Ogilvy Loved Merion But...Too Narrow, Too Much Chip Out Rough

Post Merion 2013 observations from Geoff Ogilvy.

From this week's Golf World:

My one criticism of the course setup would be that the fairways were too narrow. Merion is a great course with many great holes, but it was sometimes hard to tell with so much rough everywhere. It was tough to picture how it sets up and plays for the members.

I know that -- apart from next year at Pinehurst -- calling for more width in the U.S. Open is a forlorn hope. I have a suggestion though. I would like to see dry, "flier" rough rather than the "chip-out" long grass we had at Merion. Maybe the wet weather precluded doing anything about the thickness of the rough, but it would have been nice to see guys attempting risky recovery shots (perhaps the most exciting aspect of professional golf) rather than hacking out 50 yards or so up the fairway. Anyone and everyone can do that.

He goes on to explain why local knowledge was a good thing and how Merion provided good "awkwardness" especially had there been some room to get suckered into bad plays.