Back
It’s not often that a television series will be renewed for a second season before the first one premieres. But hype can make the people calling the shots behave in unusual ways in order to try to get what they want out of a TV show.
As it turns out, the same principle applies to a certain famous golf course. Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course was announced as the 2023 U.S. Open site way back in 2014. Last October, the United States Golf Association announced that it had also been granted the 2039 U.S. Open, as well as the 2032 U.S. Women’s Open.
That second-look greenlight will have its share of detractors as L.A.C.C.’s first U.S. Open played to mixed reviews from players, media and fans. Luckily, the club and the USGA have 16 years to lean into the things that worked and workshop the things that didn’t.
L.A.C.C. North: an idiosyncratic alt-U.S. Open site
There are a lot of positives to take from L.A.C.C. The course’s inventive bunkering, eclectic greens and chic Beverly Hills setting all helped it pop on TV. The mystery and exclusivity factor were played to full effect as well; aside from the Walker Cup in 2017 (a relative niche event), it had never been on television. The jagged-edged bunkers, smothered in deep-green beards of troublesome fescue rough, stood out against the paler hues of the Bermuda fairways and roughs. The firm turf made for some ugly bounces and the barranca that winds throughout the front nine gathered numerous wayward shots and made for some interesting recoveries and downfalls.
The course also challenged entrenched views of golf hole setup in productive ways. On Friday, both the par-3 7th and 11th holes played longer than 295 yards, while the beguiling short par-4 6th was just 284 yards as the crow flies. On Saturday, the USGA set up the much-hyped par-3 15th hole at just 81 yards, its cup cut on a slim neck of green surrounded by bunkers, and then followed it up with the longest par 4 in major championship history: the 558-yard 16th. This embrace of extremes helps lay golfers see just how varied a golf course can be, which bodes well for not just future championships but everyone’s experience of the game and its architecture.
The course was far from perfect, though. Overall, it fell short of expectations for a U.S. Open test, surrendering two record-breaking rounds of 62 on the first day and that same number of scores of 80-plus all week (Hank Lebioda and Justin Thomas shot 83 and 81, respectively, in Friday’s second round). Wyndham Clark won at 10-under par and 18 players finished the week in red figures. It was less Mad Max: Fury Road and more Rat Race.
In addition to the lingering “June Gloom” marine layer that hung over the course for large stretches of each day and kept greens relatively receptive, L.A.C.C. featured some of the most generous fairways in major history, averaging 43 yards wide. In the current bomb-and-gouge era of 460cc drivers and low-spin, high-velocity golf balls, the best players in the world were able to swing with abandon on most holes.
With a one-shot lead, Wyndham Clark’s final tee shot sliced some 50 yards in the air but nevertheless came to rest safely within the confines of the huge 18th fairway. Clark’s tee shot seemed to wander even farther off-line than Phil Mickelson’s fateful final drive at Winged Foot Golf Club in 2006. Lefty lost that U.S. Open while Clark got off scot-free 17 years later. Was that a sufficient challenge for the final hole of a major championship? Perhaps as a one-off, but given the championship’s historically high value on straight driving, it felt a little unsatisfying.
To their credit, current USGA course setup czar John Bodenhamer and his team resisted the temptation to artificially narrow L.A.C.C.’s fairways and instead let it play as its architect intended. They were willing to set aside some of the U.S. Open's penchant for pain in the name of architectural integrity, and for this they should be lauded. But the fact remains that the course was ultimately more benign than expected, especially on Thursday.
Luckily, help for L.A.C.C. and other great historic courses is on the way. The USGA and R&A intend to rein in hitting distance at the highest levels of the game starting in 2026, which means the next time the U.S. Open comes to Tinseltown, players should be hitting at least a club or two more into every hole, potentially with a ball that spins more. This will encourage better shotmaking and slightly higher scores with more volatility.
In the end, though, L.A.C.C. has an unavoidable measure of inherent vice. Its combination of a relatively easy front nine and long, demanding inward half doesn’t make for thrilling championship drama. The final-day battle between Rory McIlroy and Clark, the eventual champion, was characterizes less by wild swings of fortune than by plodding pars on a course where we were told to expect high scoring variance.
Throughout the weekend, great rounds stalled out when players rolled through the opening 10 holes, only to be knocked back down to Earth coming home. By contrast, Masters Sunday almost always delivers drama because the golf course is structured in the opposite way. Augusta National’s toughest holes come in the first 11, and then from 12 through 16, chaos reigns, with eagles and double-bogeys equally ready to change the complexion of the event.
One feature that must change ahead of 2039 is the crowd situation. This year, only 4,500 tickets per day ended up being available to the general public; the other 17,500 were reserved by corporate partners and L.A.C.C. members and their guests. Fans and players alike were disappointed in what they perceived as a sleepy atmosphere for much of the week. American golf’s national championship deserves a first-rate crowd, and for it to have swept into the heart of the country’s second-biggest city with relatively little accessibility for the common fan represents a significant missed opportunity. With plenty of time before Season 2 at L.A.C.C., fans' expectations will only get higher.
What were your favorite and least-favorite aspects of the 2023. U.S. Open? Sound off in the comments below.
