U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 19, 2000

Oscar Miles

Tim Moraghan

TIM MORAGHAN: Exactly, Rhonda. I think the goal, two or three years ago, by the championship committee, Mary Capouch, Judy Bell, Kendra Graham and I were to try to play the golf course at its strengths. This is a newer golf course and it has a lot of interesting features, and it's a strong golf course, so we felt that we are not blind to the obvious; that is, players are better, equipment is better. And people like Oscar, certainly, make the conditions of the golf course better so we want to play to the strength of the golf course and use what was created here ten years ago to really challenge the players. And in that, I think we have a good flow to the golf course. We have left-to-right, we have up-and-down, we have interesting greens with some great hole locations and some undulations that will put a little premium on putting, which was always the first priority of Mr. Boatwright and Mr. Dey years ago when I started was to have the champion really have an exquisite touch on the putting surface, and I think we've achieved that. Many thanks go to Oscar and his staff, his No. 1 person underneath him, John Nelson, has done an extraordinary job and has made my life and that of Kendra Graham extremely easy, and we anticipate no problems. The one thing that I think you all should realize, you don't know we moved the Women's Open to November, seeing as we don't have any heat or humidity for that week, and I want to thank him for that. He can explain his good fortune this week. I think the women players this week will find that the overall condition of the golf course not only is excellent, but it's going to be really challenging. We have a good, firm fast greens, we have rough, which is rough. It's going to be three to four inches and we have length. This is, I believe, the longest U.S. Women's Open, U.S. Women's Open in the history of the United States Golf Association's 55 attempts at putting on this little championship. It's not so little anymore. It's now, what I think, the fifth major in golf, and I think people should be aware that something going on across the Atlantic, but I think I'd rather be here and watch the best players in the United States this week.

OSCAR MILES: The accommodation is a team effort. Tim and his committee have given us a set of guidelines to follow, and with their recommendations and their guidance, we've been able to keep things on calendar to meet our objective. And we have to go back to three years ago when club officials finally agreed that we needed to do re-grassing around the fairways and surroundings of our greens. That was the only major improvement we've had to make since the course was built. So they approved the funds for us to come in and recontour the outsides of our fairways and around our greens, because our fairways were very good, and the grass was so strong, it was moving out into the areas of the bluegrass. So, when he looked at that, he thought we should have some accommodation made to reduce the amount of bent in the bluegrass because it would create an unplayable lie. It would be really unfair just to miss the fairway a foot or two and have the combination of that puffiness from the bentgrass. So, they agreed to do that, and that really enhanced the outlines and gave us good definition to the fairway and the green area. And then over a period of months as Tim and his committee would visit, I tried different heights of cut, okay. Now, a golf course superintendent wants to keep it as long as possible, because that's healthy for the grass. So, he would come in with his ball and his golf clubs and we would go out and try different heights of cut. Finally, this spring, I think, we achieved what he wanted, thinking in terms of moving from the green to the apron to the intermediate cut, which is the buffer zone before our strong healthy rough around the greens. And then he would illustrate with the golf ball and the club the kind of shots that would be required and how the ball should lie within those areas. So that was very informative and gave me an idea of how we're going to achieve those results. So, to give you an example, I never realized that it was so important to have the top of the golf ball exposed right at the edge of the apron, which is cut at half an inch, and the bluegrass which is cut at an inch and a quarter; so the depth of the ball is an inch and a quarter. So that meant we'd have to maintain that with enough of that foliage below the golf ball so the type of shot that could be managed at that could be comfortably managed and not be a pitch shot. But according to what Tim has said, the good players develop a stroke to hit it in the middle of the ball and not go down under the ball. And then going back deeper into the higher cut, then there's different shots that are required and a lot of imagination. That's what he wanted to achieve. If you think in terms of the greens, a golf course superintendent always has to worry about what are going to be the conditions of the greens when the major is over, because two days after this event is over, okay, the members are going to be out here, and they want me to maintain this golf course just like Tim has specified to me for another week. So, we've been working at the culture program to get the maximum results that we can achieve from our various heights of cut and the conditioning of our greens. And it isn't something you do just like that. You have to have a plan and you go at it day by day, and you make the necessary adjustments. And Tim has been great to work with, and Kendra Graham, it has been a real pleasure to work with her. And they understand the problems that I can have if I put too much stress on it, because when you leave, I want people that are going to be in here in the next month, because they are all going to want to play a U.S. Open golf course. So, I have to be able to provide that, and I'm not going to be able to provide it quite as fast as they want. Who would imagine that here we would have October temperatures in July? I mean, it's a blessing in disguise, it really was. If you all look back to the past three months, we've had 25 inches of rain, for three months, and we normally get 38 for the year. So, if we had continued at that pace for the rest of the year, we'd have 100 inches, and they don't get that much down in the monsoon country. So, last Sunday my wife ordered Chinese, okay. And I couldn't believe it. When I got my fortune cookie I said, "I'm not going to look at it until tomorrow morning, because I don't want any bad news." So, the next morning, of course, you know how the golf crew, we have to get up early and get started, because Tim Moraghan is going to be out here running down these fairways at 5:00, seeing how everything is progressing. So, it was 3:30 and I got the nerve to open the fortune cookie. I pulled it apart and I looked at it and I could not believe my eyes. It says: "Sunshine is straight ahead." (Laughter.) So I have the most fancy equipment in the world, just like meteorologists have, the USGA has provided me with fantastic equipment to be able to look at the weather that's coming across the region. And, so when I opened that fortune cookie, I thought, "The weather is going to change." So that's been kind of my meteorology class for the week. You can see how firm it has gotten. It's just amazing how quickly it dried out. Just a couple of more things. This golf course, we have not had to water the fairways this year. Now, we've done things to them to enhance the penetration, but the greens, the only time we've had to water those is when we're putting on fertilizer, and last night was the first time we watered them in a couple of months. Can you believe that? That's just amazing. But you see, that's a reflection that goes back to credit the club. And I've got to brag about our greens. They are true USGA profile greens. What that means is they are built from the top down, through the gravel layer, through that layer to the gravel to the drainage system, and these greens can drain water. I see my good friend, Lenny. He knows how important drainage is. When I came in, he told me he thought he was going to see me in boots and a rain suit, because wherever I've gone, it's always followed me. But finally, we're going to have sunshine for the U.S. Open. And I've got from a friend that's a meteorologist. He told me that there's a slight chance of a shower on Thursday. So, Friday, Saturday and Sunday look marvelous. So, I'm real happy to have the good Lord watching over us with that nice, bright moon up there.

