WEBVTT - John Bodenhamer on Setting Up the 2020 U.S. Open 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:04.160 Welcome back to another edition of the Frida Egg Podcast. 0:00:04.480 --> 0:00:08.240 Today's episode is brought to you by our friends at 0:00:08.240 --> 0:00:12.559 b Draddy. The US Open is here and uh definitely 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:16.160 worthwhile going over and checking out bradty dot com. They 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:20.639 have released a limited edition heritage logo. It is a 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:25.120 really neat logo. It's a wingfoot US Open logo. It's 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:30.080 got the iconic Wingfoot logo in a ring around it 0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:33.120 with the years that has hosted US opens. 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:35.240 It's really neat. I'm wearing it right now. 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:38.000 It is a great way to own a little piece 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:42.879 of US Open history and it is available on a 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:46.360 few items at bdraddy dot com like the Liam Polo, 0:00:46.800 --> 0:00:50.199 the Russell Quarter Zip. That item is awesome, especially with 0:00:50.280 --> 0:00:53.000 fall around the corner. It's like your favorite hoodie but 0:00:53.520 --> 0:00:56.440 dressed up, extremely comfortable you can wear in any kind 0:00:56.440 --> 0:00:59.640 of setting. And then also the Willie Kruneck tee. So 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:02.520 you can pick up one of these at bdradty dot 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:05.920 com and be sure to check them out. Today's episode 0:01:06.040 --> 0:01:10.200 is with John Bodenhammer. John is the senior Managing Director 0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:14.360 of Championships for the USGA. He came on the podcast 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:17.800 during the quarantine. If you remember back to them, but 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:21.480 we barely talked about Wingfoot in that episode, so I 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:23.559 wanted to have a back on and we get into 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:27.360 the nitty gritty on setup, what to expect at Wingfoot, 0:01:27.440 --> 0:01:30.240 how they go about the process of picking pins, all 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:33.360 sorts of good stuff. As a reminder, we have a 0:01:33.400 --> 0:01:36.759 ton of Wingfoot coverage. We had Neil Reagan, the club 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:40.880 historian on Jeff Ogilvie, the two thousand and six champion, 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:44.360 was on last week on the podcast, and then later 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:47.840 this week we will have a fried Egg story produced 0:01:47.840 --> 0:01:51.000 by Garrett Morrison and that will be on the seventy 0:01:51.040 --> 0:01:55.960 four US Open at Wingfoot the Massacre Really cool podcast. 0:01:56.600 --> 0:02:00.440 I've read the script and that should be out Tuesday. Oh, 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:03.480 we've got you covered here and then if you if 0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:06.760 you haven't yet subscribed our newsletter at the Friday Egg 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:09.799 dot com and you will not miss any of our 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:13.960 written content on the US Open. So, without further ado, 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:17.320 here is John Bodenhammer. I miss a green, for example, 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:19.840 I'm already upset when I find my ball in the bunker, 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:20.800 I'm really upset. 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:22.800 And when I find my ball in a brid egg 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:26.480 Friday Egg, the Dreaded Frida Egg Frida egg, Frida egg egg, 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:27.560 fridagg bride egg. 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:27.760 Lie. 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:29.960 I'm about ready to run off of the hump course. 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:42.400 John. It's it's US Open week. We're you're back. 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:45.840 We're excited to be back. You know, there was a 0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:47.880 time a few months ago we weren't thought. We didn't 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:50.359 think we or I should say, we weren't sure that 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:55.239 we were going to play anything this year. And uh, 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:58.080 you know it was it was just, oh, I guess 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:01.960 back March thirteenth, sitting in our Merian conference froom at 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:05.080 Golf House when the world began to shut down, and 0:03:05.200 --> 0:03:07.519 really just wondering what the rest of the year would 0:03:07.560 --> 0:03:12.400 unfold as being and that uncertainty and the unknown was 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:15.200 really hard, and we've had to navigate a tough journey. 