Golf Courses: Congressional Country Club

Today's post is a combo preview of the U.S. Open's host course, Congressional Country Club, and Frogger Killer Course post.  After all, courses set up for the U.S. Open are all killer. Congressional Country Club is the host course for this year's U.S. Open.  The course has hosted three U.S. Opens (1964, 1997, 2001) and is the annual stop for the PGA Tour's AT&T National which has been hosted by Tiger Woods. Congressional is located in Bethesda, Maryland. The course is home to many politicians, presidents and lobbyists.  There are two 18 hole courses on the property, the Blue and Gold courses.  The primary course is the Blue. The Blue course was designed by Devereux Emmet and has been renovated several times since opening in 1924.  The first renovation was in 1957 by famous architect Robert Trent Jones.  The 2nd and 3rd redesigns were by Rees Jones in 1989 and 2006. The most recent work done on the course was in 2009 when the Blue course was closed for a complete greens renovation which even included the practice green.  The greens were rebuilt with sub-air systems and moisture monitoring systems.  The old Poa annua grass type was replaced with bent grass.  There is much speculation amongst the media as to whether the greens are mature enough to take the beating from the play and the conditioning required to host an Open.  Open greens are typically dried out and cut very short to make them hard and fast.  Green stimp speed is anticipated to be an an amazingly fast 14.5. The course measures at 7,250 yards from the tips. The front nine is a par-36 at 3,702 yards while the back is a par-35 which strangely measures longer than the front at 3,872. [caption id="attachment_1266" align="alignright" width="300"] Finishing hole for 2011 U.S. Open[/caption] Challenges presented to the players at Congressional are many fold.  The course is a tree lined track which will naturally have long and thick U.S. Open rough.  Driving accuracy will be extremely important.  As mentioned before, the greens will be running at 14.5 on the stimp meter.  To contrast this, the speed is likely 10-20% faster than the greens at Augusta National during the Masters.  The sloping of these fast greens will make shot placement, putting and chipping extremely challenging. The Sunday stretch this year could be ripe with meltdowns.  The course will play tough, especially Congressional's signature 18th hole (above).  The 18th is a massive 523 yard par-4.  YES, par-4.  Players will need to rip a long drive to have a decent approach shot to this green.  The green is guarded by four bunkers as well as water which wraps around the back.  Watch for fireworks here.