OSCAR MILES: I think they would be very similar to what they are now because of the work we've been doing since last fall. To give you an example, to think in terms of the conditioning of the surface, it's real important that we maintain the integrity of that soil profile for water, gas, air, and nutrients. So, we have a plan, and we've developed our plan to get things done at certain times of the year, with anticipation that we were going to have 90-degree temperatures. The past two years, for a two-week period just like we have right now, we stressed our greens to see how far we could push them. So, I learned what my limitations would be, okay; so I conveyed that to Tim. He knows which greens we have to watch and which ones we have to baby through certain times of the year. It's just not something that all of the sudden we're getting ready for the U.S. Open.

TIM MORAGHAN: I think what you had mentioned earlier is something that all of you -- everybody that writes about the preparation of a golf course should be aware of. It's very simple to say that the weather is in our favor, and it makes it appear that the effort put forth is no big deal. And this has been, I think a long-time issue with the golf course superintendent industry, in that these are people that work constantly. At Pebble Beach, after the fog delay, that grounds crew worked throughout the night; I don't know how many people worked with heavy equipment with in the dark. This is not noticed. This is not written about and it's not talked about. It's always, "Oh, they had a great week of weather." Well, I think that's pretty much an unfair slam on the industry, and I think it's -- and I don't really like it. This is a difficult job. It's just not throw a little water out there, a little fertilizer, get a couple of mowers and cut some grass. The media needs to realize that, and though we are having fortunate temperatures, it's a big issue.

TIM MORAGHAN: Well, Jerry, I think if you realize, we try to play the golf course as the architect intended it to be played. And as I said earlier, I think we're not blinded to the fact that the players are better, male and female are stronger. They spend more time working on their game. I think equipment is better and the condition of the golf course is better. Here, we have the opportunity, due to the condition that Oscar put forth in having true U.S. Open conditions with a golf course that's hard and fast to add some length to hopefully put the driver in the player's hand, put a long iron into a putting green, you know, and let them have at it. The golf course lends itself to adding length, and I think we did that, and I think it's not going to favor the longer hitter. I think it's going to favor everybody, but it's going to put the best player's ability on display, and I think that's why we did that.