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:16.680 But I'll tell you what, it feels good to be 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:20.359 here just a few days before and on the eve 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:23.000 of the US Open one hundred and twenty thus open 0:03:23.000 --> 0:03:24.640 at wing Foot. It feels really good. We're exciting. 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:25.760 Yeah. 0:03:26.040 --> 0:03:28.839 I mean, I guess one of the byproducts of it 0:03:28.919 --> 0:03:33.919 is from agronomic standpoint, you can't beat September in New York. 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:40.200 You know, we always felt that way, and it's proving true. 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:43.760 Knock on wood that the weather this week will remain 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:49.640 dry and relatively warm, a little cooler in the weekends, 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:52.640 some cool nights heading towards later this week, it looks like. 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:56.280 But it's going to be a beautiful week in the Northeast. 0:03:56.480 --> 0:03:59.760 And you know the club, Wingfoot Golf Clubs in a 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:03.640 Magne some job coming through a very hot summer, very 0:04:03.680 --> 0:04:06.560 busy membership to play. I was out on the course 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:09.440 a lot, but Steve Ravenue to the golf course superintendent. 0:04:11.320 --> 0:04:13.920 Members have told me countless times this place has never 0:04:13.960 --> 0:04:16.920 looked better. It's just in fantastic condition. 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:22.680 With that, Is there anything given the benefits obviously, the 0:04:22.680 --> 0:04:26.880 cooler nights, the cooler days, less time for the grass 0:04:26.920 --> 0:04:30.960 to grow, obviously, the poe greens, and you know versus June, 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:33.640 where you have the long days, it can get really 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:37.440 hot and you know there isn't that much growing time beforehand. 0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:41.160 Is there anything from a setup standpoint that this allows 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:44.240 you guys to do that you wouldn't have been able 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:45.599 to do in June. 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:49.840 Well, we're cautiously optimistic because the answer to that is yes, 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:56.440 if the weather stays where it's currently forecasted, we'll get 0:04:56.480 --> 0:04:58.440 some dryness, won't get a lot of heat. We're gonna 0:04:58.440 --> 0:05:00.600 get a little bit of heat earlier this week and 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:02.800 the rough will and then a little bit of humidity. 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:06.520 And the rough has been growing rapidly here. We've managed 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:10.640 it just as we came in, oh about ten days ago, 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:13.800 and we've been up two weeks previous to that. We 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:16.479 had it right where we wanted. We've been managing it 0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:21.800 ever since, and it is it is. It is a 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:25.599 lush There'll be a premium on accuracy this week, as 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:28.200 we had intended right by the plan. But I think 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:30.159 as we go into the week and we get past 0:05:30.240 --> 0:05:32.920 that little humid spell, we have a little coal front 0:05:32.960 --> 0:05:36.160 moves through, things will cool down. We'll do our last 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:39.360 cuts this week, and then it'll slow down a little 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:42.200 bit and it'll kind of maintain as where we are 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:44.600 going into the weekend. We think that could be a 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:48.960 good outcome for us come this weekend. 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:53.080 Talk about how great it is to not have rain 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:56.800 in the forecast so far, you know, like, what does 0:05:56.920 --> 0:05:59.920 not having any rain in the forecast allow you guys 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:01.520 to do from a setup standpoint. 