
Growing up in the United States, no matter how close to the solstice you played, your round of golf always had to end. As an adult, it’s usually because the real world is beckoning, but as a kid it was usually because the sun was setting and it simply wasn’t possible to see the ball anymore. I can’t remember a sunset that I was thankful for in those days as I never wanted those evenings to end. So when I first heard about 

 in northern Norway, where the sun does not set for two months, I became enamored with the idea of playing golf through the night.

After spending the last 33 months living in and traveling around Europe, and with a move home date quickly approaching, some travel buddies and I booked one big final European excursion. First, three days exploring the vast wilderness of the Arctic on an archipelego called Svalbard, then making our way down the Lofoten Islands in northern Norway for a week of hiking, kayaking, beaches, and ten straight days of no sunsets. These buddies aren’t exactly golfers, but I was able to show them some pictures of the nothernmost links course in the world, and surprisingly it didn’t take them much convincing to get them to accompany me.

Arctic islands and puddle jumping flights are less than ideal for golf trips. There were no clubs packed or shipped, and we were limited to packing one bag each to last us 10 days. This meant one pair of shoes (hiking boots, a necessity in this part of the world) and rental clubs. Not a bother at all, as our scores weren’t even kept. We’re here for the mountains, the ocean, and to try to figure out how the hell they built a golf course onto this piece of land.

The days leading up to our scheduled visit were spent watching the forecasts closely, and I could barely contain my excitement when we awoke on that Tuesday morning to a glorious 65 degree day. We spent the afternoon at Haukland Beach soaking up the rays, watching Norweigan girls strip down to just their bikini bottoms and sprint towards the freezing cold water to take their Instagram pictures. We hiked around, had a picnic on the beach, and steamed with envy when six gorgeous girls playing beach volleyball chose to invite four Norwegian guys, and not us, near us into their game. Damn you, odd numbers.

So far, Lofoten seems like a perfect paradise. We’re in no rush to make our way to the course, as there is no concept of time here. The only reason you have to look at a clock is to try to time your hunger with a restaurant opening, or to make it to a grocery store before the 8 PM cutoff for alcohol sales. Your energy comes and goes at all times of the day (slash night?). It was not unusual to spend a rainy afternoon in bed, and to be hiking a mountain under clear skies in the midnight hours. It’s surreal.

World class Norwegian engineering makes traveling these island roads a scenic breeze, and as we rounded the corner and first laid eyes on the property, the ooh’s and aah’s reverberated through the car. Sandwiched between the majestic Lofoten mountains and the calm ocean was the golf course I had seen in many magazines and on many websites over the recent years. Here it was in real life, and it was spellbinding.

We arrive at 6 PM to a surprisingly busy clubhouse. This is a rather remote part of the world, but with clear skies in the forecast, there’s a plethora of visitors here to get the full experience. We check into our cabin down the road, and get sorted for an official tee time: 8:40 PM, with the invitation to play as long as we’d like. My buddies are only gonna stick around for 9 holes, so the pro recommends to us that we play the back nine first (and we would soon see why). We ask what we should do with their rental clubs when they’re done.

“Oh, the golf shop will still be open. We’re open until midnight.”

Lofoten Links is one of the five northernmost golf courses in the world. It’s not easy to get to, but its remoteness is perhaps its most endearing quality. Situated almost 100 miles above the Arctic Circle, the sun rises on May 23 and does not set until July 25. The property faces north, which maximizes the sunlight during this time of year, as it doesn’t even dip behind the significant mountainous landscape. On a clear day, you can see the sun stop falling out of the sky, and start to rise as the dew forms on the grass, not coming close to touching the horizon.

Frode Hov is the founder and managing director of the course, and the course is built there on his family’s land on the north coast of the island of Gimsoya. Construction on the course began in April 1998, and opened later that July as a nine hole course measuring just 2,172 yards. Now it is a full 18 hole layout stretching out to over 6,000 meters (about 6,600 yards) from the back tees.

Norway’s coast is not ripe with field of green grass and fertile soil. The terrain is mostly a combination of rocks, marshy wetlands, and basically anything else that would potentially inhibit you from building a golf course. It’s rugged, and one of the first things you’ll notice about Lofoten Links is its raw nature. The fairways are narrow, and if you miss them, you likely aren’t finding your ball.

The “rough” is a combination of rocks, marsh, heather, and more rocks. The most demoralizing part is that in the midnight sun, the rocks kind of look like golf balls, and you get repeatedly fooled into thinking that you’ve finally found your ball. This “unfinished look” gives you an even greater appreciation for how difficult it must have been to carve out tee boxes, fairways, and especially greens on land that’s so unforgiving. The pathways between holes are rocky, and sometimes it’s even a bit difficult to find where your next teeing ground is. It’s grueling, and it’s awesome.

We’re here in June, which isn’t quite the peak time of year. Snow is still melting on the mountains in the distance, as the spring bloom from the harsh Norwegian winter slowly takes shape. The greens are furry, and the course isn’t in top form yet, but it’s hardly even noticeable considering the setting.

We had trouble finding the 10th tee from the clubhouse, but once we did, we knew we were in for a tough test. A narrow fairway awaited us from an elevated tee, and you play away from the water and back towards the mountains that define these islands in the distance. Watching the traj against those mountains was the perfect scene setter, just in case for a second you forgot where you were on Earth.

After another par-4, you cross the main road to the long par-3 12th with a great view of the water behind it. Next, a dynamic dogleg left par-5 with beautiful views towards the Gimsoy maelstrom. Do I know what a maelstrom is? No. But that’s what the course guide size, and that sounds amazing.

I mean, just look at this video:

The hits keep on coming.

The 14th, another tee shot at a mountain, this time the one just barely off the property.

The 15th, back away from the clubhouse and towards the clouds that are rolling in through the mountains in the distance.

Next, another incredible par-4 back out towards the water. The 17th tee is a miniscule little cutout and set deep on the rocky coast for the 160 yard par-3 (see the last shot from the video at the top of this post). The routing from holes 12-17 is one of the most scenic stretches of golf I’ve seen on this planet, although I’m still not fully convinced that we were on Earth.

With no one in front or behind us, we took our sweet time on this stretch taking photographs, drone shots, hitting multiple shots, and doing everything we could to soak up this environment. The other guys had run out of balls by the turn, and even though they were only planning on playing nine holes, they grabbed beers in the clubhouse and came out to walk the other nine with me. Even non-golfers were able to grasp the uniqueness of this experience, and they were in no hurry to leave the property despite being done playing.

