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UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION MEDIA CONFERENCEJuly 24, 2014Thomas O'Toole, Jr.THE MODERATOR: I'm going to briefly introduce our guest of honor tonight. Tom O'Toole Jr. is from St.Louis, a native of St.Louis, and he's in his seventh year as a member of the USGA Executive Committee and his first year as President of the USGA. He served as Vice President from 2011 to 2013, and Secretary in 2010. I continue to be amazed at his ability to keep his volunteerism, his day job, his family. He's an amazing person. I'm glad you're all getting a chance to meet him. Tom has been involved with the USGA since 1988. Very unique, for a lot of people on the Executive Committee to have been involved with golf that long. In 1992 he founded the Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association, which serves eastern Missouri and central Illinois. He still serves on the executive board of that association. He has served as a rules official on more than 135 USGA championships, including every U.S. Open since 1990. He also has been the lead official in conducting more than 130 qualifying rounds for USGA championships. He has been certified as a rules of golf expert each year since 1990 and has been a member of the Rules of Golf Committee since 2004. It's really an honor for our Chicago media to get to spend a little time with Tom. Without further ado, Tom. PRESIDENT O'TOOLE: This is an august group to show up at a wonderful spot like the University Club not to see a very dynamic speaker, but I appreciate you taking time out of your busy sports schedule to come here. I revel and admire the sports in Chicago, those who cheer their teams to victory. It's a great sports town, one of our great American cities. I know there's a few other distractions this weekend, including my Cardinals playing the Cubs, but thanks for making time to come here. Thank you for the wonderful introduction. I was thinking as you read the remarks, I read about a ruling I made on Martin Kaymer on Saturday at the U.S. Open where he put in his piece, Then O'Toole had to call in the real rules guy (laughter). We actually have a policy within the USGA, most of you that cover the Open know it, that only grounded and repaired can be declared by a member of the roving team, which is usually people that are on our staff and our PGA TOUR rules officials. But more importantly they're the ones that are out there seeing the ground and repair that are not marked. When Martin Kaymer hit it left of the hole on Saturday, had that precarious lie and shot that he faced, he asked me for relief. I explained to him, Martin, under our policy, I will have to call in a rover. He's already on his way. Of course, Jeff Hall came. Despite my introduction as a rules expert, I did call in the 'real rules guy', as wonderful golf publications mentioned. I know we're going to talk with some of the key supporters and benefactors for the 115th playing of the United States Amateur Championship next year at Olympia Fields Country Club, August 17th to the 23rd, 2015. It's hard to say 2015. We're not through our championship season in 2014. We're excited about that. Instead of hearing me ramble, why don't we get to what you all are focusing in about that championship and that great trophy that has existed since the USGA president donated it over a century ago. I guess we'll go to the floor for questions. Q. What were the considerations in choosing Olympia Fields for the amateur? PRESIDENT O'TOOLE: Well, you know, we've had a policy for about a decade now within the USGA that says that Championship Committees, before the one I chaired for four years, said to accept invitations from clubs for the U.S. Amateur, those clubs should be a past or future U.S. Open site. So certainly with 1928 and 2003 under Olympia Fields' belt... Not only the North Course, but the restoration of the South Course, then the aspects of having 36 holes at one spot for 312 players to conduct our stroke play portion, operationally that's exciting and welcoming to our staff. So I think Olympia Fields had that component. Of course, they've had a great championship history there going back to 1928. Many things have been done through the Western Golf Association here in Chicago. It was an invitation we were excited to receive and, again, looking forward to next August. Q. What are some things that you and your colleagues at the USGA love so much about this event? PRESIDENT O'TOOLE: Well, besides it being our oldest championship by one day in 1895, this is a learned golf group in this room, but when you speak to people that are not as initiated, the first thing you have to try to draw the distinction is the USGA is an amateur body. That's why we were formed in December of 1894, to really conduct national championships, which you all know are primarily amateur variety. The U.S. Amateur, its sector of players, is uncontrovertedly the most coveted title in amateur golf. We could