The Hartford, Wis., facility will host next year’s event, and closed last week to ensure the golf course looks its best for a worldwide audience, and will reopen for rounds on June 18, 2017. By comparison, Chambers Bay closed to the public in mid-May prior to hosting the 2015 U.S. Open on June 15.
Erin Hills, the Hartford, Wis., site of next year’s U.S. Open, will remain closed for the next eight months in preparation for the event, and will reopen on June 18, 2017, GolfAdvisor reported.
Owner Andy Ziegler has decided to forgo collecting green fees until then. Guy Cipriano of GolfCourseIndustry.com spoke with Ziegler about the move, who said the move is to ensure that the golf course at its very best for the TV cameras and worldwide audience. By comparison, Chambers Bay closed to the public in mid-May prior to hosting the 2015 U.S. Open on June 15th, GolfAdvisor reported.
Certainly, Ziegler is thinking long-term. If Erin Hills shines bright on the world stage, it will vault towards the top of golf’s bucket-list of courses. And Erin Hills will most surely get another major, GolfAdvisor reported.
No doubt, the criticism surrounding the conditions of 2015’s U.S. Open venue, Chambers Bay, might have influenced Ziegler. The course, especially the greens conditions, were panned by players and critics alike, especially after the United States Golf Association prepped the course a little more on the brown side to run hard and fast, GolfAdvisor reported.
Unlike Chambers Bay, Erin Hills isn’t a links course, though it will certainly have that wind-swept look. Getting the course green and pristine with the contrast of the high native grasses surrounding the fescue fairways will give Erin Hills a look like no other course in U.S. Open history. And since the bentgrass greens are elevated and well protected by cavernous bunkers, running shots up to the greens won’t really be an option, so don’t expect the USGA to prep the course like Chambers Bay. Plus, if it’s windy, 8,000-yard Erin Hills will be plenty hard without having to trick up the conditions, GolfAdvisor reported.
Of course, it puts pressure on superintendent Zach Reineking and his crew, but the added time and lack of play also gives them advantages they’ve never had. For example, they don’t have to mow when the ground is wet before play each day. There will be no divots from daily play, bunker maintenance will be much easier, and tasks that might have been hurried in the late fall can now be done in the spring, GolfAdvisor reported.
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