Oakmont's 8th: A drive, not a 5 (iron): Bomb & Gouge: Golf Digest

Oakmont's 8th: A drive, not a 5 (iron)

Wednesday, May 23, 2007 Comments

GOUGE: A 5-iron. Let me repeat that: A 5-iron. That is what Jack Nicklaus believes some players will hit into the 8th green at Oakmont for this year's U.S. Open. For those who haven't fully checked in yet, the 8th hole will play or has the potential of playing 288 yards. Jack Nicklaus said he thinks 5-iron could be the club some players use this year from that tee marker. First of all, I don't care if they play the hole with a chipper, a baseball bat or a Coke bottle and the field average on the par-3 is 1.087. But Jack is off his meds if he thinks the prevailing club of choice will be 5-iron.

But let's forget that argument because I'm sure Bomb can back me up about how unlikely the field will be firing 5-irons nearly 300 yards. Let's talk about a fair test, and the fact is in this day and age for these players, a 288-yard par 3 is well within reason, no more unrealistic than a 500-yard par 4. If you can't hit it 280 and straight, you're having a tough time making it on the Champions Tour, let alone the PGA Tour, let alone the toughest major of them all. But go ahead, make them all hit 5-irons. And there will be another 5 that will be part of the 8th hole's equation, and that's as in a stroke average of about 5, too.

BOMB: Can Jack Nicklaus be more of a curmudgeon? Seriously. I mean, the man, arguably, knew how to swing the sticks better than anyone. But now he’s simply the king of hyperbole on matters relating to distance. In fact, anyone thinking the club of choice is going to be a 5-iron might enjoy this CD.

But have your back I do. Let me get this straight. A 5-iron? The numeral 5? FIVE????? When Tiger Woods played there last month the number was 3. As in Three. Wood. Geoff Ogilvy responded to a question about the hole by saying, “We don't have driver or 3-wood par 3s, so it's going to be interesting to see how that's going to shape up.” But perhaps the most interesting comments were made by USGA setup man Mike Davis, who I think probably knows a thing or two about what club these boys might be pulling from the bag.

Said Davis, “We thought this distance would really put, you know, 1-irons, 3-woods, even drivers back in the players hands. If we have a few players that just cannot get it there, so be it, because at the end of the U.S. Open, we're looking for the guy that scores the lowest on 72 holes.”

Woods, Ogilvy and Davis talking about drivers, 3-woods, 1-irons and guys who might not reach it at all. A 5-iron, Jack? Pardon me but I don’t think so.

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I'm as big a fan of Nicklaus as you guys are, but he has really taken a turn for the worst recently with his technology and distance bashing. Isn't this the same guy about whom Bobby Jones stated "He plays a game with which I am not familiar,"? So the guy who basically brought power to the forefront of golf is now the leading voice of dissent where distance is concerned. That's a little hypocritical, in my opinion.

Golf has always been an evolving game. Jack certainly never played with hickory shafts or featheries in his career, and he made the transition to metal heads on drivers and fairway woods (along with graphite shafts) just like the everyone else.

Tournament golf, just like that "friendly" round you and your buddies play, is still about getting the ball into the hole in the fewest number of strokes, be that over 18 holes or 72 (or more). Par is still par, and the guys who chip and putt the best are still the guys who are shooting the lowest scores and winning on a regular basis.

Where's the problem here?

Posted by Bob Locke May 24, 2007 9:04 PM