have a debate here this evening about our U.S. Open versus the Masters, which everybody loves, versus the PGA of America. We probably have PGA members that will be here tonight. Many of us just came back from across the pond at the championship that the R& A conducts. You could have a debate about which one of those major championship is the best. I don't think there's any debate in men's amateur golf that the most coveted title is the Havemeyer Trophy that has been conducted since that summer of 1895 at Newport Country Club. It just has a long connection with what the USGA represents and the epitome of what we're trying to do in our championship presentation. I think that's probably the most important aspect of the amateur part. The other thing is the consequence of this championship and what it means in cultivating young men to play golf, as Ridley did his entire life as an amateur, or other people like Tiger Woods or Hal Sutton or Phil Mickelson, who found their way onto the professional tour. I think it's a great cultivating ground for that. The level of competition that you enjoy at the Amateur is the best in the amateur game. I think we have a particular attachment to it for that and what it means in championship golf going forward. I've had an opportunity to interact with a lot of past amateur champions. What that title has meant, what that trophy has meant in their careers, it's pretty remarkable. I think that's the two main reasons that this is such a special championship for the USGA. Q. As great a golf town as Chicago is, it's not currently in the Road to the U.S. Open Championship. Comment on that, please. PRESIDENT O'TOOLE: Glad to comment. We don't, as Jim knows, most of you know, it's been the long‑standing practice of the USGA, we don't talk about invitations that we receive for particular championships because we protect the confidentiality of clubs and regions and communities that are in that mix. That said, certainly it is a wonderful golf town. We've had great U.S. Opens here even in the last couple of decades, with Hale Irwin winning at Medinah and Jim Furyk at Olympia Fields Country Club. We would always look to interact with a club that would issue an invitation, or facility, if it's not a private membership club, like the two examples of Medinah and Olympia Fields, to bring the U.S. Open back to the Midwest, and again this storied town of Chicago. We will continue to look for that interaction from clubs. I think it's fair, you all can suffice to say that our experience here this next year at Olympia Fields will be one that will be looked at closely. I'm sure it will cause the club possibly to entertain other discussions with us about future championships at the club. So we continue to interact with that. The interesting thing, those two clubs aside, about Chicago, as wonderful as the golf is, and it arguably is as good as any metropolitan area in the U.S., how many clubs are in a position from a production standpoint to host the United States Open, to what it's evolved to? There's a long list of them, 13 I think that have been held here, from a lot of great clubs, who could just not be in that mix anymore from a production standpoint or a golf course test standpoint. Not that they're not all wonderful architectural gems. But as you all know, the golf course that we're looking for to test the men's greatest players in the world requires some length to it that many of these clubs don't possess anymore. But that's always been the interesting discussion about Chicago. Rich tradition and wonderful clubs and courses. But how many really could be in a position to host a U.S. Open? I think it's probably just a handful. Q. The U.S. Public Links was last week. A local guy finished second. This was the last year of it. Since that wrapped up, have you heard anything negative about not having that going forward? PRESIDENT O'TOOLE: Well, fair question. I think we navigated through some of that disappointment which frankly we possessed as well about not continuing on the tradition that was started when the necessity for this championship was implemented. I think we successfully have communicated to the media and to the players and constituents that followed that championship, whether it be past host sites or past champions, we had a wonderful list of those there last Saturday night as I came in from the Senior Open, and spoke with the players in Newton, Kansas, wonderful past chairman of the men's amateur Public Links. The women's, as most of you know, is going on contemporaneous with that at the Home Course in Washington. I didn't get a chance to go there. I sent a video with remarks about the very point that I think you raise here tonight. It is somewhat of a sad time for the USGA that we retired that championship. But if you look to where golf in society has changed, for the very reason we have the championship, we need to be celebrating that point, and the fact that we don't have in any of your national championships, our Amateur or