TIM MORAGHAN: Well, that's true. I think it's the same case as St. Andrews this week, where they are saying the fairways are harder and faster than the putting greens. You have look at this golf course, and there are a number of holes, 1, 2, 6, 8, 10, that are downhill. That adds to the fact that we can go back and add length to the golf course, and there are just as good holes if you go uphill where we have shortened the golf course. We are going to play it to its strength, just as Ed Oldfield had a good knowledge of playing the game and putting forth in this design.

TIM MORAGHAN: Correct. That's not -- it's not like we've never done that before. If you want to break down our championships, first off, you have to remember, we're the United States Golf Association, and we are here for two things: To conduct championships and the Rules of Golf. We would like to bring our game, our nation's game to as many places in this country as we can, and if there's an opportunity to go to Maine, to Illinois to Florida, to Utah, to wherever, this is the United States Golf Association. We're trying to spread our message that golf is a great game, there are great people involved. We want to get juniors involved. Spread the word and spread the message. Coming to a new golf course, our championship committee will review all invitations, and a club like the Merit Club here had everything we could ask for in a site. We don't care if it's new or old. It met the qualifications for quality of design, turfgrass, conditioning, quality people running the club, a willing membership, a major metropolitan area, hotels, airport, easy access, and an interesting Chicago community which is a great golf community. So, it's passed all those criteria; so I think it was pretty much a slam dunk to come to the Merit Club, not because it's a new club, but it's a worthy club in a great area and has all of the fine people to put the championship on.

TIM MORAGHAN: I think you're going to see that opportunity on any of our championships, if the player doesn't hit the correct shot. If you look at the 1st hole here, it's a dogleg-left downhill; if you don't draw the ball off the first tee, the chances are you may run through the fairway because the fairway pitches -- the hole goes left, but the fairway pitches right. Another opportunity is on 16, where the fairway goes -- the hole goes to the right and the fairway pitches left. You're asking the player to hit golf shots. I don't see where there's going to be a number of holes, maybe 18, but again, that's going uphill. I think these are the best players in the planet, and they can figure out what they have to do and where they have to hit the ball.

OSCAR MILES: This is a plug out of the greens, okay. What it does is illustrates the profile that we have to work with to maintain that little, bitty thin layering across the top. The roots are the central part. You see them hanging out of the bottom of the sand that we use. And if you measure the height of that, that is about sixty-five thousandths of an inch. It's just amazing that we have today the plant community that can take that height of cut. You see, we actually cut it one-hundred-thirty thousandths, but with the rollers going across the green, it goes into the surface layer, and what you have remaining is about half that height. So, that's the height of grass we have to maintain so that we can provide them with good playing conditions now, consistent, and the greens are improving every day. As far as the speed and the smoothness of them, we had a plan that they were going to gradually get to today, okay, and then they would peak today and we'd try to maintain them through that speed and smoothness for the championship. Isn't that right, Tim? We didn't want to give them any big surprises. So when they come in Monday, they would find that the golf course is in very good condition, but you can't stress the greens that early, to get them to championship speeds. So what we try to do is to see the speed come up two-and-a-half percent a day, and four days ago, we reached our objective on the speed. And so for the next four days, our plans were to increase it another 10 percent, and get them to the speed that Tim and Kendra required.

TIM MORAGHAN: I would say 11 and a half would be a safe estimate of the green speed.

TIM MORAGHAN: You know, you base green speed on event being played, turfgrass on putting surface and the design of the putting greens. There is significant movement on these putting greens. But I feel, you know, after a couple hundred events that, perhaps, we can be safe in challenging that 11-and-a-half-foot range, where it's a challenge; it's not an embarrassment. It's easy to embarrass the players, and I don't want to do that.

TIM MORAGHAN: I think if I look in the history, because of the position that this championship is played during the season, the thunderstorm rain does play an integral part of the championship. We have had speeds, for example at Oakmont in '92 in excess of 11 feet, which is kind of Oakmont's M.O., which there's nothing wrong with that. We did have quality speeds in '93 at Crooked Stick; '94 at Indianwood. The Broadmoor was exceptional. We had the opportunity to prepare good green speed for good, undulating greens. So this is not anything new. And last year, unfortunately at Old Waverly, we had three inches of rain on Wednesday afternoon, which really took our championship conditions right out the window. The greens were exceptionally smooth and we had decent speeds, and with the amount of rain we had Wednesday afternoon, they went not only from being a smooth putting surface to being a very receptive putting surface. And I think if you give the Open competitor a receptive, true putting surface, it's going to be, "look out," I don't care who it is.

End of FastScripts….