The sun is low, and sitting directly behind the signature 2nd hole. This par-3 is the one you’ve seen pictures of, but in this light, it was tough for us to capture our own.

It’s just a flip wedge out onto the peninsula from an elevated tee, but it’s a tough green to hold with the wind at your back.


The boys gathered round the 6th tee to hit one final shot before heading out for the night. They’re well aware that I’m staying as long as my legs are still functioning, and leave me to go on this spiritual journey on my own. I started with a dozen balls, but my stash has been depleted by offline shots that I’m blaming on the rental set. Energy is dipping faster than I had anticipated, and my body clock is trying to tell me that it’s time to sleep.

I’m making the turn for another nine holes. On my own with only my thoughts and back on the best stretch on the course, the weight of the experience really starts to set in. Everyone has heard of the Pebble Beaches and Winged Foots of the world, but how many experiences outside of the world top 100 are like this?

I’m beat up after a day in the sun and a lack of sleep over the last three days, but there’s no chance I’m getting pulled off this golf course. You might think that the light is at least starting to fade to a dusky twilight glow, but it’s as bright as it was at noon earlier that day. There’s a couple out in front of me enjoying the scene. The wind is blowing, my hands are getting cold, and my game is getting worse and worse. And I’m having the time of my life.

The sun has been slowly, slowly dipping for five hours now, and just as it looks like it’s going to go below the horizon, it begins to rise back up again. The couple ahead of me has called it a night, and there’s not a single sound except for the wind, waves, and the birds. It’s golf nirvana.

There’s dew forming on the ground. The wind has calm down a bit and I’m down to three golf balls. I’m going to play until I run out so I’m moving up tee boxes just to make sure I can make it all the way around. A single cloud drifts over the sun and it starts to get really cold.

The sun is back out in all its glory. I’m finished on the 18th, but I grab a wedge and head back out to the signature second hole to play it one last time. My FitBit starts vibrating, and knowing I was already over 30,000 steps for the day, I’m assuming it means that it’s dying. Nope. It resets at midnight, and I just hit 10,000 steps 

With the sun now off to the right, the hole could not look more scenic. To my left, my cabin is in the distance. I hit one to a foot and knew that was the signal to call it a night.

Perfect sunlight. Just, absolutely perfect. The sound of the waves crashing on both sides of the second green. I just wanted time to stand still like that for as long as possible. I’m the only one left on the property and I’m standing on one of the most scenic greens in the world in the middle of the night. I got my camera out to snap a few more, but realized it was better off in my pocket. No picture could capture this scene. I walked back and stood on the 2nd tee and stood there admiring the land for about ten more minutes.

Playing through the midnight sun 95 miles above the Arctic Circle at @lofotenlinks. A true bucket list experience. Teed off after 8 PM, and the first picture here is the last hole played at 2:45 AM. The sun does not set for two months in Lofoten, and golf can be played 24 hours a day. Can't say enough about the surreal experience.

A post shared by No Laying Up (@nolayingup) on Jun 14, 2017 at 4:51am PDT

With blisters forming on my heels, I start to trek back to the lodge. I pass by an RV lot and see people trying to sleep with the piercing 3 AM sun coming through their windows. Like, I’m incapable of describing how bright it is. There’s tents on the beach, and a long haired bro emerged from it to take a leak right there on the beach. There’s a horse farm, and five or six horses come right up to the fence to scope me out as I walk by with a golf bag. There’s picture perfect houses that look like they were built specifically to be Instagrammed. This place looks like a movie set.

I grabbed a few hours of sleep, and went back to the clubhouse to meet Frode and to wait for my ride. We talk a bit about the night, and the weather we had, and one thing he said to me really stuck out:

As always in these posts, in the spirit of full disclosure, I’ll note that Lofoten Links was kind enough to provide us with a complementary tee time and accommodation for the night. However, I was astonished to hear what the tee time costs are, and what the rates are for accommodation. Considering the expensive nature of Norway as it is, the island location on which the course sits, and the (I’m assuming) extreme cost of building this course, the rates are even less than what I would pay for a typical weekend round of mediocre golf in the suburbs of Chicago. I’ve translated the rates on their website to USD below.

And again for the rooms, so very reasonable: About $110 USD for a single, $165 for two people, or $220 for three in a cabin. This is no more than a typical hotel room, and considering the setting, all of the other hiking and beautiful sites in the area, you don’t even need to play the golf course to enjoy a stay here.

If you’re not convinced yet to visit Lofoten Links, let me also add in some context. I’ve traveled to 40 countries in the last three years, and the scenery around the Lofoten Islands is some of the best if not the best that I’ve seen on this planet. We spent a week around different parts of the islands doing midnight hikes, eating fish, drinking expensive beer, and trying to sleep during what feels like midday sun. The islands are 100% worth visiting even if you’re not playing this golf course. However, if you’re a golfer and you’re visiting here, you’re essentially required to book a tee time.

Took almost three years, but found the best view in Europe. Midnight atop Reinebringen in the Lofoten Islands, Norway ??

A post shared by Chris Solomon (@csolomonnlu) on Jun 16, 2017 at 3:02pm PDT

(The source for some of the history facts about the course come from Jeff Klein’s New York Times piece “

Golf in the Land of the Midnight Tee Time

Thanks to my friends Ben Wade and Chris Anstine for coming along and adding to the experience. And a special thanks to Ben for the fantastic photographs.

Playing Through the Midnight Sun at Lofoten Links

On Sunday of the 2013 Tour Championship, I found myself on the former 15th hole at East Lake Golf Club – an uphill, 550-yard par 5 that bends slightly to the right as it ascends through the rolling Atlanta terrain. East Lake has always been one of my favorite Tour venues, and the 15th is a sneaky good place to watch, as it used to be the players’ last real chance at a birdie.

As I waited for the leaders to come through, I noticed one name making a furious charge up the leaderboard: 20-year-old Jordan Spieth. Considering that he had already won the #FifthMajor and made the FedEx Cup top 30 with only five months of Tour status, the golf world was watching to see if this kid was the real thing. I wasn’t expecting what happened on that fifteenth hole.

