Golf That's No Muni
by Bill Hogan
THAT'S NO MUNI.
June 14, 2002 by Bill Hogan
Playing the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black has created
quite a stir - historically speaking. It's the first
time in 102 years that the tournament host is a state
owned and operated municipal golf course.
The only problem is, I don't think Bethpage Black can
still be considered a municipal course. The USGA announced
that the Open would be played at the sixty-six year
old public golf facility about five years ago and then
proceeded to implement millions of dollars worth of
renovations. They laid a million square feet of new
sod and dumped nine thousand tons of sand into the bunkers.Muni
bunkers typically contain just about everything except
sand. (And rakes - which makes sense, no sand, no need
to rake).
If the USGA really wanted to challenge the game's best
players, they should have left the fairways, greens
and bunkers as they were. Let's see these guys blast
out of a greenside "sand" trap when the ball
is resting on a rock and stuck to an old Almond Joy
wrapper. And then figure out a way to putt around the
dandelion that put down roots halfway between their
ball and the hole.
I wonder what kind of reaction a player would have after
blasting a 250-yard drive down the middle of the fairway
only to find the ball sitting in a patch of dirt and
gravel. Now that's municipal golf.Put a Mustang engine
in a Pinto and it's no longer a Pinto. Put actual sand
in the bunkers at a municipal golf course… you
get the idea.
This year's championship has been dubbed "The People's
Open" because the course is accessible to anyone
with thirty-nine dollars in their pocket and thirty-nine
hours to kill. I've read many accounts of avid golfers
(I should probably say fanatic golfers) camping out
in the Bethpage State Park parking lot for a day or
two in order to secure a tee time on the Black.
Twenty-four to thirty-six hours sitting behind the wheel
of a suped-up Pinto with three other guys drinking beer,
eating nachos and sweating. Can you imagine what the
inside of that car smells like after day one? How about
day two?
Sore back, stiff neck, golf shirt pitted out, morning
breath (from yesterday) and starting day three in the
same underwear – LET'S PLAY SOME GOLF!
These guys are "just happy to be playing the Black".
They have no expectation of playing well and seem to
revel in the entire two day experience.
I don't get it. But then, I'd never stand in line overnight
for World Series tickets - or Brittany Spears tickets
for that matter. And I never really got the fascination
with Woodstock. Rolling around in a muddy cow pasture
for three days listening to rock music.
There are way too many public courses that I can play
the morning after a good night sleep, a hot meal and
a shower to subject myself to that kind of ordeal. I
like to approach the first tee thinking about putting
my drive in play, not the pain and itch of a growing
hemorrhoid from sitting on a vinyl bucket seat. Maybe
to play a round at Augusta National, but Bethpage Black?
The designation of this championship as "The People's
Open" may be a good omen for one of the few amateurs
that managed to survive grueling local and regional
qualifying tournaments to earn a spot in the field.It
may offer them some glimmer of hope where normally none
exists for an amateur competing at the Open Championship.
History is certainly working against them.
In 1933, Johnny Goodman became the fifth amateur to
win the U.S. Open. It was really no big deal at the
time, amateurs had captured four of the previous ten
Open Championships. (Of course, it was the great Bobby
Jones that won all four).
Unfortunately for the amateurs playing the Black this
weekend, Johnny Goodman was the last of their kind to
win a U.S. Open. Even Jack Nicklaus could do no better
than second as an amateur finishing two shots back of
Arnold Palmer in 1960.
Of course with Tiger prowling the fairways and greens
at this municipal course even the most accomplished
professionals may have to settle for second best –
again.But if ever there were a time for a modern amateur
to make his move, it's at "The People's Open"
at Bethpage Black..
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