Thursday, June 13, 2002
U.S. Open will soon lose public spirit
The Associated Press
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — It's a wonderful way to bring a rich man's sport to the people: Hold one of the world's biggest golf tournaments on a public course that doesn't require a second mortgage to pay the greens fees.
On Thursday, the U.S. Open begins on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park, where it costs just $39 to play on the weekends — and $8 less during the week.
Don't get used to the concept, however.
While the U.S. Golf Association is keen to the idea of playing more Opens on public courses such as Bethpage Black, there are none in the current rotation that runs through 2007.
After this week, the tournament will return to locales that all have “Club” at the end of their names: Olympia Fields Country Club (2003), Shinnecock Hills Golf Club ('04), Pinehurst Resort and Country Club ('05), Winged Foot Golf Club ('06) and Oakmont Country Club ('07).
Pinehurst is the only so-called public course on that list, but only for those willing to pay $325 for 18 holes.
“There's a lot of good public golf courses out there,” said Tom Kite, who won the '92 Open that was played at Pebble Beach, another public course in the Pinehurst tradition ($375 greens fees). “I haven't played on too many of them, but I've heard there are some other ones.”
The USGA is considering other true public courses to bring into the Open rotation, with Torrey Pines in San Diego at the top of the list. The 36-hole complex sits atop cliffs hovering over the Pacific Ocean and is a regular stop on the PGA Tour with the Buick Invitational.
Torrey Pines isn't for beginners — greens fees are $145 during the week, $150 on weekends — but it would certainly extend the tradition started at Bethpage.
“It's no secret that other public facilities have seen what's happened at Bethpage and have decided to shoot high,” said David Fay, president of the UGSA. “It's no secret that among the courses interested in hosting, a future hope is Torrey Pines.”
The USGA hasn't picked a site for 2008 and, for all its good intentions, there are other issues that will be considered over accessibility to the public.
“Deciding on a U.S. Open site requires more than a truly great golf course,” Fay said. “All the courses we are looking at on our short list are truly great golf courses, but you have to nail down the other elements to make it work.”
He's referring to hotels for the thousands of fans, guests and support personnel. He's referring to plenty of room for setting up the revenue-generating chalets, merchandise shops and concession stands.
“You have to make sure that we all aren't sleeping in pup tents,” Fay said. “But, certainly, Torrey Pines is on that short list.”
When asked about other public courses that might be worthy of an Open, Kite mentioned Cog Hill Golf and Country Club near Chicago, home of the Western Open. The public can play the famed “Dubsdread” course for $125.
Fay played Bethpage Black regularly as a kid. He got the idea of bringing the national championship to a public course during an outing with USGA staff a month before the '95 Open at Shinnecock Hills, located on the eastern tip of Long Island.
After picking Bethpage as host of the 2002 Open, the USGA pumped about $3 million into renovating the clubhouse and upgrading the course, under the direction of renowned architect Rees Jones.
But the Long Island facility, which has five 18-hole courses, already had some built-in advantages by being part of a 1,300-acre state park: The USGA had no trouble envisioning a place to set up the small city of hospitality tents. Also, there were no concerns about everyone having a place to stay in the booming suburbs east of New York City.
Many players have lauded the USGA for selecting a true public course this year, including Tiger Woods.
“I think it's special for all the players,” he said. “For a lot of us, it's how we grew up playing.”
Davis Love III concurred.
“There's a lot of great golf courses that we don't see normally and it's great to expose them, especially a public golf course,” he said.
He has noticed a different gallery reaction from what he hears at more exclusive courses.
“Everybody out there is calling it their golf course and they love the fact that we are here,” Love said. “I'm hoping that this will open the door so we can play some other golf courses that maybe we are missing.”
On the other hand, Jose Maria Olazabal doesn't think the selection of a public course for the Open will have much impact on the game's popularity in the United States.
“The game of golf in this country is doing very well. It's very popular,” the Spaniard said. “I think it's going to stay like that for many years. It doesn't matter whether the Open is played on a public golf course or not.”
Of course, many of the players on the PGA Tour come from wealthy families and belonged to private clubs growing up. They have no idea what it's like to sleep in a car for the chance to land one of the coveted tee times on the Black Course.
“I don't care whether they're public or private,” Kite said after practicing Wednesday on the Black Course. “I just want to play good courses, and this is certainly a good one.”
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U.S. Open will soon lose public spirit 