Driver, long iron to 20 feet, center of the cup. Eagle. And the best part: he looked like he expected it. He finished that round in 64, a remarkable score on a tough golf course, to finish T2 in a field of the Tour’s 30 best players, and he was 

Four years later, on a Sunday afternoon at Royal Birkdale, Spieth once again eagled the 69th hole of a tournament; this time, the world was watching. The gallery erupted. Spieth celebrated. I threw things around my living room. Soly seized up from a #sauce overdose. Poor Kuch could only look on as he realized that he would be eating, not drinking, from his trophy. It was a Spieth fan’s nirvana.

Golf media loves to draw Spieth comparisons. “Spieth has some of Tiger’s mental toughness.” “His short game is the most creative since Phil.” “He’s on pace with Nicklaus for majors at his age.” Some of these comparisons are probably accurate, some of them might be premature, and some of them might even be understatements. Those issues are above my pay grade (which, incidentally, is zero. Need to talk to Tron about that one.).

But here’s what I know: watching Spieth is utterly captivating. He draws a viewer into professional golf like no other player can. He is just human enough, shows just enough weakness, hits just enough wayward tee shots or squirrely four-footers to make me think “hey, I’m not so different than this guy.” He doesn’t have the incomprehensible power of DJ or Koepka. At times, he looks like a complete mental mess, like when told Greller that he thought he was collapsing at Augusta, or threw a 3rd grader hissy fit at Chambers Bay on what he called “the dumbest hole I’ve ever played in my life.” We can relate. We 

And then, almost without fail, there’s a reminder: he’s Jordan Spieth, and he is a stone-cold killer.

You see, I am 20 years old, and my early years of conscious golf-watching were summarized more by a 2009 Y.E. Yang upset than a 2000 Pebble Beach runaway victory. I began loving golf in the age where Stewart Cink and Lucas Glover won majors. I grew up looking for the next Tiger, someone who could assert the kind of major championship dominance that I had been too young to witness. When Rory came along, dazzling the Tour with other-worldly ball striking and an undeniable swagger, I thought we had found that man. Rory, however, has fallen victim to a mix of injuries and putting struggles, and has not had a significant, quality chance to win a major since his last win in 2014.

Don’t look now Rory, but Jordan is only one major behind (Golf Digest)

Then we found Jordan Spieth. I saw him at the aforementioned Tour Championship. I was excited. I remember watching him hole a bunker shot for birdie on the Sunday front nine of the 2014 Masters, only to fade down the stretch and lose to Bagdad Gerry. Maybe this kid doesn’t quite have it, I thought.

I read about Spieth’s win at the 2014 Australian Open, and watched him take the HERO World Challenge by a comfortable margin. I watched his playoff win at the 2015 Valspar as he made clutch putt after clutch putt. I told anyone who would listen (probably about three people, all related to me) that this guy was going to win the Masters. I watched him shoot a first round 64 (with a bogey on 15), back it up with a 66, and win his first major at age 21. I stayed up until 4:00am Ireland time to watch him claim the U.S. Open in remarkable fashion. I couldn’t get enough. Had golf found “the guy?”

He didn’t win the Open at St. Andrews, but he did something even more impressive: he made me believe that someone could actually win the Grand Slam. He put on a Saturday show at Whistling Straits with 6 birdies in his last 8 holes, and it took nothing less than an historic performance from Day to beat him. And for the cherry on top, he took home the FedEx Cup two months later.

Possibly the low point of Spieth’s career – “the drop” on 12

Then the tide seemed to turn. We know the story of the 2016 Masters, and Spieth spent the rest of that year facing questions about it. And despite his three Tour victories since that meltdown, people were still asking questions as he teed it up this Sunday at the Open. Maybe this kid doesn’t really have it, we said, maybe 2015 was a fluke. In fact, we were practically shouting that on the 13th tee. And Spieth could hear it. Once again, we could relate to this guy spraying the ball all over the pl–

All of a sudden, he hadn’t just won, he had grabbed Kuchar’s soul, beat it into the hard-packed English soil and left it to drown helplessly in the Irish Sea. He made Haotang Li wish he had caught the earlier bus to the airport. He played five holes of golf that rival any stretch, ever.

As a golf fan, this weekend convinced me once again that Spieth has a chance to be one of the game’s all-time greats. We saw that his major championship prowess is still there, and might even be improving.

 fan, it reminded me of why I watch this guy, why I can’t stop watching this guy: because you never know when that polite Texan smile will give way to the ruthless killer beneath, the superhuman gear that has now won him three major championships at the age of 23. Who knows – maybe we’ll see it at the PGA Championship, and maybe we won’t.

Why I can't stop cheering for Jordan Spieth

Saturday could not have been a more stunner of a day here at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open. I’ve tried to make it a point to follow Jon Rahm whenever I get a chance to, but to date, have not been able to do it for for more than a few hole stretch. In the small samples I’ve seen, the reviews were mixed. The golf game is absolutely massive and evident to anyone that watches him hit a ball. But the attitude and demeanor, which has been well documented at this point, has left me a bit (perhaps unjustifiably) apprehensive.

Rahm is young, brash, and carries himself with a certain swagger that just draws you in. He’s also quick on the trigger with a club throw or two, a putter slam on the turf (like earlier this week), and the tendency to put the guy in charge of the bleep button to work. For the most part, this stuff is understandable, especially for a young guy who has likely not reached peak maturity. What turned me off was him getting 

visibly pissed and flustered by rather minor incidents from fans

. He could’t refocus, and his game reflected it. Everyone gets mad at themselves for bad shots, but this was different, and felt off.

By any definition, Rahm is an absolute superstar. At minimum, he’s currently one of the ten best players in the world, and you could make the case that he’s one of the best five. He’s also got a personality that could really help him translate into being one of the more interesting players to follow, and he’s a guy you’re just drawn to when you see him on the grounds. So I set out to stalk him for 18, and walked away thoroughly impressed.

The vibes are strong on this Saturday. The #C-Suite folks just looking to get a few days off work on a workday are back in Dublin, and the locals are out in droves to soak up the Irish Summer (which is today only). The dunes on the front nine can give you some good viewing points, but the grass is thick, itchy, and in many places very steep. Behind the third green, there’s people trying to climb to a good spot, and the crowd cheers them on as they try to make their way up. Guy after guy starts to tumble to a raucous applause and laughter from those already seated. I love this place.

The setting is phenomenal! The first eight holes at Portstewart are fantastic links holes, and while the back nine gets a bit quirky, you won’t see a better use of huge dunes than you do in that opening stretch. In the sun it looks even better, and it looks entirely different than what we’ve seen the last two days.

