At the conclusion of the third round of the 2011 U.S. Open, Northern Ireland's Rory McElroy is at 14-under-par for the championship — a plateau never before reached in a U.S. Open — and has an eight-shot lead over his nearest competitor. All told, 20 players stand under par heading into the final round.
These are not numbers usually associated with a U.S. Open, the notorious "most rigorous, most difficult, yet fair examination in golf." And as a result, there have been plenty of critical eyes turned toward the championship's host, the Blue Course at Congressional CC.
I have been explaining why Congressional has played the way it's played on this blog all week and, now that I'm home in the Midwest, I've been doing the same with folks who ask me about it here. But thankfully, James "Jimbo" Hayes, the second assistant superintendent on the Blue Course, sent me the information below earlier today which addresses the biggest reason why the layout is yielding these record-breaking scores — the weather:
When was the last time the course saw rain?
This was a common question asked at the start of U.S. Open week. There would have been a long pause, a scratch of the forehead, and a struggle to find the answer. Now on this Saturday morning with two rounds left to play, the story would be very different.
Prior to the week, the last time Congressional saw rain was on the 28th of May. It rained nearly an inch over a two-day period. From then untill now we have seen some of the hottest consecutive temps recorded for the month of June. It came in two waves. The first featured days of 92, 95, 92, 94 and then 94, 95, 92. This two-week period was a very intense time for us. Not only were we finalizing the last few tweaks on the Blue Course, but now we had to worry about heat stress. We couldn't have handled it any better and we got through, with no rain of course, but we got through.
The start of this week brought a change in weather. Cool nighttime temps and moderate days with some cloud cover. It was exactly what we needed at exactly the right time. As we were finalizing the green speeds through the practice rounds we couldn't have been happier.
"A drop in temperature like we are having means there are some fronts coming." Justin Bradbury is our first assistant on the Blue Course, and I remember he and I speaking about this more than once. I guess sometimes you can just watch the forecasts or go by feel. In this case, Justin felt this coming the whole way.
Come late Wednesday night we received just the amount of rain that would set us up nicely for the start of the Championship. It rained around a tenth of an inch. With that and our evening prep on greens a few hours before, we were set for the first round with moisture. Enough for the plant, and we were right where Mike Davis wanted us to be in speed and firmness.
Come late Friday afternoon, the players were pulled off the course and play was suspended. A quick but powerful thunderstorm rolled in leaving us with a quarter of an inch. This just put us on the tipping point with weather. Then while out on the course following the last groups in with our evening setup, play was ceased due to lightening and rounds were not finished.
If this wasn't enough, we entered Saturday with another thunderstorm that popped up out of nowhere right when we headed out onto the course. Yet again we were quickly slammed with another quarter of an inch.
With all the uncontrolled factors mounting against us we have been blessed with one great positive. Our volunteer crew is amazing and has been there for us every step of the way. These storms have caused schedules to be slammed and pushed forward and backwards. It can create a chaotic environment. The best way to get through is patience, humbleness and a go-wht-the-flow attitude. Everyone here has shown true dedication and pride to do their best at everything they do. We cannot thank them enough.
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