SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. -- The United States Golf Association is taking extreme measures to make sure playing conditions during the 126th U.S. Open don't resemble those of the previous two at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.
During a news conference Wednesday, USGA chief championships officer John Bodenhamer revealed that there will be slower green speeds, hole locations that will take into account unpredictable and strong winds, as well as light watering of the putting surfaces between the morning and afternoon waves during the first two rounds.
"We could brutalize this place the next few days if we wanted to," Bodenhamer said. "That's not what we're about. We really want it to be fair, and we want it to be what Shinnecock Hills has always been. It will be tough enough. We have pulled every lever that we can to make it fair, and I think that's a message we really want to get out there."
In the past two U.S. Opens at Shinnecock Hills in 2004 and 2018, some golfers accused the USGA of losing the course, especially on the weekend when players struggled to keep their balls on baked-out greens.
In 2004, 28 golfers couldn't break 80 on Sunday, and the average score was 78.7. In 2018, Phil Mickelson infamously swatted his moving ball out of frustration on the 13th green and was docked a two-stroke penalty.
Bodenhamer said the USGA "learned a great deal from 2018" and has attempted to ease in tough playing conditions, instead of trying to prepare the Shinnecock Hills course for "seven or eight days straight of a U.S. Open experience."
"We see the firmness and the speeds come to us by Wednesday and Thursday, and by the weekend we would crescendo into what a U.S. Open has always been," Bodenhamer said. "We think that because that's what the players have told us. That's their expectation."
The USGA is aiming for speeds of about 10.5 on a Stimpmeter on the poa annua putting greens, instead of speeds of 11.5 to 12.0 that Bodenhamer had hoped for.
It's the first time that green speeds will be in the 10s during a U.S. Open since Corey Pavin won his only major championship in the 100th edition at Shinnecock Hills in 1995
"We know that hurt for him to say, but that was a good move," USGA CEO Mike Whan said during the news conference.
In another atypical decision, the USGA moved up morning tee times by 10 minutes to leave more time between the morning and afternoon waves of golfers. That was designed to give the USGA about 30 minutes between the waves to lightly water the greens, a process that Bodenhamer called "syringing."
Bodenhamer compared it to a grocery store lightly watering lettuce in the produce section.
Lightly watering the greens during the afternoon is standard practice at Shinnecock Hills, which was built on sandy soil near the coast of Long Island.
"I have never seen a place like Shinnecock Hills when you get those drying conditions," Bodenhamer said. "This place just dries down like nowhere else I've ever experienced, and we need to watch it and be very careful."
The USGA is taking every precaution it can because weather forecasts predict sustained winds of 12 to 24 mph with potential gusts of more than 40 mph Thursday. The strong winds could last from about 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday.
"When we start to talk about numbers in the mid-30s [mph], that becomes problematic in a number of ways," Bodenhamer said. "Golf balls just staying still on the putting green."
Winds aren't expected to be quite as strong Friday with gusts in the upper 20s mph. Winds are expected to change direction to the west/northwest Saturday, which creates another set of challenges.
When the leaders are on the course Saturday afternoon, there might be sustained winds in the low to mid-20s and gusts up to 33 mph.
"When they're south/southwest, they blow up from front to back many of these greens, particularly the more severe greens," Bodenhamer said. "On Saturday, some of them with a north and northwest wind blow from back to front, and we are concerned about that."
Bodenhamer said the USGA took wind direction into account while planning how to set up the course.
Golfers were notified of the USGA's plans in an email earlier this week.
"The golf course is definitely a lot softer," said Brooks Koepka, who won the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock with a 72-hole score of 1 over. "Greens are definitely slower than I remember. I'm not saying they're slow, but it's a lot different than what I remember as far as firmness. They can do what they want with the golf course. They can make it firm pretty easily if they like."