Astounding scenes out here. Dunes. Green grass. Sunshine. Gentle breeze. All in. 

Links golf is a passion of mine, and watching these world beaters translate their games to play these courses always fascinates me. More than a typical PGA Tour course in the states, positioning seems to be so critical to scoring well at a links course like Portstewart. When greens are softer, bunkers less penal, and rough near the green to stop your ball like you’ll see at many stateside courses, the punishment for your misses can (at times) be much less severe than on this side of the pond. However, the conditions this week have been benign, and the scoring is low. But it still remains that even getting out of position for one shot can lead to a bogey, and there’s plenty of places around Portstewart where you can trip yourself up.

Throughout Rahm’s 67 on Saturday, he was only out of position less than a handful of times. He bombs it, and while he may appear to be a bit out of control at times on television, it never once felt that way today. He talked through every shot with his caddie, Adam Hayes, and played almost mistake free golf. To give you an idea of how well he managed his golf ball, here’s a brief play by play of the places he left himself and the traps he avoided. (Ok, I tried to be brief, it’s not that brief).

On the first hole, he plays ten feet right of a left hole location on the first, and easily rolls in the birdie. An easy one, but perfectly played.

His iron off the tee went too long on the par-4 second, but he wedged past a pin that if you’re short of it, it’s rolling back to your feet. With a wedge in his hand, he could have been tempted to fire at the flag, but played it wisely and carded a four.

The par-3 third had a sucker pin in the front, right over a bunker. He flew it right over the flag, playing away from the trouble. Easy par.

The first time he’s out of position is the 4th, where his driver goes left. His punch out to the fairway actually goes too far route, but he leaves himself the proper angle to a back left flag. He plays perfectly 15 feet right of it. Portstewart is infamous for putting pins in places where it looks like you can’t even fit a hole location, and he doesn’t fall into the trap.

After a perfect drive on 5, he throws a dart into back hole location. He misses a putt that couldn’t have been been more than six feet, but remained perfectly calm. It helps that he’s within a shot of the lead at this point, but he seems way more in control of his emotions than I’ve seen in the past.

On 6, he takes on a left pin in a left to right wind. Finishes it perfectly online but short, which is good, because long is not an option. It’s a much more impressive shot than the result may show, because the wind is starting to whip now. An easy part on a treacherous little three.

Before they get to the 7th tee, he’s talking about what they learned here yesterday on what line to take. With the wind helping, they pick out a tv tower not even remotely close to how the hole was designed to be played. He couldn’t have had more than 8 iron in. Back left pin, wind coming hard right to left, he leaves it out right with perfect perfect distance control, and leaves 20 feet for eagle. An effortless two putt birdie moves him to two under for the day.

This is seven straight holes where he has left himself in the ideal spot in regulation. He was so steady that it actually felt a bit boring at times.

The 8th is where he makes his most severe mistake (and it isn’t even that bad). He takes too much club off the tee, runs through he fairway and into the deep stuff. Badly out of position, he pitches up short and into the right spot, but it’s a tough up and down and he makes his only bogey of the day.

After cranking a driver on nine and pitching up to around 15 feet, two cell phones go off in the backswing of his putt. Visibly disgusted he tells the patrons to “put your phone on silent.” He taps in, stares down the fan and after the applause dies down. “Two of them right in my backswing,” he says directly towards the front row. This is hardly an outburst, and the reaction is completely justified. The European Tour has implemented a new cell phone policy this week where you’re allowed to use your phone at all times, as long as it’s on silent. Overall it’s been close a non-issue so far, but I expect this to be met with some criticism.

After a boring par at ten, he goes to the whip. Hits a perfect drive on 11 and his approach goes just past flag. Again, with a huge drop off in the front, he’s put it in the best possible position, and he rolls in the birdie to get to -14.

He takes on the pin on the left on 12 with left to right wind. The tee on this hole is significantly elevated, meaning his ball is going to have to fight this wind for an extended period of time. He drills it in between the bunkers on the left and pin. Just a superb shot, and he makes it count by rolling in the birdie. Now he’s on to back-to-back par-5’s.

The drive on 13 was something to behold. Playing downwind, he lifted one up into the stratosphere that looked like a space shuttle rocket detachment. It looked like it would start to fall towards the Earth, but it just kept rising like a phoenix. With the pin all the way on the left, he plays perfectly to the right side with his second. He barely misses the eagle, but taps in for his third straight birdie. Giddy up!

He gets a bit too excited about the helping wind on the 14th and sprays one way left (full sauce point). Out of position. After a bad second shot out of the heather to the right, he knows he’s made another mistake. He can’t even see where it landed, but says to himself “that’s no good there.” I’m kind of amazed that a kid that couldn’t speak English as of five years ago talks to himself in English. He goes on to get it up and down anyways and lands a giant fist pump as the crowd gets as loud as they’ve been all day.

On the par-3 15th, he gets aggressive and goes just long into the wind. Another cell phone goes off before his chip, and all I hear in my head is Verne Lundquist saying “and here comes the putter throw! Wait! He’s restrained himself. Perhaps this is a new Happy Gilmore.” He walks the par putt in.

He finishes with three more routine pars and walks off with an impressive 67. Prodigious off the tee, pure with the irons, sound with his approach, and pure with the putter is a pretty deadly combination. The talent was never a question. One round that ends with him at the top of the leaderboard doesn’t answer every question about his temper, but it was good to see him dialed in and riding the bull. I’m still all in!

Rahm is on the Loose at the Irish Open

Don’t call it a comeback! Boots are on the ground here at Portstewart Golf Club for the 2017 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, and this place is rockin’ before the tournament has even started. 

 this week lowlighting some of the struggles this tournament has experienced in the last decade, and the details are eye opening.

In 2011, the tournament – alive, but by no means beating with the same vigour as the previous year – returned to Killarney and although the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks still dominated the landscape and the lakes continued to glisten, a sparkle had been removed. The field was poorer, and the prize fund had been halved from €3 million to €1.5 million. When Simon Dyson picked up his winner’s cheque, it was for €250,000.

For a country that boasts such an exceptional golf reputation, on an island that breeds some of the best players in the world on some of the best golf courses, it made no sense for it’s national open to fall into a state of disrepute.

