In the News

Published Wednesday October 5, 2011

Setting up greens at OCC figures to be challenge

By Stu Pospisil
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Omaha Country Club's greens pose a challenge to those who will set up the course for the 2013 U.S. Senior Open golf tournament.

That's the opinion of Jeff Hall, who is the managing director for rules and competition with the sponsoring United States Golf Association.

"You want to get them fast so that the players have complete respect of the greens and that (the greens) are a bit scary,'' Hall said, "but you don't want them so fast that you lose, especially with these greens, some of the unique and interesting hole locations.

"We could get them quite fast and the hole location would be in the same place every day, and that's no good."

Hall and a team of USGA agronomists completed a visit to the country club on Wednesday, one of several site visits that Hall will make in advance of the July 8 to 14, 2013, event that will be the USGA's first championship in Omaha since 1941. It is expected to pump $30 million into the local economy.

Hall had walked and driven around the course that was opened in 1926 and remodeled a few years ago, but this week was his first chance to play it.

"There's a really great set of greens here,'' Hall said. "From a setup standpoint, the putting green complexes will be the star of the show."

Not many more tweaks need to be made to the course, he said. The last major one, which Hall said was of the club's choosing, was enclosing a small stream in the fairway of the 10th hole. The waterway will remain open — and a hazard for golfers — on either side of the fairway.

Crews were covering a new concrete culvert with dirt on Wednesday afternoon.

"We were ready to accept the course as-is,'' Hall said. "We talked about some things on 10, and the club made a decision to proceed with the change on 10. I think it's going to be a great change for the club going forward and certainly for the Senior Open."

While the 10th has normally been played as a par 5, removing the stream as a hazard in the fairway will let the USGA make it a long par-4 hole of close to 500 yards.

"It gives us a more practical driving zone. Whether you're a long hitter or shorter hitter, you have a way to play it,'' Hall said. "We're going to end up with a really solid par-4 out of it."

Hall said the course's topography — its rolling hills caught him by surprise the first time he visited Omaha a couple of years ago — could come into play for the golfers if tournament week weather is up to July's hot and humid standards. Unlike many senior professional tournaments, the Senior Open does not allow competitors or caddies to use riding carts.

"We walked when we played, and it's a good walk,'' he said. "Fitness could be a factor.''

He said the course's new director of greens and grounds, Eric McPherson, "is on the same page" with the USGA on course maintenance.

"I really feel like the club is doing all the right things. It has been a supportive partner in this process,'' Hall said. "The community of Omaha is very supportive. I think we're going to have a very successful Senior Open here."

Courtesy of Omaha.com

USGA Accepts 2,525 Entries for 2011 U.S. Senior Open

June 9, 2011

 

The United States Golf Association has accepted 2,525 entries, including those from 78 players who are already fully exempt into the field, for the 2011 U.S. Senior Open Championship to be played July 28-31 at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. The exempt list includes 13 past champions.

 

Entries were received from 49 states (all except North Dakota) and the District of Columbia. In addition to the USA, entries were received from 17 countries: Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Canada, Colombia, England, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Paraguay, People's Republic of China, Philippines, South Africa, Sweden and Thailand.

 

Gary Davidson of East Prairie, Mo., was the first to submit an application, and the last entry was submitted two seconds before the 5 p.m. EDT deadline on June 8 by Gary Updegraff of Des Moines, Iowa. To be eligible, a player must be at least 50 years old on or before July 28 and must have no higher than a 3.4 Handicap Index, or be a professional.

 

Players who are already fully exempt from qualifying include 2010 champion Bernhard Langer and 12 other past champions, including Brad Bryant (2007), Dale Douglass (1986), Allen Doyle (2005, 2006), Dave Eichelberger (1999), Bruce Fleisher (2001), Fred Funk (2009), Hale Irwin (1998, 2000), Peter Jacobsen (2004), Bruce Lietzke (2003), Graham Marsh (1997), Don Pooley (2002) and Eduardo Romero (2008). All previous Senior Open champions are fully exempt into the field if they file an entry.

 

Places in the 156-player field are also reserved for winners of official PGA Champions Tour events in the weeks remaining before the start of the 2011 U.S. Senior Open. The remainder of the field will be filled through sectional qualifying at 35 sites between June 20 and July 1.