"Real" OPEN Tourneys....

[broken27]

Here's a thought... Considering the qualifying process for US Open and other "open" tourneys, wouldn't this be a neat idea to try?

Have the regular system as is, but also open up the field by one foursome, made up of the top four players from the hosting club, amateur ranked.

Only reason I think this would be interesting is because I can't really understand the difference in conditions and whatnot that makes US Opens and other majors so much more difficult. It would be cool to see how the top 4 amateur members from the club would fare from either the tips or handicapped from the normal back tees. They'd be paid a flat appearance fee, with no hope of winning the purse from the get-go, which acts as both incentive and a deterrent. Maybe they'd be offered an exemption for two to five events or something....

Would course savvy beat skill?

Thoughts?

Dan

[mpare]

Innovative idea, Dan. You wanted an assessment of the chances of the host amateurs to fare well at their US Open. Here it is. Obviously, the quality of the amateurs would affect the results. That said, there is no chance, none, nada, nyuet, that these amateurs would play that well. My guess is that they'd be lucky to make the cut. Local knowledge would not save them. The only thing that would assist them is an unlimited of "do overs" as my nephew calls them.

There. That should start something.

[broken27]

I'm not saying they'd win, but if you factored in their handicap, would they outscore the field? If they're scratch from the tips, maybe they've got a chance at a Ricky Barnes round or something... I've played with a guy at Le Dome who apparently would score under par more often than not... If that's the case, would US Open conditioning REALLY take that much out of his game?

I really don't know, so it's more of a discussion statement...

Dan

[mpare]

I appreciate the point about the use of handicaps, Dan. It would be interesting to see how the boys would fare. Keep in mind, though, that the really good amateurs with plus handicaps would most likely have to add strokes on to their score - not deduct them. More than that, once a course is transformed from its normal conditions into its US Open persona, it becomes a beast. That beast is not one with which the amateurs would be familiar. Consider this. At Pinehurst No. 2, the best players in the world had a cut line at +8 and the wind wasn't even blowing!

[broken27]

You most certainly have a valid point Mike, but I'm talking about native advantage. Today, on several occasions they said "made an Aussie shot" about plays out of the rough. That kind of thing... The field seemed to think that a greens fee player stood as good a chance of winning as a PGA pro at both Bethpage and Shinne, which speaks volumes about the conditions being more of an equalizer than anything... Pros missing putts where an amateur misses anyways can also be a big deciding factor...

Dan

[covanant]

It would be a great way to show the public just how good the pros are.

They make it look so easy considering the tee boxes are almost always
moved way back,and pin placement made much harder!
4 guys that have played the course a thousand times would know the course inside out,
but do they have the skill to beat the pros?
I would love to see that!

[mberube]

Our last years club championship, the course was set-up like a “pro” tournament minus the long rough. The greens were lighting fast and the pin placements were unbelievable. I could not play for personal reasons but I played one round at the end of the day when the tourney rounds were done. The greens were soooo fast that they did not play the same way. Course knowledge did not make a difference cause it’s not set-up like you are used to play it. The Pros ability to adjust to deferent conditions on different courses every week is amassing.

Most if not all competitors did not appreciate that the course was set-up this way. They had three days to adjust in pretournament rounds. Still not enough.

Granted that it would be interesting to see the results but unless the top amateurs play in serious amateur tournaments I think they would play well over par factoring their HDCP.

[broken27]

mberube: the pros are playing well over par for the most part, so an amateur may have a chance score-wise... I'm just of the opinion that a club like Pinehurst would have some pretty high calibre amateur members who likely WOULD play in serious amateur tourneys, and combined with their knowledge of the course, might make some noise...

Look at this no-name Gore... Who has him in the pool?

Dan

[el tigre]

mberube: the pros are playing well over par for the most part, so an amateur may have a chance score-wise... I'm just of the opinion that a club like Pinehurst would have some pretty high calibre amateur members who likely WOULD play in serious amateur tourneys, and combined with their knowledge of the course, might make some noise...

A lot of the players in the field were familiar with Pinehurst, and some guy from New Zealand who had never played it before ended up winning. Vijay Singh practically lives at Sawgrass, and he has never won there.

Course knowledge helps, but it is not like anyone is playing the course blind either. The caddies map out all the yardages and contours of the greens, they play at least one practice round and for a major like the US Open many players also play additional practice rounds prior to the event. They know where they are supposed to hit the ball.