Page 16 - Westchester Magazine - 2020 Golf Guide

GOLF IN YOUR WORLD | U.S. Open
U.S. Open
When he was hired to design a golf course for the Winged Foot Golf Club, AW Tillinghast’s sole instruction from the mem- bers was to create a “man-sized golf course” on 280 acres in Mamaroneck. The architect ended up building two courses, the East and the West, both fitting that description. Both have hosted numerous USGA and other cham- pionships, but the West Course is the tradi- tional U.S. Open venue.
The greens and their encroaching bunkers, rough, and closely mowed surrounds separate the West from lesser golf courses. Driving is important, but accurate approach shots are essential to making par — and even more sur- gical precision around the greens is required to put a birdie on the scorecard. It’s impossible to identify the “best” hole on the West Course, but here are several that will test the finest players in the world.
451 yards • Par 4
The West makes a statement on the first hole: Every shot counts on this course. “Our opening
hole is long, and the green is brutal,” says WFGC head pro Mike Gilmore. “It’s hard enough getting there — you’ve got a long poke to begin with. Then, you have all you can do just to keep it on the green. Above the hole is impossible. If you can two-putt that green, you’re off to a great start.”
243 yards • Par 3
There may be a time and place to go pin-hunting, but the third hole during the U.S Open isn’t
either one because, even for the pros, it’s a long shot to a tiny target. “The narrow open- ing to the green is visually intimidating,”
Hole 1
Hole
1
Holes to Watch
The fairways are fairly wide; water comes into play (kind of) on only one hole; and at 7,264 yards, Winged Foot’s West Course isn’t overly long by PGA tour standards, but these holes show why the course plays plenty hard. By Dave Donelson
Gilmore says. “And you should be intimidated! If you don’t hit the green, your chances of get- ting up and down are nil. If you land in one of the bunkers on either side of the green, you’ve got a problem because the green runs away from both of them. Even if you hit the green from the tee, it’s not an easy two-putt.” That’s why Billy Casper laid up off the tee to the front of the green, chipped on, and putted for par every day in 1959.
194 yards • Par 3
Casper only three-putted once during the 1959 champion- ship, and his bobble came on
the treacherous 10th hole, which AW Till- inghast named the finest par 3 he’d ever designed. When Davis Love III won the PGA Championship on the course in 1997, he said this hole is “perhaps the hardest par 3 we
Hole
3
Hole
10
14 GOLF 2020 www.westchestermagazine.com Photos courtesy of the USGA. All rights reserved.