Capelle On Golf

2008 US Open Coverage

I’ve got my tickets to this year’s US Open and I’m going home. I was introduced to golf 48 years ago at Torrey Pines at age 12. I played on the La Jolla High School golf team, and the 36 holes at Torrey Pines were our home courses. Now in this day of inflated green fees you’re going to flip when I tell you what it cost us poor high school students to play at the site of this year’s Open: Monday-Tuesday-Thursday- Friday after 3pm cost a whopping $1.50 a month! In the winter that meant only nine holes, but come golf season, we could get in a full eighteen.

In those days Torrey Pines measured 6,723 long yards at seaside. Add 10% for ball inflation and you have a 7,395 yard course in today’s distances. This is about what it will play for the Open since they are not going to use the back tees on every hole every day. Many of the greens were arguably tougher targets back then because most were like table tops. If the ball landed too far back on the green, it would bounce high in the air before rolling well over the putting surface and down a slope.

As a rule, I scored pretty good on the North, but could claim few great moments on the South course (I was a five handicap at my best). Still, one round stands out. It was not my lowest score, but my best round considering that it came on the South, the site of this year’s Open. (Note: For the story below I consulted my memory bank and my 41 year old scorecard, which lists my score, putts, and distance of my approach putts.)

The Front Nine
On a breezy Saturday afternoon in March1967, I embarked on a round of golf at Torrey South with my good pal, Rick Schneider, an excellent player. I figured that I was in for another losing battle with the always brutal South Course, a feeling that was confirmed after I bogeyed number one, a 438 yard uphill par 4 into the wind.

I rolled in a nine footer to get back to even on the second hole, which was an easy 330 yard par 4 in those days. I scrambled for a par 3 at the downhill third. Even through three. Two super shots left me with a chance for a birdie at the brutal cliffside 432 yard fourth, but I missed a six footer. Solid two putt pars from 12 feet came at five and six. A nice chip and one putt par at the tough 444 yard seventh, which hugs the canyon, and a regulation par three at eight kept me at level par – on the South! Surely I must be dreaming. On number nine I played a beautiful wedge to seven feet and canned it for a birdie four. A 35 on the front nine, one under. Help! The pressure is building. Is this what the pros go through on a routine basis?

The Back Nine
On the par 4 tenth I knocked an 8-iron to five feet, but missed a putt that would have put me two under. A scrambling par three on the dangerous eleventh was followed by a routine bogey on twelve, one of the toughest par 4s on earth. No shame in that. I missed the green at the par 5 thirteenth, but sank a four footer for a par. Five holes to go and I’m still even par. This is feeling more and more like my own personal US Open.

A welcome two putt par from 54 feet kept me even with par after fourteen. The fifteenth was only 339 yards in those days, but it was no pushover because the rock hard table top green rejected shots like a ping pong table. (It’s since been lengthened to 478 yards and the green is much lower.) I smoothed a wedge to 12 feet and rolled it in to go one under with three to play! I’m in need of oxygen now.

The demanding sixteenth was188 yards uphill yards with a canyon left and long. It cost me a bogey, but all was not lost, for I’m still even with two to play. A deep canyon runs down the left side on seventeen, offering a great chance for me to ruin my round, but I managed to find the fairway. Though I missed the green off the left edge, I chipped to within three feet and holed the pressure packed putt to remain even.

One Hole to Play
I’m thinking there is no way can I make worse than a five on the 483 yard par 5 eighteenth, the easiest hole on the course. But on the middle of my backswing my muscles tightened, I failed to release the club, and I hit a big high slice into the trees to the left of the fairway (I’m a lefty) – a forerunner to Mickelson’s drive on the eighteenth at Winged Foot. I managed to find my ball, but the lie was horrible. Two mediocre shots later left me in the rough short and left of the green (which has since been totally remodeled).

I’m 50 yards from the pin and I’ve got to clear a small stand of trees to reach the green, but luckily I’ve got a lot of green to work with. I opened the face on my wedge and lofted a nifty little pitch that rolled to a stop nine feet short, leaving an uphill putt with a slight left to right break – perfect for a lefty. This is it, my big chance for an even par round on the South. I was 19 at the time and putted without fear as kids do, so that probably explains why I rolled it up the slope and into the heart of the cup. My dream came true.

I admit it. I leaked two quarts of oil on eighteen, but then I recovered in time to sink a big putt that capped the best round of my life. I suppose the winner of this year’s Open will have a similarly gut wrenching experience. And why not, for it’s the US Open, and it’s being played on my beloved and brutal South Course. Gosh, it’s good to be going back home.

Torrey Pines Then and Now
Listed below is the distances at the Torrey Pines I grew up on, and the one that the pro’s will be facing at this year’s US Open. The last column is my score on the round I described above.

—Old–Now–Par–Me
1—438—448—4—5
2—330—389—4—3
3—154—195—3—3
4—432—488—4—4
5—393—453—4—4
6—516—515—5*–5
7—444—461—4—4
8—156—177—3—3
9—527—612—5—4
*A par 4 in the Open

10—361—414—4—4
11—198—221—3—3
12—453—504—4—5
13—517—614—5—5
14—380—435—4—4
15—339—478—4—3
16—188—225—3—4
17—414—441—4—4
18—483—573—5—5