0:06:01.600 --> 0:06:06.360 It's truly a wonderful question, because you know, a lot 0:06:06.400 --> 0:06:11.760 of people really sometimes don't recognize that, and especially I 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:13.320 think at the USJA, but I think all of the 0:06:13.360 --> 0:06:17.320 majors really endeavor it's great, firm and fast conditions. It's 0:06:17.360 --> 0:06:20.920 what the best players want. They want some bounciness because 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:23.839 the really good ball strikers can control their ball. They 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:25.920 can get it in the fair way, they can control 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:29.640 the spin, they can control the trajectory, the left right 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:34.080 flight of it. And being able to hit onto firm 0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:38.160 fairways and firm greens is you know, the better players 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:42.719 rise to the top. Softness is the great equalizer. You're 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:45.919 just throwing darts. Everybody can do that, but when you 0:06:46.000 --> 0:06:47.840 get you know, everybody can throw it up in the 0:06:47.880 --> 0:06:50.240 air and if it just lands where it lands, everybody 0:06:50.279 --> 0:06:53.800 can do that. But the really great players know and 0:06:53.920 --> 0:06:57.200 have a sixth sense and how they control the ball 0:06:57.240 --> 0:06:59.840 once it hits the ground. They can spin the ball, 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:01.920 they can put the ball where they want it, they 0:07:01.920 --> 0:07:04.520 can keep it below the hole, and when it's firm 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:07.280 that they have an advantage, and then the cream rises 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:09.680 to the top. And I think that's why we've always 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:12.760 tried to do that with the US Open. Endeavored to 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:15.760 create firm and fast conditions because we do believe that 0:07:15.800 --> 0:07:18.960 it does identify the better player because the better ball 0:07:19.000 --> 0:07:22.800 strikers can control their shots on firm and fast conditions. 0:07:23.320 --> 0:07:27.800 Yeah, it magnifies that one groove low miss. It provides 0:07:27.840 --> 0:07:31.000 that little extra bounce. Instead of ten feet, it might 0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:33.440 end up twenty feet away. And you know, you look 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:37.080 at Wingfoot's greens and the difference between a great shot 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:40.360 and an average one is definitely evident. Talk a little 0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:47.400 bit about the greens and obviously these major restoration that 0:07:47.680 --> 0:07:51.600 captured about forty percent more pinnable areas and many of 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:56.560 the greens out there. What did you watch past us 0:07:56.640 --> 0:07:59.760 opens at Wingfoot? And if so, is there a you 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:02.160 know for those that have watched it, are we going 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:04.480 to see some new pens this year thanks to the 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:05.800 enlarged greens? 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:10.440 We are? And yes, I did watch film of every 0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:14.320 single past us open here at Wingfoot from nineteen twenty nine, 0:08:14.520 --> 0:08:18.120 very brief clips of Bob Jones and others all the 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:22.720 way through fifty nine and seventy four, especially seventy four 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:26.120 watch Tailor one. But I watched that final round ten 0:08:26.160 --> 0:08:29.800 times in eighty four and certainly two thousand and six, 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:32.680 about ten times just looking at little nuanced things. What 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:35.760 whole locations were they using, Where were the rough lines, 0:08:35.800 --> 0:08:37.520 what were they doing out of the rough How was 0:08:37.559 --> 0:08:40.440 the ball reacting, How were the putting greens reacting. You know, 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:44.359 we've got a different golf course this time at Wingfoot. 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:49.920 And I say that because a few years ago, about 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:51.880 three years ago, gill Hans came in with the club 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:54.520 and restored and that's the key word. It was a 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:59.480 restoration of Wingfoot to the tilling House design in many ways. 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:02.360 Of the most important ways is the forty miles of 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:05.520 drain tile. I guess about half of that on the 0:09:05.520 --> 0:09:08.880 West course. The East course is just it's fabulous here too, 0:09:09.480 --> 0:09:11.880 by the way, for your listeners that they may not 0:09:11.960 --> 0:09:15.240 know that it's wonderful. We've had women's opens and four 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:19.720 balls and other championships here too. But about twenty plus 0:09:19.760 --> 0:09:22.880 miles of drain tile, the fairways are running firmer even 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:25.839 if it would rain. But these putting greens used to 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:31.400 be these old nineteen twenties vintage push up putting greens 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:34.760 that were pushed up with a clay bass about eighteen 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:37.800 inches down that were designed to hold moisture. That's how 0:09:37.800 --> 0:09:39.600 they kept them alive in the summer because they didn't 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:42.400 have irrigation systems really like we know it today. They 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:45.120 kept the moisture in the putting greens with that clay base. 