But when the tournament went to Royal Portrush (just 10 minutes down the road from this week’s site) in 2012, it became the first ever European Tour event to sellout (again courtesy of the previously linked Irish Times article) as the Portrush area flexed its muscles to the R&A to show show off their ability to handle the Open Championship. They were ultimately granted a spot in the rota for the 2019 Open, as the championship returns to Northern Ireland for the first time since 1951.

But still three years later at Royal County Down, the tournament purse was EUR 2.5 million. This was the first year that the Rory Foundation hosted, and the first year with Dubai Duty Free signed on. Now with the event fully entrenched in the Rolex Series, the event returns to the northern coast with a fat stack of EUR 6.3 million. The new July spot on the calendar has brought in some heavyweights, including Justin Rose, Jon Rahm, Thomas Pieters, and Hideki Matsuyama.

But on this Wednesday, the fans are out in droves to see the host and the defending champ. The opening hole at Portstewart is one of the best opening tee shots in the world. With the North Atlantic Ocean to your right, the players tee off down a significant slope to a fairway bending right around some treacherous gorse. The grandstands are completely full, and those that didn’t get a seat in time are lined up 5-6 rows deep left of the tee as Rory makes his way up. It’s a Wednesday! As someone who has never been to an Irish Open, there’s not even a hint that this tournament was once on life support. This tournament feels big, and there’s a buzz in the air.

With the event moving from May to July, and lining up directly with the Scottish Open and Open Championships that follow, players are forced to make some tough scheduling calls. If you’re willing to play three straight weeks, you can’t ask for a much better stretch than this one. With a late commitment to the Scottish Open, Rory is one of the few that will play all three events in a row. But the “problem” that comes with having so many good golf tournaments in different parts of the world is that you can’t play ’em all.

Traditionally, some top American players do come across the pond a week before the Open Championship to climatize themselves by playing in the Scottish Open. However, it’s a bit unrealistic to expect that players would come over and play all three events in a row. Royal County Down attracted both Rickie Fowler and Patrick Reed to come over and play the event in 2015, but that was when it was held in May. Understandably, the only Americans in the field this year are ones that play the European Tour full time.

Having played the course this April, I can confirm what was already known by many, that this place is well equipped to handle a tournament of this magnitude. Many links courses (looking at you, Old Course), are not designed for spectator viewing, but the dunes that frame many of the holes here will be packed full of patrons all week. As always with links golf, the conditions will dictate the scoring, and while the weather appears mild for this week as of Wednesday, this is always subject to change. Those that follow this website fully understand my obsession with links golf, and it just feels appropriate for this tournament to be played on a links course.

As for the logistics, not everyone in Ireland is thrilled with the location:

As for the event in general, staging the only event in Ireland this year as far north as Portstewart is ridiculous.



— Golf Betting Brain (@GolfBetting12) 

It's at least a three hour drive away for over 70% of the population which makes it impossible for some to make it a day trip.



— Golf Betting Brain (@GolfBetting12) 

And if you want to stay overnight within an hour of the course you have to pay extortionate prices for sub-par accommodation.



— Golf Betting Brain (@GolfBetting12) 

While these criticisms are fair, I tend to like the idea of seemingly alternating years between bringing the event up to the north, then back down to the south. It’s a great exhibition for the area, the stunning coastal scenery, and the world class golf courses nearby (previously mentioned 

, Castlerock, and if you’re willing to make the two hour drive, obviously 

). Additionally, it’s a good chance for players to check out Royal Portrush in advance of the Open.

Ben Coley’s preview of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open

. A lot of time and effort goes into posts of this size and magnitude and with this level of analysis. If you’re planning on wagering on the event, you’ll want to read this.

 was paired with Rory at the Pro-Am, and he was out there 

. Multiple practice swings, and plenty of backswing rips in between shots while his playing partners played. Usually this it the worst kind of amateur to get paired with, but he’s got a solid game, so he gets away with it.

I was sad to report to Tron that J.P. McManus’ game lacks pop. #NeverMeetYourHeroes

I’ve never seen players stacked on top of each other so closely like they were in the range here. It was pros mixed in with the ams, and it legitimately did not feel safe. I was getting stressed out watching from a distance.

I did notice a guy in a hoodie and what would best be described as a skateboard hat out there getting some solid work in. When his caddie moved, I first laid eyes on the Trackman, and got visibly excited. YES! Please let this be an amateur out here getting some Trackman reps in on the range before a pro-am! My disappointment could not have been more evident as he turned to reveal himself as Danny Willett.

Notes from the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open

This week the Tour heads to TPC Potomac (formerly TPC Avenel) for the Quicken Loans National, hosted by the Big Cat in exile. The event bounces around to different courses in the DC area because Congressional never wants to host it two years in a row. Given the choice between a relaxed, uninterrupted summer of member play and shutting down their Blue Course for a month and a half to host a Tour event that usually gets lost in some holiday hubbub, you can’t really fault them.

TPC Potomac has hosted the Tour before, but not since a drastic course redesign that attempted to remove some unpopular quirks from the layout. The result is a formidable, fair, and (hopefully) exciting track that is currently in tip-top shape, barring a barrage of pop-up thunderstorms typical this time of year.

The Tour’s hiatus from the course, combined with my familiarity with the premises thanks to its esteemed status as one of the home courses of the Georgetown University Men’s Golf program (T12 in the 2016 Nashville NCAA Regional, bitches), prompted me to sit down and share some local knowledge. Here’s what to watch for this week:

Unless we see some heavy rain, this course will be playing firm and fast. I was out at the course on Tuesday, and mid-iron approaches were taking five-yard bounces on the green surfaces. Curious to see if the bentgrass can retain that firmness with the heat and humidity expected for the weekend.

The long ball has a little extra benefit on this course. Many tee shots feature a kind of tabletop fairway, where the beginning of the landing area slopes upward and kills most of the roll. People who can carry the upslope will have a compounded distance advantage – more carry and more roll.

The rough is THICK, much more than I’m accustomed to when we play out here. I was able to walk the course with Zac Blair for nine holes on Tuesday and he said it wasn’t far off from U.S. Open length. Thick rough + firm greens = premium on fairways.

The relatively easy second hole at TPC Potomac (Photo: TPC)

This is not your typical risk-reward par 5, mostly because there’s simply not any risk. From the 580 yard tee, which they will likely use for some of the rounds, players can take it over the right fairway bunker (about 270 carry), get a big kick, and have a great shot at the green in two. But shorter hitters, or those who miss the fairway, can hack it up to about 130 out and will face an incredibly straightforward wedge shot. If you see someone make bogey on this hole, they should probably just pack up the clubs for the day. Barring an insane headwind, this hole will play as one of the easiest on the course.

