Golf Is Only A Game. Dustin Johnson Miss On 18 Partly Due To Extreme Greens.

[TheMastersNemesis]

I realize that this OP is not a political one. However I wanted to comment on the collapse of Dustin Johnson at the Open. Yes golf even at the PGA level is only a game. These pros are playing for millions now and it is the only game where only you can do it in the final analysis. I watched that tournament from beginning to end Sunday.

Now I have played golf for 60 years and seen every swing in the book. I wanted to turn pro when I was in my 20's because I had a very fast swing then but not the kind game except local pro. I used to play a course in Denver that was 100% poa annua which is considered a weed in the golf world. It can be a very good surface but it gets bumpy late in the day. Plus even though it can be cut very low it tends to seed and that makes putting very dicey like playing roulette. The Open course was very very extreme and the greens were very fast and bumpy. And it plays hell with any putting stroke.

Dustin's misses were very possible from what he was. Even the short putt he missed had to be hit harder than usual. That that situation can very easily cause a pull or push. So he might feel really bad, but even the best putter in history could have missed those putts.

[moondust]

1. I watched some of it.

Last edited Mon Jun 22, 2015, 04:05 PM - Edit history (1)

I was surprised by the condition of the course. I don't remember ever seeing a major tournament being played on what amounts to rough cardboard. I wondered if the course is always like that or if it was extra dry this year and the grass didn't grow or something.

Winning a tournament on somebody else's 3-putt seems to take a little bit of the zing out of it. Nevertheless, it's quite an accomplishment for a 21-year-old in an open tournament with a field of 98 156 golfers. More than 10,000 people usually try to qualify (for the Open).

[TheMastersNemesis]

2. The Media Too Harsh On Dustin Johnson. Anyone Even Nicklaus Could Miss This Putts.

As a lifelong golfer no putt is easy under such pressure. Dustin will suffer from his failure for a long time. And I have seen careers lost over such a loss. That putt will haunt him for a long time. It will take time to recover and the sad part if the media will keep hounding him unnecessarily because it is a story.

I have played enough golf 1500 rounds since 1998 to know how hard it is to maintain or improve you game. Only 1/10 of 1% of golfers can play at the PGA level. Only about 5% of golfers can top 100MPH swing speed with a driver. I used to swing around 120 in my prime and golf is a very different game at that level. I could never control it well enough to score low.

Johnson was putting on a mixed fescue/poa annua surface. The yellow was most likely poa. Poa is hell to putt on short range and every putt is a guess because you have to pop stroke it. And the ball can jump off line even a foot away. I have seen one foot putt missed on such surfaces because the roll is so unpredictable. Get a mix of grasses and it can be just nuts when you are over the ball.

Also at the distance of the last put you can only be about 1/2 degree off and miss.

As far as the course goes the USGA sets it up as fast as concrete. The course had almost no watering during the championship. The only thing that made it playable were the backstop slopes on key holes and pin positions. The rolls were more extreme than St. Andrews.

[moondust]

3. I see now that

Last edited Mon Jun 22, 2015, 06:28 PM - Edit history (1)

Chambers Bay is technically a "links" course like St. Andrews. No wonder it looked like cardboard. I guess I didn't know there were links courses in the U.S. I know I've never played one and not sure I'd enjoy it. I've never even played on sand greens.

I'm sure none of the media boys has ever 3-putted.

ETA: I see that there are actually a bunch of links courses along the coasts in the U.S. including Pebble Beach. Duh.

[TheMastersNemesis]

4. Poa Is One Of The Trickiest Grasses.

When I was in my late 20's and early 30's I played a tournament every year at City Park in Denver, Colorado. It had greens that were 100% poa anna. The ball bounced all over the place. And on short putts you had to wrap or pop stroke it. And you never were sure if you could start on line or keep it on line. Now on very fast greens the ball can snake to the hole going left and right.

City park you to drive me nuts on short and mid range putts. One of the hardest grasses outside of bermuda. Also the Open course is environmentally sensitive in that they do not use harsh chemicals and it takes strong toxic herbicides to kill pow. Golfers take it onto greens with their spikes. It is like a weed.