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:47.040 The moisture would sit on top of that clay base, 0:09:47.440 --> 0:09:49.439 and when you get into really hot dog days of summer, 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:52.760 that would create kind of mushy, kind of you know, 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:58.160 difficult conditions that superintendents today could navigate. True, but it 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:01.520 was a challenge. And three years ago Wingfoot rebuilt their 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:05.840 putting greens, all of them to USJA specifications, sand based, 0:10:06.000 --> 0:10:09.760 installed subair system and so they dried down a little 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:12.720 bit quicker than the otherwise would and we get some 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:17.679 of that moisture out of the subsurface, and we can 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:21.240 with conditions without some rain, we can really control the 0:10:21.320 --> 0:10:24.520 moisture that goes into them and how they react to 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:29.840 will flight into them. Yeah, I'm sorry, I don't answer 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:31.640 the second part of your question. I would say the 0:10:31.679 --> 0:10:36.480 other part of it is Gil and the club reclaimed, 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:42.359 and this often happens with older mintage vintage clubs reclaimed 0:10:42.640 --> 0:10:46.600 A twenty three point eight percent of new or an 0:10:46.840 --> 0:10:50.760 old putting green space that used to be here that 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:55.280 over time with mowing patterns had had shrunk, the great 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:58.720 putting green footprint had shrunk. I can show you heat 0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:01.240 maps were around men the greens on you know, twenty 0:11:01.280 --> 0:11:04.400 to thirty percent bigger, which did give us a number 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:05.839 of new hole locations we didn't have. 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:08.959 In six It's the biggest the greens will be since 0:11:09.080 --> 0:11:10.840 the twenty eight open. 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:15.680 I believe I had to think about that, but that yes, 0:11:15.720 --> 0:11:18.280 and I believe that's got to be true. And I'll 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:21.800 tell you why. It's because they used aerials from the 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:26.000 late twenties circle the late twenties to restore the putting greens, and. 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:30.520 Boy they look like it with the undulating greens. Obviously 0:11:30.520 --> 0:11:33.520 there's a ton of non pinnable areas that will catch 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:34.520 people's eye with the. 0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:37.280 Massive grade slope. 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:40.880 But then you know in the pinnable areas there, you 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:44.120 know it's a you know, more subtle grade where you 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:47.920 know it's less than three percent able to pin What 0:11:48.200 --> 0:11:52.920 do those large unpinnable areas provide you, guys from a 0:11:52.960 --> 0:11:54.400 setup standpoint. 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:57.960 They provide us the opportunity to place holes in areas 0:11:58.640 --> 0:12:01.160 where those that are really rate at reading putting greens 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:04.240 can use their imagination. I'll give you an example one 0:12:04.240 --> 0:12:07.120 of the iconic greens here at Wingfoot is number fifteen. 0:12:08.040 --> 0:12:14.000 When you watch Wingfoot this week, number one and number fifteen, 0:12:14.040 --> 0:12:17.160 And I think everybuddy green on this on this west 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:20.920 course is iconic, but number fifteen is very unique. A 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:23.719 lot of history behind number fifteen. I was out this 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:28.160 morning looking at whole locations with our team and I 0:12:29.200 --> 0:12:31.720 was in the upper back left part of the green 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:35.240 and there was a hole down on the very thing 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:37.920 about this middle of the green, and I could hit 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:41.360 putts in three different directions and get it down to 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:44.040 that hole. Could play it up eight feet right on 0:12:44.080 --> 0:12:46.640 a big feature and bring it down to the hole. 