2004 U.S. Open – Shinnecock Hills
Back in 2004, the USGA held the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills and ran into another greens issue. Fortunately this time it was only one of them, but that still doesn’t make it right. The par-3 seventh hole became essentially unplayable on Saturday after they “inadvertently” rolled in the morning. When Phil Mickelson is putting the ball off the green, you know it’s bad. It became such as circus, the USGA had to water the green between each group.
Here were some of the player reactions according to ESPN:
“I don’t even think the water began to seep into the ground,” said Mark Calcavecchia. “I think it just kind of beads up and rolls off like a waxed car.”
“They lied [Saturday],” said Jerry Kelly, who finished with an 81 after shooting 71 Saturday. “They said ‘We told them not to roll that one [No. 7]. Talked to the superintendent. Superintendent said, ‘Hey, I’m not getting in the middle of this. They told me to roll it.
“They’re trying to put blame, because of their stupidity, on to somebody doing a good job. It’s not the superintendent’s fault. This is the USGA’s fault, and it is every year.”