Open, any requirements about what your socioeconomic background is, what golf club or facility you play for or represent. That's a wonderful thing, that in this day and age we've evolved past that, particularly in a sport that's been accused of being an elitist sport, been accused of being exclusionary and not inclusionary. So I think that's what we try to focus in about the Public Links. I sat there with Billy Tuten, Don Essig, Jordan was supposed to be there, but he made the cut at the John Deere, didn't make it in for the Players Dinner, but let's celebrate what all those men and women achieved, the fact that we don't need these championships anymore because our society is open, our game is open. We're open whether you play at the finest, most elite club in the region like Chicago or if you play at a public facility that Kemper Sports or somebody else runs. I think that's something to be exhilarated about and not be disappointed about. Q. What would be your thoughts on one tournament that maybe is needed in a certain segment, what about a U.S. Senior Women's Open? PRESIDENT O'TOOLE: That's been a hotbed of discussion.  Mike Davis and Dan Burton, who chair our Championship Committee, met with a variety of members that play on that Legends Tour that would represent that sector of women golfers. We had a good exchange. We're looking at it very in‑depth, as we have a variety of times over the last probably decade. It's the only sector of golfers we don't have a national championship for. We don't want to rush to have one if we don't think the championship is viable. Do we think we have a number of golfers from both either the female professional ranks or the female amateur ranks that would want to come and participate in this? We're trying to look at what the Legends Tour is, how big are those fields. They range anywhere from in the mid 40s up to 100. What would be the right fit for that? But I would tell you that we promised this group that this was not lip service, that we were taking a very serious look at this championship because even if it doesn't rise to the level of the entries that we experience in all of our other championships, should we be doing this for our game and for women's golf, which we think it's important we continue to champion? We have been championing women's amateur golf and women's golf certainly since 1895 when we rolled out our Men's Amateur and Open Championship, and shortly after the Women's Championship. It's important we continue that. I'm of the view, and if I can help have some influence with our Executive Committee, our Championship Committee, I want to get this resolved by year's end so we can say, Look, we've made a decision, we're going to go forward, we're not, here is the reason for either answer. I'd look for something this year. That's my hope anyway. Q. What excites you about Olympia Fields, specifically the golf courses? PRESIDENT O'TOOLE: Well, I think two great tests of golf courses. When we went to 312 players, if you look historically when we went to companion sites that were away from the host site, not part of that club, we probably went to some sites where we can get an 18‑hole round posted, it doesn't meet the test or the level of the championship presentation that the host site where the match play portion was going to be conducted. I think what we have here is we have two really good golf courses that arguably, particularly after Steve restored the South Course, are challenging to one another. I'm sure if I had a host of their membership here, they would have a debate about which course they liked the most or which course is more challenging than the other. So I think we've got great two great comparable courses. The plant facility is fabulous. Obviously from a clubhouse perspective, it doesn't get any bigger or more expansive than Olympia Fields. That will give the club a lot of capability to do some things hopefully with some sponsors and with spectators and people that can come and enjoy the championship. Then I think the other point is the Chicago point. I mean, this is a great golf market. To bring our oldest championship here, to think we've had the U.S. Amateur here 13 times, to be able to bring it here again, is something special to the USGA. Again, the wonderful history that Olympia Fields enjoys. Kind of a combination of all those things. Q. Do you think you'll ever in the foreseeable future or maybe way down the road have the U.S. Opens like you did this year, back‑to‑back weeks? PRESIDENT O'TOOLE: Well, we said all along that probably was the most often‑asked question I had since I became president on February 8th, Are you going to do this back‑to‑back Open thing again? We said, Let's assess this, let's get through it. We knew there was associated risk with doing this, predominantly centered around the Women's Championship. Knock on wood, we don't want to be braggadocios, but we pretty much avoided those risks, and ended up with two great weeks of championship golf and of course two