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Mike Davis no longer in charge of US Open Course setup

HALLELUaH!
 
It should be interesting to see what happens this year for sure.
 
Dont know much about the guy other than I hated the way multiple US Opens were setup over the last 5-6 years. So, in my mind its good timing. Grow out the rough. Make it DEEEEEEEEEEP.....enough with "TheOpen" similarities.
 
PKorf said:
Dont know much about the guy other than I hated the way multiple US Opens were setup over the last 5-6 years. So, in my mind its good timing. Grow out the rough. Make it DEEEEEEEEEEP.....enough with "TheOpen" similarities.
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Deep roughs, fast but fair greens, lush soft fairways. Reward accuracy from every shot, punish the misses, that's the US Open.
 
Set the course up so even par is in contention. There's enough 20 under as the winning score in other tournaments. The US Open should not be one of them..
 
PKorf said:
Dont know much about the guy other than I hated the way multiple US Opens were setup over the last 5-6 years. So, in my mind its good timing. Grow out the rough. Make it DEEEEEEEEEEP.....enough with "TheOpen" similarities.
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Agreed
IMO, US Open setup should have: Rough that is penal and greens that are fast... not 13&15 at Shinnecock Hills fast but they should be tough pin placements where par should be a good score....for the worlds best...
Seems that weather has become a factor in past few years with rain softening greens and rough just long enough to be an inconvenience....




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I think he has had some real solid setups and made some changes that needed to be done. He’s had his mistakes, some can be pinned directly to him and some not to much IMO.

Credit him for making changes to the rough so it was always a miss the fairway and hack it out. Also for bringing some more driveable par 4s to the US Open.
 
Par should be a good score.

Put a cross bunker on every hole at around 310-315. And a big ol' tree dead center. And a pond. With alligators.
 
Does that mean they won’t use this tee box anymore in 2021 Us open
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Make the course tough in preparation for good weather. If crappy weather shows, more's the fun.
 
I think this is the right move. While I don't blame him for as much as some people do, he's clearly struggled with the identity of the US Open and he's struggled to strike that balance between hard and stupid.

I hope future setups are straight forward, hard, and reward par.
 
Ding dong the witch is dead.
 
DataDude said:
Deep roughs, fast but fair greens, lush soft fairways. Reward accuracy from every shot, punish the misses, that's the US Open.
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Fully agree.

There should be a premium on getting the ball in play off the tee with large risk/reward choices if you are looking to bomb it. The Shinnecock putting contest was very uninteresting (though I recognize the tournament is not about what my interests are).
 
I hope whoever replaces him in the role has the balls to stand up to the whiny pros. Hitting fairways and greens should be a must to make par at a major championship. They all play the same course and par should be good enough to a major championship.
 
I don't think much will change. By the sounds the guy replacing him was basically his right-hand man.

Only think I hope for is consistency. It seems like every year has been different over the past 3-4 years.

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The fact we actually know who was in charge of US Open setups means it shifted more from the organization setting up the difficulty, to the person.

No one knows the head of the committee who sets up the course for other majors, but we all know who Mike Davis is.
 
For 50 years players and spectators have been complaining about US Open course set ups, and my guess is that the complaining will continue for the next 50 years.
 
USGA: "Hey, remember that thing that happened 14 years ago at Shinnecock Hills, that made it so we didn't play the US Open at one of America's most iconic courses for more than a decade because of what a black eye it was on the USGA?"

Davis: "Yeah."

USGA: "You're not going to let that happen again are you?"

Davis: "Pssh, no!"

Personal opinion, Davis should have gotten canned after last year's US Open. I didn't have anything against Erin Hills...sometimes the weather just doesn't cooperate. Have some truly mean pin placements in your back pocket for when the wind stays down, just like The Open has some pin placements in their back pocket for when the wind is really whipping.

Oakmont is like copying your friend's homework. That course is so tough by default that you don't need to gussy anything up for the US Open. "Didn't screw up Oakmont" is like "Paid child support." Note: Yes, there was still controversy because the greens on Sunday were still so slippery that microtremors of the earth's crust, people sneezing on the course, and other things were capable of wiggling a ball at rest, but I don't know how much of that was the USGA's fault any how much of that is Oakmont on a normal Tuesday.

Chambers Bay was a disaster, IMO. Brown, bad greens, set up so as to make binoculars a must-have for patrons. It was such a comprehensive blunder that I think Davis managed to survive simply because he wasn't the only one who made a whole soup sandwich of the thing.

Overall, it's hard to give Davis passing marks for any of the past several US Opens. Complaining about US Open setups is older than Davis' tenure, sure. But it's never been so easily identifiable. "The winner broke par, this US Open stinks" is an expected gripe. But when you can point out specifically how the setup impacted play negatively, I think it's a horse of a different color.
 
what is the gold standard for a us open? what year/course?


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McLovin said:
what is the gold standard for a us open? what year/course?


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2008, 2009, 2010 were all pretty fair. I think when Rory won in 2011, it really hit the fan since the conditions were absolutely perfect for him since it was super saturated. It's been $^&@ since.
 
McLovin said:
what is the gold standard for a us open? what year/course?


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Pebble 2000. Other than Tiger, no one broke par, right? Seems if Tiger had been sick that week, it was just about what everyone wants... "par is a good score".
 
DG_1234 said:
For 50 years players and spectators have been complaining about US Open course set ups, and my guess is that the complaining will continue for the next 50 years.
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as with most anything (not just golf) never can all be satisfied.
 
McLovin said:
what is the gold standard for a us open? what year/course?


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To me, 2005 through 2010 was a good stretch of years. Classic courses, set up to play tough but not absurd, and the weather didn't render them unplayable. Winning scores ranged from -4 to +5.

Also, 2014 was probably my favorite year for the US Open. Pinehurst No. 2 works so well as a US Open course, IMO.
 
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