plans to retire in seven years.
?I?m sure they will entertain the idea of coming back,? he said of the USGA. ?I think they did much better in merchandise sales than they thought they would, and they got a tremendous amount of TV coverage.?
Shaffer?s concerns are more immediate, like making the West Course?s first hole playable again.
?We have to refurbish that whole facility there,? Shaffer said of the Open?s former driving range location. ?But it?s all good. We have a great membership, and they love golf.?
Source: http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2013/07/13/news/doc51e0ccfdc797b430995433.txt
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