Approach to the sixth green with the hazard lining the right side

This is the best hole on the golf course in my view. The routing and slight dogleg to the right feel extremely natural, and the green sits perfectly at the base of a left-to-right slope that gently pushes shots toward the hole. A hazard runs the entire length of the right side of the hole, making for a demanding tee shot, and players who bail out into the left rough will have a very long way into the green. I am not sure if they will use the back tee all four days; if they do, this is a likely venue for some fiery #ejections.

This hole is so hard that I’ve had actual nightmares about the tee shot on nights before qualifying rounds. Water left, trees right, shallow green, nowhere to miss, etc. I’ve been in people’s backyards so many times in the right trees that I’m on a first name basis with a few of the homeowners.

Keeping that experience in mind, I believe this hole exhibits the worst virtues of penal golf. I imagine the architect designing this hole like you’d fill out a mad lib, packing all of the difficult stuff they could think of into one hole without regard for actual strategy. Most pros will probably take three wood or a driving iron up the right center of the fairway, hit 8- or 9-iron it to the center of the green, and make par. Remarkably unstimulating.

One other note: the water on the left side is a monstrous 330 yard carry. If you see someone carry it please 1) call me an ambulance, and 2) roll back the ball immediately.

TPC Potomac has some great par 4s. This isn’t one of them. A sharp dogleg left with a narrow fairway that slopes away from the tee and into the trees makes this tee shot one of the toughest on the course. A hazard runs up the left side on the tee shot and then curves around to guard the green. It’s unlikely that anyone will bomb a driver here, leaving a pretty formidable shot into the green. Something about this hole just feels extremely awkward, but if you disagree after watching this weekend, I’m open to a new perspective.

The short yardage belies a hole will be sneaky challenging. The fairway is generous if you want to lay up to about 110 yards out, but then the challenge is hitting a wedge shot uphill to a two-tiered green that is begging for over-eager wedges to spin off the front. As such, this one will definitely favor he who can keep his spin rates tidy. If the pin is front and center on Sunday, look for some shots to come ripping back down the slope (which is about 40 yards long). Totally demoralizing.

The other option is to hit the tee shot past a fairway bunker about that is about a 250 carry. This will leave much more controllable shot into the tricky green but is a significantly harder fairway to hit. Very intrigued to see how this hole plays. A birdie here might be harder to come by than the scorecard indicates. 

(Editor’s note: 1) this is a 350 yard half-hole, 2) course is firm and fast 3) the name of this website is “No Laying Up;” yet no mention of the mere possibility of a guy going for it. Not good, Kevin!)

Hole 13 at TPC Potomac offers multiple options off the tee and a wicked slope short of the green. (Photo: TPC)

The second of back-to-back short par 4s. This hole is driveable with 3-wood for most players, and there’s really no reason to lay up here (even you ZB!) Taking into account the creek running down the right I’d expect plenty of people to bail out a little left, which brings rough, bunkers, and some big time undulation into play. Expect a lot of birdies and a few eagles here. If you’re making par here on Sunday afternoon you’re probably getting vaporized.

The dramatic finish will be out in full force on Sunday, with 17 playing as a downhill par 3 with water short and right of the green. The green is undulated enough to make up and downs extremely tough. No bailout area. Can’t hide here – gotta sack up and stiff one on this hole.

Overall, I like this course because of the way that it intersperses some exceptionally well-designed short holes with the requisite long fours that are required of a tour venue this era. The short holes (and par 5s) still require precise shots to make birdies, a quality that I feel separates a great course from a decent one. I’m excited to see the tour return here.

Quicken Loans National: What to watch for at TPC Potomac

Now that we’ve had some time to sit back and digest the results of this year’s U.S. Open, we have to ask the question: should the USGA return to Erin Hills to host its national championship? I have my answer – and for a different perspective I recruited my friend and teammate Jack Musgrave to share his thoughts.

The U.S. Open is currently suffering an identity crisis. Rather than reclaim its place as the greatest test in golf, the U.S. Open at Erin Hills this year produced record low field scores because of a comparatively mild course layout that did not punish poor shots – a hallmark of the U.S. Open. Extremely wide fairways, accessible pin placements, and mostly wide-open green complexes with shaved collection areas allowed players to save par after bad shots at alarmingly high rates. During the broadcast, Fox commentators (who still talk too much – looking at you Shane O’Donoghue) did discuss an important point on Thursday and Friday – the idea that players were navigating Erin Hills largely without fear. Players attacked the course all week because they knew saving par would be much easier than in previous years.

Erin Hills #2, surrounded by manicured fairway and a single bunker. Even I could get up and down here. (David Cannon/Getty)

The point of America’s national championship should be to truly identify the most complete player within a given week. It is a tournament which in the past has rewarded only the truly great performances with low scores. Players who consistently avoided mistakes and capitalized on scoring opportunities have thrived. Tiger in 2000 and Rory in 2011 come to mind as players who put together near perfect weeks resulting in record-breaking tournaments.

Now, it is important to understand that there is no problem with a very low 

 score. Brooks Koepka played phenomenally and is a very deserving champion. He was among the leaders in fairways hit (T4), greens hit (1), and birdies (T2). The issue lies with so many players reaching deep red numbers. When Tiger and Rory won they were the only players at double digit under par numbers. This year, 7 players finished at least -10. They each would have won every single U.S. Open in history outside of 2000 and 2011 with those scores.

Tiger Woods’ winning score in 2000 is now the third-lowest in U.S. Open history (

Furthermore, the cut line was +1 at Erin Hills, tying the 1990 U.S. Open at Medinah as the lowest cut line number in history. The same score after 4 rounds would have won or gotten into a playoff at Winged Foot in 2006, Oakmont in 2007, Olympic in 2012, and Merion in 2013. When low numbers pervade golf tournaments, it means that the course is setup in such a way that it does not punish mistakes as severely as it could, or as in the case of a U.S. Open, should.

That said, focusing too much on numbers is a mistake – it is the course layout at Erin Hills (which produced such low numbers) that does not keep with what a traditional US Open should entail. Many golf analysts have rejoiced in Erin Hill’s decided lack of high rough near the fairways or punishing green complexes, seeing it as a step in the correct direction for the USGA in presenting a more fair championship. I see it as them abandoning the U.S. Open’s role as golf’s toughest test.

