Let's Just Go Ahead and Give Erin Hills the '17 Open
by Ryan Ballengee on Apr 28, 2010 11:08 AM EDT
in Pro Golf
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PrintThe homes of the US Open through 2018 have been decided by the USGA except for the 2017 Open. For seemingly years now, observers have expected Midwestern golden child Erin Hills to get the Open after the governing body awarded one of their championships to the course before it even opened, and the '11 US Amateur - usually a precursor to an Open bid.
Then stepped in Cog Hill in Chicago - usually home to the PGA Tour's BMW Championship (formerly the Western Open). With a strong set of renovations done partially to woo the '16 Olympics and partially to woo the USGA, Cog Hill's Dubsdread Course has been making a late charge for the '17 bid.
Ownership is a critical component of the bidding process, and Cog Hill simply owns Erin Hills in that area. Erin Hills went bankrupt quickly after its opening, but now has new ownership seemingly obsessed with doctoring up the juvenile course (and without Rees Jones in sight).
The USGA has tipped to Matt Ginella at Golf Digest that a Midwestern course will get the bid. That's not much of a mystery. The question is: Erin Hills or Cog Hill?
The folks in Far Hills love Erin Hills. They're searching for a new stable of Open courses that compete with the expanding PGA of America. The USGA wants their Whistling Straits. Erin Hills can be that course. Sure, there could be others - Chambers Bay, Bandon Dunes - but it's tough to break up with a girl named Erin. She's a Lolita: young, impressionable, and clearly willing to change for her man. The obsession that Erin Hills has with the USGA and the Open is something that just has to be rewarded, even if the course is starting to resemble something different than the vision that has been dancing in the heads of Open planners.
We'll find out in June at Pebble Beach - one of the cougars in the USGA's rota.
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I am torn on this one.
For the most part, I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to see Cog Hill host the Open. However, there are a couple concerns I have regarding the course itself.
The most pressing matter is the length of the course. While I have always been a supporter of making golf courses more fun to watch as opposed to being extremely difficult for the pros, Cog Hill simply does not have the acres available to change the layout enough to qualify for “Open-quality”. Sure, there are three other tracks on the property, but Dubsdread is the only PGA-calibar layout at this time.
Another concern is the course’s acessibility to spectators. Archer Avenue is anything but an easily-maintained road due to the constant traffic every day, even around Cog Hill, and getting the State of Illinois to expand a road is next to impossible. Players use a different enterence to the course (McCarthy Road), but the sheer number of fans that will come to an Open may cause additonal problems around the many street outlets.
Adam Fonseca
by Adam Fonseca on Apr 28, 2010 12:04 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
How much do we know of Erin Hills?
what has all taken place since the “new owners” have taken over…Why is the Tour so infatuated with the site? And why is there such a push to put the open in the mid-west? How much are politics being put into play here? I have always subscribed to the idea that the Open should be played all around the country…(there are certainly enough courses to fit the profile) Give fans from all different locations a chance to see it…,STUB
USGA is getting gunshy of these public courses. Bethpage will be lucky to get another shot at an Open after the behavior of the galleries last year.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Well, Chambers is public, so they’re continuing to give them a shot. And Torrey will get it again. Their problem with Cog Hill – I think – is that Olympia Fields was just crap in ’03.
Find me! Email: ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/waggleroom, or Facebook: http://facebook.com/waggleroom.
by Ryan Ballengee on Apr 28, 2010 4:05 PM EDT up reply actions
Probably.
Which is unfortunate, since the two of them are completely different atmospheres.
Adam Fonseca
by Adam Fonseca on Apr 28, 2010 5:20 PM EDT up reply actions
Well, it wasn't the course...
maybe hold the event, and not let anyone from NY attend…Just the gangsters from New Jersey…they could check their guns at the gate….or if they drove all night, the fans from Bal-a-more….STUB
Jersey's would still turn into a
shotgun tournament.
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