USA TODAY International Edition
Buzz building for Winged Foot’s delayed US Open
MAMARONECK, N. Y. – The devilish greens were immaculate. The gnarly rough that frames the West Course at Winged Foot Golf Club was ankle high, soaked in sunshine and gently bending in the breeze.
Parking wasn’t an issue.
The 120th U. S. Open was supposed to begin here Thursday, but the COVID- 19 pandemic forced the championship to be postponed. It’s now scheduled to be contested Sept. 17- 20, leaving the tees open to members who have been changing shoes in the parking lot in record numbers.
Normal is a long way off, but the buzz is beginning to rebuild.
“Winged Foot looks as good as it’s looked … ever,” club president Brendan Boyle said Wednesday. “It would have been a terrific week to have the U. S. Open. The only solace is the members get to use both courses under these wonderful conditions. As luck would have it, this would’ve been a perfect week from a weather point of view.”
The USGA continues to monitor the latest coronavirus metrics and began to breathe easier this month when the numbers began to build positive momentum. Optimism increased Tuesday when Gov. Andrew Cuomo approved the U. S. Tennis Association’s plan for the U. S. Open in Flushing Meadows.
Fans will not be a part of that championship, however.
“I think we feel that time is on our side a little bit,” said John Bodenhamer, who is the USGA’s senior managing director of championships. “Dealing with the uncertainty is the most difficult part of this. … You look at the metrics in the state and Westchester County and New
York City, they are trending positively. That’s good, not just for the U. S. Open, but for everyone who lives in that region. We do feel this momentum is building in a positive way, so we’re cautiously optimistic. We’re very cognizant of what’s most important and we will do what we are permitted to do under the guidelines of the state of New York.” A contingency plan is being finalized. “We’ve been very fortunate to be able to have conversations with Gov. Cuomo’s office and the committee that is in charge of reopening the state,” Boyle said. “On top of that, we have a few members in the medical profession, including one who is an adviser to Gov. Cuomo on health issues and the whole COVID- 19 experience, so we’ve had a lot of very good intelligence here. I think we have a high degree of confidence the Open will take place ( here) in the middle of September.”
An old- school approach
The physical scale of this championship is in the hands of state and local officials, who have not weighed in yet on whether fans will be allowed.
“We basically have three scenarios,” Bodenhamer said. “The baseline is no fans. We hope we don’t have to do that, but we’re prepared if the state says that is the way we need to play. That would be players and caddies and essential workers. If we get to Scenario 2, that would be some fans, maybe several thousand daily. We hope we can get there and we’re cautiously optimistic we can. Scenario 3 would include even more fans. I can’t give an exact number, but maybe that’s 10,000 or 12,000 fans.”
A typical major draws up to 120,000 fans over the course of a week.
The pandemic forced the USGA to cancel 10 championships along with qualifying for the U. S. Open, U. S. Amateur, U. S. Women’s Open and U. S. Women’s Amateur.
At the organization’s annual meeting this year, Bodenhamer laid out the importance of contesting the U. S. Open, which generates some $ 165 million for the USGA. That is three- quarters of the organization’s revenue for the year. All of the $ 70 million in profits fund the other championships along with growthe- game initiatives and the USGA Green Section, which provides guidance for the care of 14,000 courses nationwide.
The decision to carry on without qualifiers has inspired a fair amount of blowback.
“We felt it was our best path forward, all things considered,” Bodenhamer said. “The openness of our championships is a longstanding tradition. It’s part of our DNA. This is a one- off solution. We’re not quite to the finish line yet with what the field will be. We’re looking at the data to see what the last two U. S. Opens have looked like … so that in September when we have a U. S. Open field it will be pretty close to what it might’ve looked like with qualifying.”
The field is traditionally 156 players but this year will be pared to 144 entrants. “It’s a decision that was made due to daylight considerations,” Bodenhamer said.
There is no rush to begin the buildout at Winged Foot because there will be no grandstands, air- conditioned hospitality suites or merchandise pavilion. If the decision is made to allow fans, there will be outdoor areas for concessions.
“It may look like 1929 or 1959 if we’re lucky enough to get some members and fans along the rope lines,” Boyle said.
Right now, aside from temperature scans, the club is very much in throwback mode.
“It will be different,” Boyle said. “It will highlight the course more than it’s ever been highlighted. The negatives are that you lose the energy of a live crowd, which is important in any sport, but especially in golf, and we don’t get to showcase our wonderful club to 30,000 or 40,000 people a day, which is something we like to do.”
For the USGA, crowning a champion at Winged Foot would immediately overshadow all of the scrambling that’s been required to keep the Open here.
“When you think about it, this is an opportunity,” Bodenhamer said. “Winged Foot is close to New Rochelle in Westchester County, which has been in the epicenter. Wouldn’t that be an inspirational thing, in the epicenter of the virus in our country, playing the U. S. Open and crowning a champion in what’s been an amazing year? We think it would be huge for the game of golf, huge for sports in general and most importantly, huge for the state of New York.”