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:50.440 I could play it just about eight or ten inches 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:52.560 right and bring it down to the hole, but with 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:55.000 a little more risk of running past or I could 0:12:55.000 --> 0:12:57.240 play it left or right on another feature and get 0:12:57.240 --> 0:13:01.400 it down to the hole. So you just don't see 0:13:01.400 --> 0:13:05.440 that very often. And that's why I said it's really 0:13:05.520 --> 0:13:08.679 a work of art. It's a masterpiece of tilling Hast 0:13:09.160 --> 0:13:12.600 that was not by chance. Those sorts of things were 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:15.520 done because he had a great eye, and it really 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:17.959 does play to those that know how to read greens, 0:13:18.000 --> 0:13:19.200 it's fabulous. Yeah. 0:13:19.240 --> 0:13:22.319 The obviously the green reading books have. This will be 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:24.880 the first time that players at the US Open will 0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:27.840 have green reading books at Winkfoot. But one of the 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:30.959 things that is unique about these greens is what you 0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:34.240 just hit on is even with the green reading books, 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:37.800 you still have choices on longer putts as to which 0:13:38.440 --> 0:13:40.960 line you want to take. It's not a this is 0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:43.920 the exact line you have to take, sort of proposition 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:46.320 that we see most weeks on tour. 0:13:47.440 --> 0:13:49.719 You're spot on, and I think that's what makes these 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:52.319 putting greens. Everybody will look at them and they the 0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:56.800 rest of the restored putting greens have a geometric shape 0:13:56.840 --> 0:14:00.240 to them. They're more squared off in many way, many 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:05.640 areas where they had really taken on this roundness, but 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:10.480 now they've been restored to this more rectangular shape almost 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:15.680 in many ways. You know, it's true where there's so 0:14:15.800 --> 0:14:23.520 much variety here and the nuances that are here. We 0:14:23.640 --> 0:14:26.720 found spots by looking at the Green reading book, and 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:32.440 we brought three or four members, good players that know 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:35.200 this place, that we know well, that had set this 0:14:35.280 --> 0:14:37.640 golf course for the Anderson, set this golf course up 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:39.760 for the Anderson four Ball, and have found some of 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:42.520 those spots where you swear that ball is breaking two 0:14:42.560 --> 0:14:47.120 inches right to left and it actually goes maybe an 0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:50.240 inch and a half left to rights. But there's a 0:14:50.240 --> 0:14:52.760 little ridge there that you just unless you know this place, 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:55.840 you wouldn't see that is all over. It's fabulous. 0:14:56.440 --> 0:14:59.680 That leads it to the prep that players have to 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:02.880 put in and where it's not a simple Once you 0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:05.480 see it, you know it's not all out in front 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:09.480 of you. It requires a great study of those greens 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:12.720 to fully understand them. I've been out there a couple 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:15.120 of times, and i feel like I'm just scraping the 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:18.240 surface of even you know, having a clue which way 0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:20.400 some putts are going with that. 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:22.600 What what is your. 0:15:22.600 --> 0:15:26.240 Week outside of obviously talking to an idiot like myself, 0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:29.680 What does your week look like this week and what's 0:15:29.680 --> 0:15:33.200 the prep lead up for it in the past couple 0:15:33.240 --> 0:15:36.280 of weeks. What are you guys looking now that we're 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:38.680 a couple of days out from hosting the championship. 