Bretwood grounds crew worker recalls US Open experience

JONAS Maynard left Southampton, N.Y., around 8 p.m. Sunday, while Brooks Koepka was still posing for pictures, US Open trophy clutched tightly, or raised ... and kissed every now and then.

It’s a long slog back to Keene from the eastern-most end of Long Island; in this case, Maynard arrived eight hours later, at 4 a.m. On Monday, he was back to work as part of the grounds crew at Bretwood Golf Course.

The crew will prepare Bretwood this week to host the New England High School Championship on Wednesday, and an N.H. Amateur qualifier Sunday.

But for seven days last week -- seven memorable, fun, albeit long days -Maynard, 28, was part of a team of more than 150 volunteers that helped to make Shinnecock Hills all that it could be for the world’s greatest golfers.

He did a little bit of everything: mowed rough, worked setup for the practice area, rolled greens, replaced tee and fairway divots, and raked bunkers.

“Just about every day there wasn’t a blade of grass on the course that wasn’t touched or manicured,” Maynard said. “We had a small army, and we combed over every inch of the course each day, all 18 holes.”

Koepka made history by becoming the first repeat champion of the USGA’s premiere event in nearly 30 years.

Shinnecock did hold its own, arguably more. Not a single player in the Open field broke par when the dust had settled Sunday in the New York heat. Koepka bogeyed the final hole to finish 1- over par and lock in a one-shot win.

Last year’s Open was something quite the opposite; Koepka’s winning score was 16-under.

But that’s not the result you will ever get at Shinnecock, Maynard said.

Regardless of setup or weather, it’s one of the most difficult courses in the world, he said. “There’s certainly not a firmer golf course; the fairways are rock hard,” he said. “It takes more precision than the average golfer is capable of executing.”

The course is squeezed by the Peconic Bay on one side and the Atlantic on the other, so it can easily fall victim to the elements. That happened during the first three rounds, especially on Saturday, when high winds and a third day of hot weather combined to turn Shinnecock into a meat grinder.

The USGA was heavily criticized -- by the players, media and fans on social media -- for allowing the greens to become treacherous. Veteran player Zach Johnson, who finished earlier Sunday, went on the air and said the USGA had “lost the course,” calling it a shame. Others called it, simply, unfair and not a true test.

Sally Jenkins, a Washington Post writer, described the greens this way: “Then there are those greens, like tilted trays that won’t hold a drink, but spill every martini set down on them.

Maynard said it’s easy to second-guess. “I’d say some of the criticism is not totally justified. (The USGA) wanted to make it difficult, within reason, but it got hot and windy and the greens dried out tremendously. Add some challenging pins, and yes, it got tough. I thought they set it up well Sunday; they slowed the greens and made some accessible pins.

“I don’t mind courses that bite back every now and then. There is nothing that says the winning score of a tournament each week must be 20-under. I think the week worked out pretty much as (the USGA) wanted.”

Indeed, European player Tommy Fleetwood shot a 63, only the eighth player in the event’s history to go that low. He had eight birdies.

Maynard is a native of Maine. He met Derek MacAllister, the North Course Superintendent at Bretwood, a few years ago when they took a certificate class together at UMass. They became friends and MacAllister took him on staff at Bretwood.

At the time, Maynard was working at Sebonack Golf Club CC on Long Island. It happens to sit between Shinnecock and National Golf Links.

They are three of a handful of courses in a small area that could host a U.S. Open at any time, such is their quality, he said. “The expectations are at a crazy level down there,” Maynard said.

He worked at Sebonack for a year and a half, leaving behind a small public course in the Portland area in his home state. “I wanted to see what a multi-million dollar budget could do,” he chuckled.

But it was, too, a highly exclusive setting. He pounced at the Bretwood offer because it offered a lifestyle he is more comfortable with, he said, and because it brought him closer to his real home.

“This was my chance to be part of a U.S. Open crew, I figured,” Maynard said. “It was a lot of work, but a great experience. They housed us, fed us, gave us uniforms and made it a fulfilling experience.”

His only regret, he said, was how the course came across on television. “When I had a chance to see it on TV (when he wasn’t grabbing a quick nap between morning and evening shifts), the greens looked so much browner than they were in person. It’s a disorienting kind of course; on many of the tee boxes there is no vantage point to the fairway, so you have to rely a lot on your imagination. And TV can’t always show that, but it’s what makes Shinnecock unique.”

He called Bretwood a “beautiful piece of property.” He said his focus has shifted to getting its greens dialed in not only for this week’s competitions, but for its members and guests. The course is playing fast and firm too, for all the reasons Shinnecock did, he said.

The Hamptons are eight hours in his rear-view, but his scrapbook is a little more complete, to be sure.