2017 US Open at Erin Hills - Looking Ahead

Yea, Oakmont in 2016 is next, but who cares. I just played Erin Hills and figured I'd share my experience. This is a bit wordy, but my flight was delayed and I was bored in the airport.

There are a lot of similarities between Chambers Bay and Erin Hills...tons of fescue, rolling terrain, undulating greens, new course, and built to host the US Open. So, obviously it's going to be compared (unfairly) to Chambers Bay.

The course was in incredible shape and it was the most well run club/resort I've seen outside of Augusta. They're only open from May-October. In preparation for the open, they will close a month early in 2016 and not open to the public until after the US Open in 2017. They're pulling out all the stops to make sure that it's in the best shape possible. The greens are A4 bentgrass, so they'll be in much better shape than the fescue/poa mess at Chambers Bay.

I've always wondered what it would be like to play in US Open conditions and at Erin Hills I got about as close as I ever will to doing that. Last week they did a mock US Open and had the course setup as if they were hosting it this year. That included tee/pin placements, rough length, and green speed. The only thing they didn't do was dry it out like the USGA will do. The greens were running at 12, which is the max they allow because the winds will start moving stationary balls on the greens. I played on Sunday, so I got to shoot at all the Sunday pin placements.

They expect the US Open to play between 7400-7600 yards depending on conditions. I played it at just under 7400 yards. The ball rolled so well in the fairways that it played a lot shorter IMO. The pins were tough, but fair. They can definitely move a couple closer to slopes/false fronts to make them more difficult. I ended up shooting an 81 with 2 birdies, 5 bogies, and 3 doubles.

Here are some pics. The overall experience was incredible. The caddie program is the best I've seen. Two of the caddies are from Augusta and spend their summers up there. Our caddie came from Bay Hill and another one we met caddied at Inverness. We stayed in the lodge and they took great care of us. If you ever have a chance to go to Erin Hills, I suggest you do it. We played Whistling Straits and stayed in Kohler on the same trip, and while the Straits course was better, the overall experience at Erin Hills blew it away.

Entrance


Look back across the marsh at the Lodge from #1 green


#3 478yd Par 4 - They are very generous with landing areas on longer holes(outside of #8)...which is nice.


#9 165yd Par 3 - Relatively easy hole, but that back right pin is going to be tough on Sunday


#12 460yd Par 4 - Slightly blind approach to a green that's in a bowl. Anything short should roll right on and funnel to the hole...Of course, I pulled it left of the green and made double from the fescue


#14 Green (600yd Par 5) - The sun drowns out the pic, but we spent about 15-20 minutes around this green hitting random shots to watch the ball funnel around. This one should be fun during the US Open.


#18 (660yd Par 5) View from the Fairway - I wish I would have taken a pic of this pin. It's going to be tough on Sunday. I put a 9 iron to about 10 feet, but if the greens were dried out like they will be, it would have been 30 yards down a hill, over the green, in the rough or fescue. It should be interesting to see how the players attack this hole/pin on Sunday.


Panoramic shot looking back from #15 tee


Nice view from the patio at the Pub after the round


My scorecard



No 3 putts was a win, but it was tough to consistently hit the greens when I was hitting 3 wood, 3 iron, and 4 iron in to a lot of holes. I was playing pretty well going into the round and left really happy with my 81.