Meeks: Goal Is To Challenge Players At Olympia Fields



Tom Meeks, left, with former USGA President James Hand (1984-85) at the 1993 Walker Cup Match. (USGA Photo Archives)


Tom Meeks, USGA's Senior Director of Rules & Competitions, has been involved in the Association's setup of championship courses since his first U.S. Open at Medinah in 1975. Since 1996 he has primarily concentrated on the course setup for U.S. Opens. In all, Meeks has been involved with more than 130 USGA championships.

The 1999 Indiana Golf Hall of Fame inductee, known for his distinctive southern twang and quick wit, is also active as a Rules of Golf seminar instructor. He became interested in golf the first time he caddied, which was 1953. In the first of two parts, he recently sat down and discussed topics such as the setup of the site of this year's U.S. Open, Olympia Fields, why the front and back nines will be flip-flopped and a prediction on what score may be needed to win.

How is Olympia Fields shaping up?
Meeks: I was involved in the Senior Open when it was held at Olympia Fields in 1997. But I thought Olympia Fields was exciting. I knew they weren't interested in the Open. So when the committee agreed to go there, several of us went back and spent a couple days there. We spent one half day going over the course, then another half day going to the [Olympia Fields] committee and reporting to them what the possibilities were. We gave them a pretty healthy checklist, which they estimated to be about $2 million worth of work. And it was made pretty clear to have an Open, this would be what they'd have to do. This included deepening almost all the bunkers; adding seven or eight new tees; rebuilding a couple of greens, and, personally, I'm very pleased with how they responded and the job they did and how quickly they did it. I can tell you right now, I was there [in November] and it was ready. I just hope the winter was reasonably kind to it.

Another thing they've done is they have deepened all the bunkers. Our request there was that the bunkers are too easy. We need 'em deep. And if you're going to error on whether you're going to get them too deep, go too deep.

How deep? School bus deep?
Meeks: [Laughing] Oh, like deep enough that in some cases you're going to have to jump up just to see the flagstick. There's a great front-left bunker on what will be our second hole that if you get it in there .. [shakes head]

You know, bunkers are a hazard in the rule book, and if they are, let's make them earn their money out of these bunkers.

How long will it play, and rumor has it the nines are going to switched?
Meeks: It'll play around 7,200 yards. We're going to reverse the nines except for the starting holes. In other words, if you start on No. 1, No. 1 will still be No. 1. But instead of going to No. 2, you're going to go to No. 11 and play the back nine. When you finish No. 10, you're going to go to No. 2.

What was the reasoning behind that?
Meeks: The gallery. Getting people around the golf course. I think both nines are equally exciting. I like the golf course. There are good holes on both sides. So it wasn't a matter of holes coming down the stretch, although I will say this: there are some very interesting holes with the way we're going to play the front nine as our back nine.

No. 10 is a mild par 4; No. 11 is a pretty good par 4; No. 12, which is solid, but we had trouble identifying four good hole locations. But then there are two little short holes that are about 340 yards that have neat design aspects to them. Then there is a mild three par, and then we hit them with a pretty good four, a very good three and very good finishing four.

Describe the finishing hole.
Meeks: It's about 460 yards, a par 4. We're playing -- again, what is their No. 11 hole, which remember, we'll play as No. 2 -- we're playing one of the tees on No. 11 for our No. 18, which is their No. 9. So we're taking a tee from another hole to play the final hole. It's a very exciting slight dogleg right, well-bunkered on the right and left, and it's a very difficult driving hole.

If you can get it into the slot -- if you went back to the 1997 Senior Open where Graham Marsh hit it when he won, he hit a perfect drive. The hole definitely calls for a fade to get it into the slot. It's a pretty severe green, which we can certainly find some pretty interesting places to set the holes.

I remember at the Senior Open we used the back left on the Friday or Saturday. Graham Marsh four-putted from 5 feet, and I saw him that night at dinner and said, 'Sorry about your tough luck on No. 18.' He said, 'Oh, it wasn't your fault. I just made a couple of bad putts.' But the back left is very hard and we'll use it one of the four days at the U.S. Open. The front right is also hard, and that's what we used on the final day at the Senior Open.

Where do you see the winner's score this year?
Meeks: It'll depend on the elements and the course, but I think five or six under will win. Having said that, I don't know what else we could have done to make it more challenging.

Does that prediction bother you?
Meeks: I would hope that a U.S. Open golf course is set up in the manner they should be set up, where we challenge these players. The length varies but it is needed. It's not the most important factor. The most important factors are that you challenge them with narrow fairways, firm and fast fairways. But you want the ball to bounce into the rough. You don't want them hitting into a soft fairway and having the ball stop. You've got to have a severe rough; it should be a penalty of some kind. You've got to have the greens as firm and as fast as you can get them. And you have to set the holes on the edge -- as difficult as you can make them. I think the players respect that, though. Even though they might complain, I think they'd be disappointed if we didn't make it as challenging as possible.

Interview conducted by Ken Klavon, USGA Web Editor.