Tinseltown loves big announcements. It’s the US Open at the Los Angeles Country Club, the best course you’ve ever seen.
The club will be a spectacle for the golfing world next week as the US Open will be the city’s first major championship host in 75 years.
Countless Angelenos don’t even know where LACC is, much less its incredible appearance.
Many of the competitors, including 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed, have never played on the famous North Course, but spent the last week walking the holes with the team to gather as much information as possible.
“It’s like an unveiling,” said Gene Sykes, president of the club, which bisects Beverly Hills and Westwood at Wilshire Boulevard. “A lot of people in golf know about it, or have heard of it, but have never been there. It’s kind of mythical.”
Now, myth meets reality as the club opens its doors to the world’s best golfers and tens of thousands of spectators. The first fairway is lined with his two-story corporate chalet, with a traditional, giant white tent for merchandise centers and media, but relatively few grandstands. The goal was to keep the course as tidy and unaltered as possible.
In a time of change and upheaval, with the PGA Tour and LIV Golf announcing a merger, the LACC should provide some level of common ground on all fronts. The North Course is a masterpiece.
But like every US Open, the course has changes that make it even more difficult.
For example, the 1st tee was moved back to the practice putting green in front of the clubhouse to lengthen the par 5 hole.
The opening tee shot sits atop rows of colorful roses and pays tribute to George C. Thomas, who designed the North Course when it opened in 1921. Fellow course architect Gilhans restored the design in his 2010.
“George Thomas was a Rosarian and his passion was growing hybrid roses,” said John Turik, co-chair of the club’s US Open committee with Dick Shortts. . “After designing courses for the region, Bel Air, Riviera, us, etc., he basically retired and devoted the rest of his life to growing roses.”
The course at this major championship is 7,421 yards long and has some oddities, including five par 3 holes ranging from 300 yards depending on pin placement to the 15th at 78 yards, the shortest hole in the U.S. Open. I have. history.
There aren’t many grandstands at the grandstand, but there is one grandstand in a prime location behind the 623-yard 14th hole, where fans can watch the players valiantly 2-on the tricky green. Ideal location.
These seats are also perfect for playing the ultra-short 15th. There, the challenge of getting your tee shot close to the pin is the same as dropping a lob wedge down a chimney.
In the 2013 Pac-12 Championship, Valencia’s California’s Max Houma hit a course record 61 at the LACC, an astounding feat despite pin placement becoming more difficult after day one. He is currently number 7 on the World Golf Rankings.
Patrick Cantlay, who played at UCLA, is ranked 4th and knows the North Course well. Because it is adjacent to his alma mater.
“I’ve probably played it dozens of times,” Cantley said. “It’s a well-played golf course. I saw it — I played it in December, and that the USGA intends to set it up quite differently than how they play each week for their members.” …I’ve heard some players say they think it’s very easy to play.
Much more will be revealed, as will the club itself.