great champions. I think we'll continue to look at something like that. Early on folks in not just the media, but folks said, They're doing this for an economy of scale, avoid double costs of grandstands, corporate hospitality, what I like to call the production of the U.S. Open, there would be some benefit to doing this. As it turns out, it probably wasn't a benefit. Not that we ever started down the road because of that. But what we always thought this was going to be was an unbelievable celebration of women's amateur golf. I was on the phone on the way from the airport, and I was speaking to Jay Randolph Sr., who some of you may remember was a long time NBC golf commentator, happens to be from St.Louis and commentator for Cardinals baseball. He said to me, Wow, what an unbelievable celebration of women's golf. I said, Bingo, that's exactly what we wanted. You don't always achieve your objective when you start down a road like that, but I think we did that. There were more eyes on women's golf that second week. Our television ratings, we didn't have Tiger the first week, we all know how that impacts your ratings. Our ratings were fabulous, the best they'd ever been for the Women's Open. We had great galleries. It was mission accomplished. I think we'll look at it. The rub on it is really probably threefold. Where can you do it? You couldn't do it at a Chicago golf course because of the bluegrass and roughs. How would we get the mowing heights right? So where could you do it? Secondly, who wants to do it? That's an imposition. Even a public facility or a resort like Pinehurst made significant sacrifices. We're aware of what it does for their brand, but it is a sacrifice to do the back‑to‑back. Then the final thing is we announced that week that we were going to move the Women's Open date permanent in '17 to before the Men's Open. So you see already we have to readjust that if we were to come back and do that. Those are the three things that I think will primarily enter into the discussion after we do the assessment. But a lot of us laid awake at night worrying about that, were we going to give the trophy away on Sunday, was that going to create a catastrophe if we didn't on Monday with girls trying to practice, then what was the weather going to do to us. To think we went to North Carolina in June, and the only time we suspended was on Wednesday I think during the men's practice, pretty amazing. We had a pretty hot day on Friday of the women's Open. So we got lucky in a lot of regards. My Irish Catholic father told me, Sometimes don't press your luck (laughter). I think mission accomplished. But we'll see. Q. Have there been any discussions about the setup for the Amateur Championship as compared to how the course was set up for the last U.S. Open? PRESIDENT O'TOOLE: Certainly Ben Kimball who oversees our men's amateur championship has Tom Meeks' and a mentoring Mike Davis' notes from 2003. I think the Championship will be conducted nearly as it was in '03 for the Men's Amateur. There may be some slight modifications. But that was a good test. Furyk won there. Remind me, it was 5‑under or 8‑under‑par. I think there's probably been a couple teeing grounds added and the like. I think you'll basically see the presentation, realizing that the philosophies have changed slightly since then under the Davis regime. You'll see graduated rough probably, drivable par 4s if that makes sense in the setup from one day to the next. Match play you can do a lot of different things and create some different challenges intellectually and mentally. I think you'll see some of that. When you have a long championship like that, seven days of golf on one course, you're going to see a lot of mixing and matching. Which, again, in those days they set the tee at a spot and you played within a couple or three paces of that every day. That was the end of it. You know that's not the USGA way currently, so... I think you'll see some mixing and matching. Again, thank you for taking time to come out and begin the drumbeat for the 2015 U.S. Amateur Championship. We're excited. I know that besides Olympia Fields and of course Kemper Sports is well‑traveled in this communications area, if there's anything we can do for you in the USGA, don't hesitate to contact us. Our communications team is excited about coming back to Chicago. For a Midwestern kid, besides being close to home, I spent some time here in Chicago preparing for the 1997 U.S. Senior Open. I actually lived at Olympia Fields for a month, then lived in the city, spent about a year in preparation for that championship when I was in my younger days of golf administration and practicing law, so there's a special place here for me. I think the proximity of this golf course to the city, its accessibility through the train capabilities in Chicago, it's a unique chance. We're excited about being here. Thank you for coming. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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