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:42.840 Well, we've been up here in recent weeks quite often. Clearly, 0:15:42.880 --> 0:15:46.000 we're up here beginning last summer really to set our 0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:50.320 preliminary plans for June, and so we had to recalibrate 0:15:50.400 --> 0:15:53.920 for September and not knowing what the weather was going 0:15:53.960 --> 0:15:56.040 to bring. You know, we always wait until game time 0:15:56.480 --> 0:15:58.640 and really begin to look at the long term forecast 0:15:58.680 --> 0:16:02.080 about two weeks out. And if we see, you know, 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:05.720 wet weather coming and cool temperatures, we'll think one way. 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:07.880 If we see maybe we've got a chance for some 0:16:08.560 --> 0:16:10.880 for some firmness, we'll think another way. Or if we've 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:13.280 get a little blustery conditions. You know, that's another thing 0:16:13.280 --> 0:16:17.080 about wing foot that we're seeing this week. We may 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:22.480 have two or three shifts in the wind direction. The 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:24.560 way it's looking like now, we may start out of 0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:27.840 with some winds out of the southwest and they'll shift 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:31.160 to the northeast and then back to the north. That's 0:16:31.200 --> 0:16:34.280 been happening all over the last two weeks. We've had 0:16:34.320 --> 0:16:37.160 the golf course play completely differently with the wind coming 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:39.320 out of the south as opposed to the north. And 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:41.160 I think we'll see a little bit of that this week. 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:43.360 We look at all of that. We try to make 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:46.400 our decisions at game time based on what the weather 0:16:46.600 --> 0:16:50.600 and the wind especially will present to us. But I 0:16:50.600 --> 0:16:53.520 think you know, it really really we set our plan. 0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:58.440 We you know, we ask for for certain things from 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:01.480 the golf course superintendent Eeve Ravenue, who is magnificent in 0:17:01.520 --> 0:17:05.840 this team, and they delivered it, and we've come up 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:08.560 and we've made some adjustments that now just a few 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:10.159 days out, as I said, we look like we're going 0:17:10.240 --> 0:17:15.639 to get some firmness, possibly little blustery conditions maybe for 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:18.880 a couple of days, a little cooler temperatures on the weekend. 0:17:20.200 --> 0:17:21.800 And we've got the rough. You know, we had the 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:24.720 rough pretty healthy coming into this. It's easier to grow it, 0:17:24.920 --> 0:17:26.359 or it's easier to cut it than it is to 0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:28.959 grow it. We can control cutting it, we can't control 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:31.280 crewing it. That's mother nature. So we try to have 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:33.240 a little more, a little more to it when we 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:35.240 come in and then we manage it into what we 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:37.640 need based on the weather. And that's worked out well, 0:17:37.680 --> 0:17:41.919 I think. But I think it's really coming out every morning. 0:17:42.640 --> 0:17:44.520 I think a couple of the nuanced things would be. 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:47.800 Now we're out at five point forty five each morning 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:51.120 this week Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and it was this weekend too, 0:17:51.520 --> 0:17:53.359 and that's in the dark, by the way, with two 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:55.880 and a half hours less daylight. We're doing. The first 0:17:55.920 --> 0:17:58.280 two holes is set up under led lights. That's never, 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:00.440 at least in my lifetime, it's never happened with the 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:05.480 US open before maintenance is being done in the dark 0:18:05.640 --> 0:18:07.960 at the beginning of the morning, because our first starting 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:09.959 time is beginning today for practice rounds were at six 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:13.280 fifty and that'll be that's really right as daylight comes 0:18:13.359 --> 0:18:15.600 up and the guys are warming up on the practice 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:18.159 range under led lights in the darkness because we just 0:18:18.240 --> 0:18:21.840 don't have the light. But it's working on fine, it's 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:25.600 it's all, it's all fine. But we'll start at five 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:30.160 forty five and we'll we'll go out and look at everything. Well, 0:18:30.359 --> 0:18:32.200 we'll look at how the green speeds are now ticking 0:18:32.280 --> 0:18:35.960 up a little bit, the firmness is coming down at us, 0:18:36.200 --> 0:18:40.800 and we'll nuance, we'll set our we'll look at the 0:18:40.840 --> 0:18:43.760 nuances around our whole locations and make minor of modifications 0:18:43.800 --> 0:18:46.640 based on the weather. And that's just a constant sort 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:50.919 of refinement and refinement around here with these budding greens. 