From the man who runs it

I’ve been flooding the U.S. Open for the past month and absolutely love it. I’ve played Erin Hills (the open location for the US Women this year) and Oakmont (the open location for the US Men this year); I’ve introduced USWO on the ground and do the same at next week’s men’s event; I’ve looked at the final qualifying and storylines; I’ve even talked to LPGA Pro Linn Grant about how Brooks Koepka became the US Open Killer.

Then there was a fascinating conversation Saturday at Erin Hills and me with USGA Chief Champion Officer John Bodenhamer, aka the man behind the U.S. Open. We chatted for half an hour on the back patio of the clubhouse, which was designed to mimic the hilltop atmosphere of another open owner, Shinnecock Hills – exploring what works, nothing open, and what is open to the United States is indeed method.

Bodenhamer was a font for knowledge in the mid-1960s. He knew what Ben Hogan did in 1953 in Oakmont (driving green, making birdies). He knew Jack and Arni did something there (both conservatively) during the 1962 playoffs.

To explain the spirit of openness, Bodenhamer looked out at the epic 63 of Johnny Miller in Oakmont in 1973. Miller has seen this course any day, as if he was driving, with red, yellow and green light hole locations. Green means goyellow means perhapsred means…For your own risks.

“We thought a lot,” Bodenhamer told me. “We did consider giving them some green light. That’s not to say we’re all in every hole – we can make it much harder than we do. Twenty can win if we want. We don’t want that.”

USGA does want to showcase the sport’s “cathedral” and conduct tests participants think it’s difficult but fair. At that time, Bodenhamer was as transparent and vulnerable as any executive I encountered in the golf industry.

After the red numbers define the 2017 debut, we talked about Erin Hills’ viability to host the men’s U.S. Open again. We broke the Green Party situation in Chambers Bay, and professionals were condemned in 2015. Between these topics is Dustin Johnson’s victory at Oakmont, forever with a lingering ruling that has fans scored in the last six holes.

“There is no small amount for anyone – I’m part of it,” he began. “But, in fact, it’s actually more important than these great venues and these great players. I think we’ve readjusted it so we don’t have to do with our jobs on the golf course than the golf course and the players’ work on the golf course.

Bodenhamer clearly saw the task. He knew USGA had made a mistake, but also believed that the association’s signature activity was in another era now, and the more time I spent around the Open, the more I found myself agreeing with him. Players like to test. Courses like tests. Fans like to watch the exam.

We have another special week to come.

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