The US Open is Rough Explained: Why Los Angeles Country Club Has Insanely Thick Bermuda Grass
However, you cannot control Mother Nature. Despite the best efforts of tournament organisers, this shining green oasis could offer some surprises for the world’s best golfers.
Every part of the course’s golden meadows has been deliberately designed. This includes rough terrain characterized by horrific Bermuda grass.
It’s a device that hasn’t been particularly common on the PGA Tour circuit in years past. But with its massive stems and limbs that struggle with the arid conditions of its environment, Bermuda grass is among the most intimidating crops to venture into. However, this could present a tempting offer for tournament organisers. The US Open should always be a challenge. Beanstalk-like rugs can achieve this.
More: Location, distance and course details for Los Angeles Country Club
The strands of green fury are sure to infuriate many stars. Here’s what you need to know ahead of their 2023 US Open foray into the City of Angels.
The US Open is tough at LA Country Club
The field is rough at Los Angeles Country Club, all the fibers coming together to form a haunting expanse of great green carnage. Woolly Bermuda grass. He gets under your skin, cocky as can be. It has a look and feel eerily reminiscent of bamboo stalks. It’s almost hard to get rid of as well.
In this context, Bermuda grass can seem an unusual choice for a greenway alignment. It’s not common, having last been used at the US Open in 2005. But it’s this rarity, and unpredictability, that has made the grass all the more enticing to course planners. The course’s renovation was supervised by Gil Hans, who hoped to make the course perfect, yet disappointing at the same time. $60 million was spent, all with one simple goal: to make Los Angeles Country Club an area worth paying attention to.
It was a directive that flowed into greenness. Regular raw won’t do. Top-shelf imported items were preferred. And since Bermuda grass appreciates scorching environments — it grows best when swirling in a column of dry heat — it seemed ideal for temperate Los Angeles.
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Things did not go as planned in this regard. Los Angeles has been swallowed up by a haze of clouds over the past few months. This did the Bermuda grass no favors. Tournament officials were hoping the green bulbs of goodness would reach 3 1/4 inches in height. Even now, this remains a pipe dream.
Regardless, the tough, untamed conditions should make for a worthy opponent for the participants.
You can’t start a major tournament week without throwing the ball down the field. #US Openpic.twitter.com/ca6djr4UaD
– Golf on CBS ⛳ (GolfonCBS) June 12, 2023
“Even if the rough conditions aren’t that bad, you won’t be able to get enough spin on them,” Collin Morikawa said, per Golf Digest. “So, it has this kind of dry thinness where you can get some jumpers. You might not be able to get through it, but you might see some balls landing 20 yards, or 10 yards over the green, and that in turn is not good either.
