Getting Torrey Pines To Have Predominantly Kikuyu Rough

Having grown up playing over the noxious weed I’ll be curious what role kikuyu plays if it’s as prominent as billed.

Mark Zeigler in the San Diego Union-Tribune took a deep dive into the decision to make kikuyu more prominent in the U.S. Open rough compared to 2008.

“The rough, I think, will be the big differentiator,” says John Bodenhamer, the U.S. Golf Association’s senior managing director of championships. “The biggest difference between January and June will be the kikuyu.”

Knowing how much the USGA loathed the idea of playing a championship with kikuyu approaches and rough—possibly hurting Riviera’s chances at times—I dare say this is the first time a U.S. Open is played with it. (Two PGA’s at Riviera featured prominent kikuyu not seen in the winter months when it’s less active and the U.S. Senior Open).

Superintendent Rich McIntosh, who has dialed in Torrey, explained the approach to get it there this week:

So McIntosh and his crew shaved the rough down to an inch in some places, along with reducing overseed rates of the ryegrass and increasing chemical eradication “to get the kikuyu moving.” That seemed to help, although the gloomy, cloudy spring didn’t cooperate until this past week. The kikuyu is higher than in 2008, up to 6 inches or more in some area, although not uniform height and density across the course.

If it were uniform and that dense throughout we’d be almost assured of an injury or two. Either way, it’s old fashioned U.S. Open hackout stuff and with fewer crowds and marshals than normal to help find balls or mash it down, a potential difference maker.