Weather Review: To paraphrase the great Seve, “it sunny, it sunny, it sunny, it rainy (but only just a little bit.)” 3.5 days of clear, dry skies and one afternoon of manageable precipitation equals a win for the tournament brass.
Par-Breaker Review: Birdies, not eagles, were the story of 2013. Tyler Pendrith made 25 of them. That’s six per round and usually good enough to win. It was.
Walker Cup Update: Zilch. From this vantage point, neither the amateurs nor the mid-amateurs did anything to help their case this week. We’ll know more after the Western Amateur next week and for sure after the US Amateur the following week.
Golf Course Update: Niagara Falls was in remarkable condition. Fairways were firm enough to punish errant tee balls, yet greens were soft enough to receive properly-played approach shots. The key was putting and not enough putts were made to challenge the winner.
Mike Davis Influence: He’s the USGA executive director and the guy who loves to set up US Open courses. Steve Denn channeled him a bit this week, as he pushed tee decks up to give contestants a chance to go for broke and make up strokes. Bravo for not sticking to the formulaic.
Here’s a gallery of random shots from Saturday. Three more to come after this one, so kick back and enjoy.
