No Short Answer on Long Holes

Southern Hills Country Club will make history even before Tiger Woods tees off in the U.S. Open.

The classic course that has held its own since Perry Maxwell built it during the Depression is getting longer, with two holes the longest of their kind in the event.

“We’ve pretty much taken it to the limit,” Tom Meeks of the U.S. Golf Association said when asked how much longer Southern Hills could get.

One of those holes is No. 16, which at 491 yards is too long for a par 4 even by USGA guidelines for regular golf courses. It breaks the record set just two years ago at Pinehurst No. 2, where the 16th played 489 yards.

The other is No. 5, which is listed at 642 yards and can be stretched as long as 655 yards, making it the longest par 5 in U.S. Open history. The previous record was 630 yards on two courses--No. 16 at The Olympic Club in 1955, and No. 17 at Baltusrol in 1980 and 1993.

For those who think extra length is “Tiger-proofing” the course, some of the not-so-long hitters figure just the opposite.

“It makes it better for the guys who can really bomb it,” Loren Roberts said. “They start lengthening holes and generally don’t change the shapes and undulations of the greens. Now, you’re hitting longer clubs, and they have a distinct advantage.”

Still, length of the course seems to be the most common solution to combat length off the tee. Tom Purtzer led the PGA Tour in driving distance at 279.6 yards in 1990. A year ago, John Daly was the leader at 301.4 yards.

Phil Mickelson routinely hits his driver over 320 yards. Woods is more about control these days, but he still hits his driver just about as far as he wants.

Is a half-mile par 5 in the future? Is there a limit for how long a course can get?

“I hope there is, because every course we go to now, that’s how they change it,” David Toms said. “They add length. I just don’t know if that’s the thing to do. I would like to see studies as to what that does to the stroke average. Because I’m not sure it does anything.”

Southern Hills will not be the longest U.S. Open course, not even close. Throw in its wonderful balance of short par 4s and its combination of short par 3s and the listed yardage is 6,973 yards. Still, that’s 149 yards longer than it played for the 1994 PGA Championship.

The reason for extra length is easy to explain. Players are stronger, training is more sophisticated, equipment is far superior than it was even seven years ago.

Earlier this year, a scoring record dropped just about every week. Brad Faxon tied a 72-hole course record in Honolulu, Joe Durant established the 90-hole mark in the desert, and Mark Calcavecchia broke the PGA Tour’s 72-hole record in Phoenix that had stood for 46 years.

As a result, courses are getting longer, although that hasn’t led to higher scores.

Along with growing rough, Augusta National pushed two tees back some 25 yards in 1998 after Mark O’Meara won at 279. Jose Maria Olazabal, a short and crooked driver, won the next year at 278.

Even the Old Course at St. Andrews joined the trend, adding 182 yards for the 2000 British Open. With relatively calm weather, Woods won at 19-under 269, the lowest score in relation to par in major championship history.

Nick Price, who won the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in 1994, doesn’t believe additional length has any bearing on scoring. He blames new drivers, which are so forgiving that a skill like ball-striking--and Price was one of the best--is becoming less important.

“The old wooden drivers and early metal drivers had a sweet spot the size of a pea,” Price said. “These things have got a sweet spot the size of a peach. A lot of this equipment has made the mediocre players a lot better than they’re capable of playing.”

As Meeks gave a rundown of the changes at Southern Hills, he mentioned an extra 10 yards off the tee on five additional holes, plus about 20 yards on the 18th hole, already one of the toughest closing holes in major championship golf.

“We’ve taken one of the hardest finishing holes for a U.S. Open golf course and make it harder,” he said.

Woods, Mickelson and the other big hitters ultimately will determine just how much tougher it really is.