NOTEBOOK | U.S. Open

Merion gets 2013 Open: During the technology boom, Merion Golf Club became a symbol of how distance was making some classic courses obsolete. The USGA never bought into that idea. Merion was awarded the 2013 U.S. Open Wednesday, a plan that has been in the works for the last couple of years and was finalized when none of the young bashers could tame the Ardmore, Pa., course last year during the qualifying for the U.S. Amateur. It will be the fifth U.S. Open at Merion, but the first since David Graham won in 1981. The course, designed by Hugh Wilson and opened in 1912, has been lengthened by about 400 yards as it courted another U.S. Open, and the closing five holes are daunting. Merion is best known for the 1930 U.S. Amateur, where Bobby Jones completed his career Grand Slam; and for the 1950 U.S. Open, when Ben Hogan struck that famous pose with a 1-iron from the 18th fairway.
Green speed: The slope on the 18th green at Southern Hills was so severe in the 2001 U.S. Open that officials had to change the mowing pattern to keep it fair, leading to a different speed than the other greens. That will be the case at Winged Foot, but it's by design. The first green is so severely undulating that to keep it at 12 on the Stimpmeter would create problems. "If you've been out to see the first hole, you know that it has a pretty severe slope from back to front," said Jim Hyler, USGA chairman of the championship committee. "We are keeping this green speed a little bit slower than the other green speeds, and we have notified the players of this."
Winged Foot veteran: Rich Beem figures he has played Winged Foot a half-dozen times, and it's one of his favorites. But he's never seen it set up for a major, having not joined the PGA Tour until 1999. Even so, the memories are priceless. "I played a Monday pro-am after I won the Kemper," Beem said. "It was $5,000 to tee it up, and then they gave $25,000 for first place. These friends of mine I was staying with were saying it was going to eat me alive. Sight unseen, I shoot 65." It was a handsome payoff for a corporate day at Winged Foot, and coming off his first PGA Tour victory, Beem was living large. "I was 28, just starting out on tour. How did I look at life? I'm thinking life was pretty good," he said. "I'm in New York City that night with $30,000. And I somehow made it home alive." Beem has good friends who are members at Winged Foot, and he continues to play when he's in town. The next two days, the score will be a little more meaningful for the former PGA champion.
Associated Press
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