At the end of the 2020 U.S. Open, Winged Foot will also become the toughest U.S. Open venue in history (if it isn’t already.). Since World War II, only two US Open courses have hosted Opens in which the champion has won with scores above par three times, Oakland Hills Country Club and Winged Foot. Winged Foot will become the leader in the clubhouse, because no golfer will break par over four rounds in this tournament. In fact, the winner will post the highest winning score over par for an Open since at least 1974 when Hale Irwin won the U.S. Open shooting +7 over four rounds. Not coincidentally, Winged Foot was the host of that tournament. (Local lore has it that the sons of Claude Harmon, the legendary golfer who was the club pro at Winged Foot at the time, won major wagers with rival Westchester Country Club members that the Open winner would not break par that year. Raising insider trading to an art form, the boys from Winged Foot knew how difficult the course had been set up to be, and cashed in when Irwin walked off the 18th green on Sunday well over par for the tournament.)
Thankfully for golf fans everywhere, the 2020 U.S. Open is upon us, and as the first players tee off in a few minutes to open the tourney, Winged Foot G.C. will become the host of the U.S. Open for the sixth time in its storied history. Winged Foot will thus become one of only five courses to have hosted the U.S. Open so often (the other four are Oakmont Country Club (9 times), Baltusrol Golf Club (7 times), Oakland Hills Country Club (6 times) and Pebble Beach Golf Links (6 times).
In anticipation of hosting this tournament, the membership of the club authorized the reconstruction of the West Course to return to its original configuration as designed by legendary course architect A. W. Tillinghast when the club opened in 1923. It was a massive, years-long undertaking, as evidenced by the videos seen here . As a result, the course barely resembles the venue which held the 2006 U.S. Open, which Geoff Ogilvy won with a final score of +5 over par. (Uh oh; a not very positive portent of things to come.)
So, given the history of such tournaments held at Winged Foot, the prediction here is that the winner of the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot will finish the tournament with a winning score of +9, the highest U.S. Open winning score in 57 years. In addition, not one golfer will post a round under par in the tournament, which would be unprecedented. (No golfers posted a sub-par round in the 1951 U.S. Open for the first three rounds at Oakland Hills C.C. (South Course), but not in the final round.
It will be enormously pleasurable to watch what some have argued (erroneously) is the best Open field of all time be humbled by the greatness that is Winged Foot Golf Club. I must admit that, as an average, aging duffer, I will bask in the schadenfreude and enjoy every minute of it.
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| And the Winner Is...Winged Foot Golf Club! |
AMDG
© R. E. Kelly 2012 -2020
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