There is a reason the Open Championship is not held at great venues like Swinley Forest, Gleneagles, or Sunningdale – they are not links-style courses and the Open Championship is the world’s greatest links golf tournament. The U.S. Open is the most difficult golf tournament in the world to win. It should be held at a venue which can provide such a test. Erin Hills is a beautiful course and suitable for an exciting golf tournament, just not the U.S. Open. Bring on Shinnecock Hills and a return to golfing blood, sweat and tears.

Shinnecock Hills, well-known as one of the hardest courses in the hemisphere, will host the U.S. Open in 2018 (

I enjoyed watching the U.S. Open, and I enjoyed experiencing Erin Hills for the first time. My biggest criticism of the course was that people wouldn’t stop talking about their criticisms of the course. And yet, here I am giving my criticism of the course.

I would be in favor of the USGA choosing to return to Erin Hills in the future. The venue provided a Sunday leaderboard that featured all kinds of different playing styles, and this was definitely the best aspect of the course. As the fried egg noted in some of their tournament coverage, Erin Hills is “the rare fair fight” that allows this kind of diversity of playing styles. Shouldn’t that be how golf is played? Isn’t the whole point that you can gain strokes on the field in the strong areas of your game?

I think people can become so focused on making the U.S. Open hard that they forget how to do it fairly. Take, for example, the traditional U.S. Open practice of having thick rough around the green. Erin Hills (like Chambers Bay) did away with that, instead opting for closely-mown slopes that could funnel golf balls as far as 50 yards away, but usually still in the short grass. What does that do? It means that people with a great short game scoring ability can take advantage of their skills when missing the green. If I miss the green at Oakmont, and it rolls into 5-inch rough, it doesn’t matter how good my short game is – I’m probably not going to get it up and down. Thick rough like that places an undisputed premium on ball striking. Erin Hills shows that you can have a steep penalty for missing the green but still reward a good short game.

Brian Harman gives short hitters like me some hope that short game can still win championships. (Golfweek)

The other common criticism of the course was that the fairways are simply too wide. This is a point that I have more sympathy for, because it pretty much took a complete mishit for someone to miss the fairway. And then, sometimes, players would miss the fairway by so much that they would end up in the grass trampled down by spectators and have a great lie! Very bizarre.

I understand that with wide fairways, angles into the green become very important (for more on this, see the fried egg’s article 

). However, I think this argument only extends so far. When you hit it as far as Koepka, you have such a short club in your hand that the angle into the green isn’t all that important.

I would suggest that the USGA pinches in the landing area as it gets farther from the tee box – so that the farther you hit it, the narrower the fairway should be. That way, bombers can take a riskier play by hitting driver, or they can lay back, which would re-emphasize having the proper angle into the flagstick. The longer guys don’t lose their advantage, but they have to really 

I think with this small change, the USGA would be in good shape to host another open here. Erin Hills has some great things going for it: the course was so pure, the state of Wisconsin was extremely welcoming, and it produced a really exciting tournament. I would be willing to sacrifice a little of the “US Open carnage” for the kind of leaderboard we saw last Sunday.

Opinion: Should the USGA return to Erin Hills?

A guide to all the players you should watch in the unlikely event they appear on TV.

Nothing says major championship like a lot of amateurs, Europeans, and mid-level Web.com tour players all somehow managing to front-, back-, and side-door their ways into the tournament. At the U.S. Open, 156 players in the field means 156 great storylines, many of which we’ll never see again. Unfortunately, golf coverage can be a little narrow-minded when it comes to major championship weeks, and many of these stories pass by unexplored.

Jordan Spieth’s 2-year major drought (eye roll)

A thorough history of the Erin Hills landscape, and the fescue

This article takes a quick look at three players’ unique stories that have caught my eye this week.

There’s nothing like qualifying for the first ever U.S. Open held in your home state, and that’s exactly what someone other than Steve Stricker did.

Niebrugge’s tough path to the PGA Tour has not inhibited his #TourSauce abilities

Jordan Niebrugge spent most of his childhood in Wisconsin and will hit the opening tee shot of the tournament at 6:45am on Thursday morning. As Tim Collamore wrote in his great U.S. Open preview, Jordan is patiently working his way through the ranks of the Mackenzie Tour (PGA Tour Canada), with a smattering of PGA Tour and Web.com events thrown in. He played the Walker Cup twice as a part of a remarkable amateur career, which included him recording the lowest total score by an amateur in Open Championship history. That piece of information could make a great trivia question — if you can remember how to pronounce Jordan’s brutishly-Midwestern last name. Good luck.

This week, he’ll play his first U.S. Open and fourth major championship (one Masters, two Opens). There’s a lot to like about this guy, and I’m cautious when it comes to making predictions, but I’ll say it wouldn’t surprise me to see him play well. Being from Wisconsin, he has played Erin Hills 10-15 times (in his own estimation), saying that most of those were in competitive settings. Undoubtedly, that makes him one of the most experienced players on this golf course.

In other news, he possesses copious amounts of wind-ignorant pop off the tee. Dial up 56 of these, please:

…



6-under thru eight holes, then this laser drive at the first. 

I’d be lying if I told you that his ball flight is ideal for courses like Erin Hills. It’s ideal for any course, ever. Hoping to see a strong showing from Jordan this week.

Up next, one of the best storylines of the week is Bryson DeChambeau’s incredible…hahaha I hope you didn’t believe that for a second.

For a spot-on description of Alex Noren, visit his website, 

. On it, you will find a singular page that reads “New website coming soon.”

That says it all. Noren has blindsided everyone—even his own website designer—with his meteoric rise in the OWGR. He is taking the whole Kuchar-backdoor-top-10 move and applying it to not just one tournament, but the whole ranking system. It’s a kind of subtle savagery unseen since the days of “World No. 1” Luke Donald. Seriously, the only thing more impressive than Noren’s recent performance is the lack of attention it’s received. He plays on the European Tour, I get it, but this dude is for real. He has won five (FIVE!) European Tour events since last July. How has Noren been able to fly so completely under the radar? I don’t know, but it won’t stay that way for long.