0:18:51.480 --> 0:18:53.760 It's it's on a daily basis. 0:18:54.480 --> 0:18:57.680 Do you watch any golf while you go out there, 0:18:57.920 --> 0:19:00.240 like during the day, do you watch how shots are react? 0:19:00.680 --> 0:19:03.200 Are there certain things that you're looking for certain holes 0:19:03.200 --> 0:19:05.479 that you're paying closer attention to than others. 0:19:05.600 --> 0:19:11.840 Yes, great question. In two ways. We have several of 0:19:11.880 --> 0:19:14.240 our staff who are part of our setup team out 0:19:14.280 --> 0:19:18.360 watching golf beginning today. The players all began arriving this weekend, 0:19:18.800 --> 0:19:22.040 most all of them will be here today, and so 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:24.600 we've got a team of four that are out on 0:19:24.640 --> 0:19:28.280 a sign holes stay watching golf. How balls are reacting 0:19:29.119 --> 0:19:31.520 into certain fairways that have accunt to them. How firm 0:19:31.560 --> 0:19:34.640 are they are they staying in the fairway? How balls 0:19:34.760 --> 0:19:37.639 coming out of out of the fairway are responding on 0:19:38.040 --> 0:19:40.840 the putting green? Are they hitting and backing up? Are 0:19:40.880 --> 0:19:45.080 they bounce, bounced, check, and trickle out? What happens coming 0:19:45.119 --> 0:19:48.160 out of the rough? What are we seeing that'll inform us. 0:19:48.440 --> 0:19:50.120 In fact, we'll talk about that at what we call 0:19:50.160 --> 0:19:53.200 our two thirty superintendent's meeting in a short time here, 0:19:53.240 --> 0:19:55.680 where we'll go through those notes and hear what the 0:19:55.720 --> 0:19:58.800 staff has seen. I think we're still a day maybe 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:02.080 two away from seeing what championship conditions will be like, 0:20:02.200 --> 0:20:05.360 but we're getting closer, and we do do that. Are adronomus. 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:07.680 We have three of them here. We'll be watching play 0:20:07.720 --> 0:20:11.240 and taking firmness readings on the putting greens multiple times 0:20:11.440 --> 0:20:14.960 during the day and stimpmeter readings both in the morning, 0:20:15.160 --> 0:20:17.959 the afternoon, and the late afternoon. Because what happens, this 0:20:18.040 --> 0:20:21.040 is a misnomer that a lot of folks don't realize, 0:20:21.560 --> 0:20:24.520 is that in the morning when we prep the greens, 0:20:25.359 --> 0:20:28.439 they're cut in their roll and that's and then generally 0:20:28.520 --> 0:20:30.840 there's a small application of water we call it painting 0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:33.359 the green to eliminate wilts in the afternoon if it 0:20:33.359 --> 0:20:37.240 gets windy, but that's the fastest the greens will be 0:20:37.400 --> 0:20:41.080 all day because they continue to grow, and we want 0:20:41.080 --> 0:20:44.240 to know what that bounce back is. We might start 0:20:44.440 --> 0:20:48.800 on a particular putting green at twelve feet seven inches 0:20:49.000 --> 0:20:52.320 and by one o'clock in the afternoon it's twelve feet 0:20:52.680 --> 0:20:57.040 three inches. That's important to know because we know what 0:20:57.080 --> 0:20:58.639 it is in the morning, that's the fastest is going 0:20:58.720 --> 0:21:01.080 to be. But it's bouncing back for inches, that means 0:21:01.080 --> 0:21:03.760 one thing for a whole location. But if it's bouncing 0:21:03.800 --> 0:21:07.800 back a foot, that means another. And generally, after four 0:21:07.880 --> 0:21:09.600 or five days, you get a consistent pattern of that 0:21:10.000 --> 0:21:14.320 and it really informs our whole location work, as does 0:21:14.359 --> 0:21:15.200 the watching. 0:21:15.000 --> 0:21:20.200 Go in a typical US Open year, would you look 0:21:20.240 --> 0:21:23.960 at being on site somewhere the week of or having 0:21:24.040 --> 0:21:26.359 somebody on site the week of a year ahead of 0:21:26.400 --> 0:21:29.639 time to see what that bounce back is like given 0:21:29.960 --> 0:21:33.080 the time of year or two years out, or is 0:21:33.119 --> 0:21:35.760 it all hands on deck at the current venue. 0:21:36.800 --> 0:21:43.200 It's both. We had plans this year to be at 0:21:43.240 --> 0:21:46.760 the at Tory Pines during the I believe it's California 0:21:46.760 --> 0:21:48.879 Ameter that was going to be played there in June, 0:21:49.240 --> 0:21:54.520 and the Southern California Golf Association was going to set 0:21:54.520 --> 0:21:56.639 the golf course in a way that was really going 0:21:56.720 --> 0:21:59.320 to give us some good intel for next US Open. 0:22:00.000 --> 0:22:03.760 Perortunately COVID required that event to be postponed, so we 0:22:03.800 --> 0:22:06.040 didn't get that until but we and we tried to 0:22:06.080 --> 0:22:08.760 do that last year with an event here at Wingfoot 0:22:09.080 --> 0:22:12.359 called the Anderson the Anderson Foreball, where it's set up 0:22:12.359 --> 0:22:15.160 in a really strong way for good players, good mid anders, 0:22:15.800 --> 0:22:19.160 and so we gathered that intel with what was seen there. 0:22:19.200 --> 0:22:21.879