A Few Reflections on the U.S. Open at Winged Foot

 by Ray Keating

The Keating Files – September 18, 2020

 

The U.S. Open arriving at Winged Foot brought back some good memories.

 

During some two decades as a weekly newspaper columnist, I had the good fortune to cover three U.S. Opens. While with Newsday, I wrote about the 2002 U.S. Open played on the Bethpage Black Course at Bethpage State Park on Long Island, and the 2004 tournament at the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton on Long Island. Later, then writing for Long Island Business News, it was the 2009 U.S. Open, once again, at Bethpage Black.

 

However, the first U.S. Open that I attended was during college. It was the 1984 national championship at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York – where this year’s U.S. Open, of course, is being engaged.

 

Matt Carolan and I journeyed up to Westchester County from Long Island early on Sunday morning. My late friend, Matt, and I had become buddies in high school, shared a love of golf, and would later serve as best man at each other’s wedding, as well as writing a newspaper column together for several years. But for that day, it was the final round of the U.S. Open.

 

A few things remain from that day in my otherwise porous memory. First, in retrospect, it was a heck of a lot easier to get tickets to a U.S. Open in 1984 than it would be in later years. Second, after arriving on the grounds, we had access to the famed clubhouse at Winged Foot, and enjoyed breakfast there. That would be unheard of today.

 

Third, I had never seen greens like those at Winged Foot before, and probably never since. The rolling, undulating, slick putting surfaces were completely foreign to a young hacker whose experience at that point had been limited to public courses. I recall watching in amazement as Tom Watson struggled to get the ball in a hole that was cruelly positioned on a side slope.

 

Fourth, even though Matt was always a fan of Greg Norman, and Norman was at the top of the leaderboard, I pushed to follow a different pairing. Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino played together that Sunday, and were not too far off the lead. Even at that point in time, I understood that a Nicklaus-Trevino pairing was history, and needed to be seen. 

 

I told Matt that we had to follow Nicklaus and Trevino because they were two of the all-time greats. On a par-three hole, we waited greenside for the tee shots of the two. They both wound up dumping their balls in the front bunker, and Matt sarcastically said, “Two of the greats?” Both proceeded to play magnificent bunker shots close to the hole, tapping in for pars, and I said, “Yeah, two of the greats.” Matt smiled, and conceded the point.

 

But we eventually wound up following Norman, and watched as he drained an incredibly long putt to save par on the 18^th green to force a playoff. Given those greens, it was incredible. That was when Fuzzy Zoeller famously waved a towel from the fairway in surrender, though we were unable to see him doing so from our position. 

 

Alas, we didn’t see the 18-hole playoff the next day in person, but it would be Zoeller who prevailed in the end over Norman. 

 

Whether watching or playing, golf ranks as a great game. The 1984 U.S. Open turned out to be a wonderful experience and memory with my great friend, Matt Carolan, whom I still miss.

 

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Recent Columns by Ray Keating…

 

“Applaud, Don’t Attack, Robinhood”

 

“Sports Are Back But Americans Aren’t Happy”

 

“Should We Take Our Ball and Go Home When Pro Athletes Disagree with Us?”

 

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Ray Keating is a columnist, novelist, economist, podcaster and entrepreneur.  You can order his new book Behind Enemy Lines: Conservative Communiques from Left-Wing New York  from Amazon or signed books  at RayKeatingOnline.com. His other recent nonfiction book is Free Trade Rocks! 10 Points on International Trade Everyone Should Know. The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?

 

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