When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
(click on image to enlarge)His description here is of the hole as a par-5, and of course this is one of the two three-shotters reduced to a par-4. 
(click on image to enlarge)
I had no modern comparison shots with the old image, but this fairway view should be enough. Love the soft, natural fairway lines too!
New Yorker turned Angeleno Daniel Wexler remembers what he loves about Winged Foot in an L.A. Times "appreciation."
Richard Sandomir writes about the trend of online streaming and the USGA's plan to carry action from the 6th at 10th holes at USOpen.com. He also writes:
This will be the sixth year that the United States Golf Association will post streaming video from the Open. It did one hole the first year, and has done two holes ever since. This year, the group decided that Winged Foot's par-4 sixth hole, "the Pulpit," one of the course architect A. W. Tillinghast's masterpieces, was must-see viewing, as was the par-3 10th hole.
Of course No. 10 is definitely the "Pulpit" while No. 6 is actually "El" (as named by Tilly himself).
"I think the issue really isn't their theories or their ideas," said 2003 U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk. "It's how they handled it afterward. It's a real hard line. It's 'That's the way we wanted it to be. That's the way it should be.' When even the guys with 20-handicaps are scratching their heads. ... Only later on did they do damage control, but at that point, it was a little late."
That's one of Butch Harmon's tips for Winged Foot in a Bill Pennington New York Times story. And this is an interesting observation about the tiered rough, and one some of us have been trying to explain is yet another reason that pitch out rough is absurd:
"Guys who hit into the long stuff will wedge it out and take their bogey," Butch Harmon said. "The actual danger is the second cut of rough, the stuff that's three inches deep and three yards from the fairway. Some guys will be tempted to go for the green from that stuff, and that's where the double bogeys will come from."
Only subtle differences in No. 15 from 1929 and 2005. The front bunker has grown up and the green doesn't quite stretch out to some of the old high points in the rear left and right.
(click image to enlarge)The 15th at Winged Foot features arguably the worst fairway contouring job, leftover from the Meeks 2004 U.S. Amateur setup. Not wide enough to bring the creek into play down the left side or to let a player actually choose an angle to come in from, at least the narrowness doesn't take away from another stellar green complex.
Open up the image to read Tilly's proud take on the hole.
The La Habra chapter of our art department has crafted a special U.S. Open week logo, using the USGA's best, but adding the all important ode-to-the-rough.
And as you'll notice, starting today in the upper left window I have posted a few special U.S. Open links, with more to come.
After reviewing previous U.S. Open's held at Winged Foot, John Huggan writes in Scotland on Sunday:
There is little doubt that WFW is one of America's finest - and at times when the USGA does not have a say in the speed of the greens, the width of the fairways and the length of the rough - one of the fairest tests. It is a proper golf course, with a closing stretch of demanding par-4s that we hope will be allowed to provide a fitting climax to the championship.
"As the various holes came to life, they were of a sturdy breed," wrote Tillinghast of the design process. "The contouring of the greens places great premium on the placement of the drives, but never is there the necessity of facing a prodigious carry of the sink-or-swim sort. It is only when the next shot must be played with rifle accuracy that brings the realisation that the drive must be placed."
Forgive my cynicism, but that is one aspect of this great course that will likely be lost during this coming week. As usual, the blue bloods in the blue blazers won't want red numbers on 'their' golf course and in 'their' precious championship. So, just as they were at Pinehurst last year, many of the premium spots for drives will be covered in golf's most boring hazard, long grass.
If the USGA can be trusted to do anything, it is that they will endeavour to eliminate any semblance of strategy or thought or flair from the US Open equation. What else? Oh yes, there will be little or no fun to be had, either.
An extremely knowledgeable spy of my close acquaintance has already been to Winged Foot, and had this to say about the course: "It's the hardest thing you've ever seen. I don't see how a short-hitter could break 78. Because of the severity of the slopes on the greens, it's much harder than Baltusrol was for last year's PGA Championship.
"If you hit a shot even one-yard past pin-high, you have virtually no chance to get the ball up and in. I don't think there will be more than two people under par by the end. In fact, it would not shock me if four 71s was enough to win."
Below are 1929 and 2005 views of the wonderful 11th, which would be even more fun if included an actual fairway. Yes, the wonderful rolling contours and crowned nature of the hole will be bathed in rough, keeping balls near the centerline instead of taking them to real trouble.
Well, maybe that's why this hole will be minus the rough tiers. Remember, this hole is birdieable and we can't allow those!
Note the differences in bunkering from then and now, especially in the front left greenside bunker.
(click on image to enlarge)Rick Carpiniello in The Journal News profiles the homeowners/members living behind No. 10 and explains what exactly Ben Hogan said and meant about a "3 iron into someone's bedroom." 
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As for the grand 10th (which will be called the "signature hole" way too many times by NBC's announcers), it should be 6, 7 or even 8 iron next week.
1929 and 2005 view of No. 10 at Winged Foot. The photo angles are slightly different, but you can see how the front of the green has changed (I believe raised at some point to stop balls from rolling off). In its original look, the shaping has a settled, rumpled feel. A true work of art. Today, things are a bit more linear and clean, but still pretty awesome, especially with the recent green enlargement.
Golfdom's Thomas Skernivitiz profiles Winged Foot superintendent Eric Greytok.
Here's some of the restoration work he carried out on the 10th green (you can see the old putting surface boundaries in dark green).
(click to enlarge image of No. 10 green)
(click to enlarge image)One of the best short par-4s in golf will struggle to display its charm when the USGA hides it in non-tiered rough and in general, tries to prevent those pesky birdies.
This is one of the three holes where there will be no tiered rough, so tall stuff surrounds the left side fairway bunker 241 off the tee. Ben Crenshaw insists there should be fairway up to and around the bunker. This would encourage leftside lay-ups to obtain better approach angles. And as you'll read in the 1929 National Greenkeeper excerpt, that's how Tilly intended it.
But with 22 yards or so of fairway, and no real reason to lay-up on a side of the hole to get a preferred angle at right hole locations, look for some guys to try driving the green. 
(click to enlarge image of No. 6 tee view)
There's a killer back left hole location that the USGA will hopefully use to bring the steep fall off into play (and if the fairway was wide enough, such a hole location would have rewarded right side lay-ups).
The first ever Golfdom podcast is now available for listening. Editor Larry Aylward chat with yours truly about Winged Foot. Disregard the talk about concerns about the fairways getting too fast for the widths, as this was recorded before the recent downpours! Just click on the small play button, it's only 9 minutes or so. And if God forbid you want to listen to this on an ipod, go to you itunes podcast page, click advance and open Subscribe to Podcast, then paste this link: http://www.gabcast.com/casts/1063/rss/rss.xml
U.S. Open #1
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
