‘It’s a gem ... a beautiful course’
What the golfers are saying about Saucon Valley Country Club’s Old Course
A tree-lined road leads to a well-maintained, brick clubhouse at Saucon Valley Country Club. The 60-hole property looks and feels like something from U.S. Opens during the golden age of golf.
That feel is real and why the USGA is back for a record third time for its U.S. Senior Open. Bernhard Langer, who has been playing professionally for 52 years, won 43 times on the PGA Tour Champions and 66 other times across the globe is among those who are here for the first time.
The 64-year-old German is impressed.
“It’s a gem,” he said. “It’s a beautiful golf course. I had never heard of it before even though they’ve had majors here before. But I haven’t spent a lot of time in Pennsylvania besides my son going to Penn the last four years in Philly.”
Langer’s three practice rounds have left him with a clear picture of what it’s going to take to add to his PGA Tour Champions-record 10 major titles.
Hit it straight, produce accurate approach shots and putt well. Simple, right? Hardly.
“It’s 200 yards shorter than maybe the young guys might play it [at a U.S. Open,]” Langer added, “but I would say it’s a very similar setup to what I’ve seen in the U.S. Open.”
“Off the tee you’ve got to hit the fairway because the rough is very punishing. If you hit the fairway, then you’ve got to hit the right quadrant of the green sort of thing to have a hope of birdie. Otherwise, you could end up three-putting, maybe even four-putting.”
Fellow European Tour legend Padraig Harrington was equally impressed to know such a stern test for 72 holes awaits the 50-and-older crowd.
“Coming to this one, it’s a real golf course,” he said. “Yeah, I’m surprised for such a tough test on the Champions Tour. I’m not surprised the USGA has one for the U.S. Seniors, but it’s the toughest test I’ve seen so far on the Champions Tour.”
Other quotes about SVCC
Steven Alker: “Very old school, which I like. Just the rolling fairways and the greens. And even coming
into the clubhouse, just the trees and just the setting, it was great. So I’m looking forward to the week. Kind of up my alley a little bit. There’s going to have to be lots of fairways, lots of greens this week, and have a good short game.”
Jim Furyk: “The defense, the greens are — I mean, Brookline was severe last week [for the U.S. Open], and these really are no easier, no less.”
Ernie Els: “If you can get the ball in the right area on the green, you can have easier first putts. When you get it out of play you’re going to be struggling to get the ball where it needs to be, and that’s where putting becomes a factor again. So it all comes down to getting your whole game to where it should be. You can’t really be struggling with driving too much because that, as I say, is going to get you tough second shots.”
Steve Stricker: “You feel like you’re at the regular U.S. Open. You’ve got great crowds here, a stern test, and it just — it feels legitimate. It doesn’t feel like a Champions Tour event. It feels like the real deal. So it’s great to be here, and so far this week they’ve put on a great show.”
What else they’re saying
Jim Furyk, who shot a PGA Tour-record 58, played Tuesday with longtime friend David Duval, who once shot a 59. The ribbing never ends: “He still thinks his round is better because it was 13-under and mine was only 12, so we’re kind of at a nice standstill. We played a lot of golf together growing up, and when we were on the Korn Ferry and young on the PGA Tour we played a ton of practice rounds together. It’s nice to have him out on the Champions Tour, and we actually get together and play a lot of rounds together now.”
Bernhard Langer is two wins shy of Hale Irwin’s PGA Tour Champions record of 45. His goals are much simpler:
“To just be the best I can be, to play near flawless golf. It’s not going to happen. I’m not a perfectionist. I still make mistakes every day. I hit bad shots or bad putts or make mental errors or misread greens or this or that. There’s always room for improvement, and that’s the goal, to improve myself. If
I can do that, I know I can win championships.”
Steven Alker won four Korn Ferry Tour events and none on the
PGA Tour in two decades. He has four wins in a year on the PGA Tour Champions. What prepared him?: “Working hard on the body just the last 18 months just to get in shape, golf shape. I think just wanting to come out here and play and be amongst these guys and have a second chance.”
Ernie Els on how the U.S. Senior Open will play out:
“There will be a great storyline again coming out this week, you’ll see it. You’ll see some guy who qualified from somewhere who is going to make a run this week, and you’ll get a guy who’s almost 70 years of age who is going to make a run, too.”
Padraig Harrington was always demanding of himself. Not much has changed: “My caddie gave me a bit of a lecture [Tuesday] about being grumpy, which is kind of the way you get when you’re trying to organize yourself before an event that you feel you have a good chance in. You’re kind of trying to get everything perfect before it starts. Those are the sort of feelings I would have had back in the day. You kind of have to manage your expectations.”