The 125th U.S. Open will begin in less than 24 hours. The grounds crew is planning for any and every possibility as Pennsylvania’s ever-changing weather plays a huge factor in the tournament.
When it comes to golf, the weather is always in play.
“Oh, wind, wind is the great equalizer,” said Darin Bevard, Senior Director of Championship Agronomy for the USGA. “Wind makes every golf course seem like it’s firm and fast.”
At Oakmont, they are ready for whatever Mother Nature blows in.
“You know, you deal with weather as it comes,” said Bevard.
More than a foot of rain has rolled in the last two and a half months for a soggy start to the U.S. Open.
“You never know exactly how much you’re going to get rain-wise,” said Bevard.
Years of work and a maintenance team of nearly 200 took part of the past and blended it with new technology to get the course ready.
“Certainly they’re putting greens while they are essentially original greens with, you know, some modifications to them over time. They’re the original soul-based greens that were built here but they’ve actually installed internal drainage in them retroactively which has a huge impact on moving water off them,” said Bevard.
A big reason the weather is a key part of the strategy when it comes to competitive play is using precise pin placement.
“Course is a little bit, you know, more receptive after rain. You can get closer to the edges of the greens and that type of stuff and it still be a fair test, whereas, you know, [if] the ball hits and rolls off the green...we don’t want a good shot to wind up that way,” said Bevard.
The crews work hard to make their course is able to help the USGA identify the best golfers in the world.
“Oakmont manages things at pretty much the highest level on a regular basis,” Bevard said.
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