By Design - Summer 2016

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With the U.S. Open set for June 16-
19, ASGCA Past President Tom
Marzolf participated in a Twitter
chat on June 7, discussing the course at
Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania,
and providing insight on what players
(and spectators) can expect during the
championship. Marzolf and Fazio Golf
Course Design have worked with the course
management team to prepare the facility for
the event. The chat included:
If I’m watching the @usopengolf from
home, what should I focus on to better
enjoy the tournament?
The shot is not over until the ball stops
rolling. Pitch in fairway affects ball; and
contour of greens moves the ball. Players
need to aim in a different direction to where
they want the ball to roll to rest.
Oakmont Country Club has been called
“The toughest golf test in the USA.”
What is it that makes it so difficult?
Oakmont Country Club is the best
maintained, cool-season turf in the world.
Unique green contours are the toughest 18
greens in golf. Oakmont Country Club has
the highest average winning score of any
@usopengolf course. 2016 is the 9th Open
they have hosted, tops in USA.
What is the special quality of No. 8 at
Oakmont Country Club?
The 8th is the longest par 3 in
championship golf, 305 yards. Open
fairway approach allows for roll on the
slight downhill shot.
No. 17 is also noteworthy, isn’t it?
No. 17 is a driveable par 4, uphill at 280-
313 yards. Famous “big mouth” bunker
right of the green is deepest on the course.
The complete Twitter transcript with
Marzolf can be found at
.
DIGEST
Marzolf says Oakmont
ready for U.S. Open
Nemu GC redesign completed
U.S. Open
Redesign
Pascuzzo/Pate Golf Design has
completed a redesign and renovation
project at the Nemu Golf Club in
Shima, Japan.
Significant changes have been made to six
holes, and a new practice range has been
built on the site of what was previously
the course’s tenth hole. To compensate for
the loss of this hole, what was previously
the par five seventeenth hole has been
redesigned to create two separate holes.
Other elements of the project included
the lengthening of the sixteenth hole. The
green on this hole has now been moved
closer to the top of a bluff, and will now
be a par five.
Every bunker across the course was
rebuilt or renovated as part of the project,
as were many of the course’s tees.
Damian Pascuzzo, ASGCA, and
Steve Pate collaborated with Hiromi
Kobayashi—the current chairman of the
JLPGA and a prominent LPGA Tour player
in the US and Japan—for the project.
Richardson leads Mountain
Shadows project
Significant progress is
being made on a project to
reconstruct the golf course at
Mountain Shadows Resort
near Phoenix, Arizona. Forrest
Richardson, ASGCA, is
leading the work, and will
look to reinvigorate Arthur Jack
Snyder’s original design. The
reworked course will measure
just under 2,500 yards and
will play to a par-54.
Todd Eckenrode completes
Orinda CC project
Todd Eckenrode, ASGCA,
of Origins Golf Design, has
completed a restoration and
renovation project at the
Orinda Country Club course
near Oakland, California.
Eckenrode and his team
used images and data from
the Orinda Country Club’s
archives—specifically from
the period during the course’s
construction and opening.
This included a number of
useful aerial photographs of
the site.
New white paper examines
US municipal golf
Andy Staples, ASGCA, has
released Community Links,
a new white paper looking
at ways in which municipal
golf facilities can increase
their use and improve their
financial viability. The white
paper explores Staples’
philosophy and ideas,
as well as the history of
municipal golf in America.
Download the white paper
via:
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Every bunker has been either rebuilt or renovated at
Nemu Golf Club in Japan
Photo: Hiroyuki Okazawa
Photo: Brett Hochstein