"It's hard to play the U.S. Open without seeing the golf course."

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Doug Ferguson talks to young Emiliano Grillo, first alternate who is not allowed to play a practice round. The greens will be soooo much better off!

Grillo wound up in a seven-man playoff for four spots in the Memphis, Tenn., qualifier that featured mostly PGA Tour players. He hung around until there were three players left for one spot. On the third extra hole, Tag Ridings hit into the water on a par 5. Grillo and Briny Baird reached the green in two and faced long eagle putts.

"It was almost darkness, and it can be hard to putt in the dark," he said. "I three-putted, but I still made par. I was so mad."

It took him a while to get over the disappointment of being one putt away from playing in the U.S. Open. He packed his clubs and headed to upstate New York to start a busy season of amateur golf. After being informed Monday that he was the first alternate, Grillo took two days to decide whether to come to Washington.

"At least I'm around here," he said, pointing to a practice green that was filled with players like Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson. "It is something. But now I have to wait. If somebody withdraws, that's fine. If not, that's fine. I should have made one more putt."

"So in other words, this is probably not a video Hogan would have made."

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Sam Weinman explains the genesis of the train wreck spoof music video featuring America's brightest hopes--Mahan, Watson, Fowler, Crane--and of course, charity is at the heart of the campaign. If only America's up and comers put as much creative energy into their short game as they do their image enhancement efforts.
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The Controversial 16th?

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The USGA's Mike Davis has gussied up the par-5 16th and the players aren't wild about it. I sum up the issues and link to some videos so you can judge for yourself in this Golf World Daily item (link works for non-subscribers too).

The ultimate test of this setup change to the hole will be whether the short grass is so extreme that it discourages players from going for the green in two.

Here's what Phil Mickelson said about the change in Tuesday's press conference:

PHIL MICKELSON: So that's a very interesting design because we're so used to the thick, hack-it-out rough around the greens, to see it shaved down on all angles and have the pitch of the grass go right into the pine needles -- I'm okay with pine needles, but it's not really where you want to be. So it really makes you think on that second shot, if you can get there. If it's downwind and you can get there, you really have to think about what kind of shot you want to do because if you miss it long, if you fly it on the green and it goes over, that's a really hard up and down. And par might be difficult. If you miss it right, it just gets accentuated by the shaved grass. So you really have to think about that hole, and I kind of like that. I like the fact that it requires a lot more thought on what you want to do and how you want to play it.

"So watch out, this thing could get ugly."

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It was interesting to observe a few signs of stress on and around the Congressional greens Tuesday as compared to Wednesday. Most of the afflicted areas are in high traffic or shade prone spots and not a big deal. Hopefully the surfaces hang in for the tournament and after for the members, but as John Huggan notes, even with today's moderate temperatures and cloud cover, the young greens could be at risk as the USGA tries to get to the 14.5 Stimpmeter readings anticipated for Thursday.
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"Hopefully, [Rio’s] choice for the course will have a legacy component which will enable the course to have the opportunity to develop not only the grassroots but also the elite level."

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