Capelle On Golf

2008 US Women’s Open

The US Women’s Open is being held this week on Interlachen C.C. in Edina, Minnesota. It’s a classic old style course that dates to 1911, and was the site of the third leg of Bobby Jones’ Grand Slam in 1930. The USGA team has done its usual bang up job in preparing the course. But there is one problem: Interlachen is playing to a par of 73.

Par 73 courses typically have five par 5s. That’s five potential birdie holes on a layout that’s supposed to present one of the year’s four toughest challenges. Extra par fives also stack the deck in the favor of the power players. In short, five fives is no less than one too many. Any card player knows that.

The people who set up and host the men’s majors know it too. The Masters is always played on the par 72 Augusta National. The USGA likes par 70 and 71s for the men, and they’ve never had an Open play to a par 73 in the Modern Era. The same goes for the PGA. The 1961 and 1971 British Opens are the only two men’s majors in the Modern Era to be played on a par 73 layout. Both were held at Royal Birkdale, the site of this year’s Open. Today par at Birkdale has been sliced to 70!

For the US Open at Torrey Pines the USGA converted the sixth hole, which still measured over 500 yards, from a par 5 to a par 4, showing their continuing preference for lowering par for the men’s Open. Torrey played to a par of 71.

The USGA’s par reduction philosophy, however, evidently doesn’t apply to the women’s Open. After opening with a drive and a wedge 344 yard par four, the ladies will face two consecutive par 5s. That’s three potential birdie holes to start an Open! The culprit is number two, a 473 yards par 5, which is short for the ladies in this day of the long ball.

The USGA likes drivable par fours, so they could have easily converted number two into one as they did with number 14 at Torrey Pines. There is plenty of room short of the dogleg to place a tee so that the ladies have a straight shot at the green. The hole would measure about 285 yards if a tee were placed at the edge of the rough short of the dogleg.

By converting number 2 their Open would have a par of 72, which has a much better ring to it. And the ladies would have had a crack at knocking the ball on the green in one, just like the men.

The Hole on Mapquest
You can find number two easy enough. Follow this link. You’ll see Interlachen Blvd. in the middle of the screen. Go to the second largest setting on the left and then go to the top right and shift to aerial view. The second hole takes up most of the screen directly under Interlachen Boulevard. At the lowest part of the lake go straight across the fairway. You will see a shadow of a tree. A tee could be placed at the right edge of the shadow. It would turn number 2 into a 285 yard par 4.

Follow Up: Stats Confirm the USGA’s Mistake
I checked the scoring on the ladies par fives at 2pm ET. Par fives number 3, 10, 13, and 18 were all being played close to par. The average on number 2 was 4.594, making it play about as difficult at holes number 6 and 12 at Torrey Pines, which were par 4s!
The net effect is that this Open will show too many red numbers, which is not what we want to see in the major that’s supposed to be the hardest to win.

Women’s US Open - A Short Par 5
#2—4.594

Men’s US Open at Torrey Pines - Two Par 4s
#6—4.5074
#12—4.5851