For those who don’t know much about Noren, he is 34 and a graduate of Oklahoma State. The general vibe around him is that he has gotten in the way of his own potential throughout his career — former Oklahoma St. head coach Mike Holder said as much in a recent interview with Tim Rosaforte. In 2014, Noren developed tendinitis in both wrists from the sheer quantity of balls he hit on the range. He was sidelined for most of that season, but maybe that was the wake-up call he needed?

In my opinion, he seems to be radiating shades of Dufner, who fought for years to get his Tour card and then exploded onto the scene with a run in 2012-2013 that culminated in a decisive PGA Championship win. I’m not 

 implying that Noren has an excellent chance to win a big one. Personally, I’d love to see him play full-time on the PGA Tour, so I have more highlight reels like this (maybe he’ll bring the commentator with him):

 at Wentworth by two shots with an incredible eagle on the 72nd hole! ?? (Video: 

In his last two U.S. Open appearances, he has missed the cut twice. Know what that means? Nothing. He’ll play well.

Sergio Garcia isn’t the only one with a chance to keep his major streak alive this weekend. Stewart Hagestad, 26-year-old amateur and former college player at Southern Cal, will compete for his second straight low amateur award at a major. Then, if he qualifies for the Open Championship in July, he could go for the trifecta of “Low-Am” at all three majors that have amateurs in the field. Call it a stretch, but I really think it’s possible.

As a self-proclaimed lifelong amateur who plans to return to business school in the fall, Stewart is a kind of layman’s hero, representing the glimmer of hope that someone who works a day job can hold his own against the pros. To be fair, he has taken a lot of time off to prepare for the Masters and now the U.S. Open, but it’s still impressive. Stewart gives a mid-major college golfer like myself some encouragement that maybe my game won’t slowly wither into disrepair after my NCAA career has ended. A man can hope.

On the other hand, Hagestad has enough money lying around so that he doesn’t have to work his day job and can still pay for his memberships at several clubs (one of which he played in the sectional qualifier). We probably aren’t as similar as I’d like to think.

Long and lanky, Stewart could be confused with Big Randy. Until he swings the club.

Something I didn’t know is that Hagestad was actually not exempt for this tournament as the 2016 Mid-Am champ. That means he stood toe-to-toe with some really, really good players last Monday in order to qualify. Add that to the list of his recent accomplishments. You hear this about a lot of players, but Stewart really seems to embrace the big stage. Maybe it’s because he knows he has to sit in class next fall.

Unquestionably, I’ll be pulling hard for him out there. On a side note, Tron and I are planning a more in-depth look at Stewart, so stay tuned for that one.

Enjoy the tournament. If you see these players on TV, watch them. And if you haven’t already, be sure to check out Tim Collamore’s full 

U.S. Open: Three stories to (probably not) watch

The US Open may not be my favorite major – that distinction belongs to the annual sensory delight delivered by the greenest place on earth AKA Augusta National – but it may be the best major. Much is made of the US Open being the greatest test in golf, provided that god doesn’t decide to stir up conditions resembling “The Perfect Storm” during the OG major on the other side of the pond. The difficulty of the tournament is both a blessing and a curse. While it’s fun to see the best players in the world tested to their limits, it’s also exhausting. As tough as it is for the players on the course, it may be that much tougher to witness them grinding so hard for four straight days. By Sunday afternoon, I feel like Michael Jordan at the end of the infamous flu game – depleted and hooked up to an IV bag of fluids. I don’t want to call myself a hero, but I’d like to see Thor crush 4 bags of Doritos in 4 days while riding on the emotional roller coaster known as the US Open.

That being said, on the spectrum of tournament setup ranging from the Bob Hope* birdie-fest to US Open carnage, I lean slightly towards the side of carnage. I like to see a course play tough but fair. I like to see good shots rewarded with looks at birdie and bad shots penalized with bogeys. I like to see players forced to think their way around the course. I don’t mind a little bit of gimmickry, (see, the greens at Chambers Bay back) because it’s interesting to see how the pros react to a deviation from the immaculate setups they usually face. It’s kind of fun to see who will adapt to atypical conditions and who will become petulant and throw professional tennis player level temper tantrums. To that end, I don’t really care about where the tournament is played, although I do appreciate a course that is both viscerally pleasing and an excellent test of golf. I know nothing at all about Erin Hills – until 2 weeks ago, I thought Erin Hills was the sideline reporter for the Orlando Magic. The most annoying part about the course choice and the setup as it pertains to the US Open is that both have a tendency to become a prominent part of the narrative during the tournament. There is truly nothing worse than when the course becomes the narrative, particularly in the Hot-Take Era.

(*NOTE: I have no idea who the current sponsor is of the Palm Springs tournament and I will call it the Bob Hope forever. I refuse to keep up with the rotating cast of corporate shills out of defiance over the number of hours I’ve had to witness some CEO regurgitate platitudes to a smiling Jim Nantz as golf action passes by, forever to remain unwatched.)

One of the other fantastic characteristics of the US Open is its propensity to elevate journeymen, amateurs, and has-beens into the fold. Whether it’s Andrew Landry, Beau Hossler, Michael Campbell, Erik Compton, or Lucas Glover (definitely unfair to include him with this company), there has been no shortage of fun underdog stories over the past dozen years. Some would actually cite this fact as a demerit against the US Open, arguing that a leaderboard light on big names makes the tournament less compelling. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I tend to think it is a bad take.

One of the reasons why golf is so compelling is because it is an individual sport, and a torturous one at that. Every golfer has battle scars. In recent years, I have discovered the joy in learning each golfer’s individual story in depth. No one gets to this level in golf without some blood, sweat and tears. As fascinating as it is to learn the backstories of the prodigious talents on tour like Mickelson, Rahm, and McIlroy,it’s also really interesting to learn about the guys who truly toiled before reaching the promised land.

Maybe some of why I’m drawn to the underdogs is due in part to my wiring. I have seen Rudy and Cool Runnings more times than Phil has seen the lobby of the sports book at Caesar’s. Nevertheless, my golf fandom became infinitely more fun when I started paying more attention to the Web Tour, the mini tours, college golf, and the perennial qualifiers. Familiarizing yourself with the fringe guys and qualifiers before the tournament starts will prime you to root for them and monitor their progress. After all, one of the beautiful parts about this game is that it is truly a meritocracy. Every stroke is earned and there is no debate about which player is the best in any particular week. The picture is clear. No tournament is more emblematic of the game of golf than the US Open given the arduous qualifying process that each player had to go through to get here. This tournament is purer than the waters of Lake Minnetonka, which I’m told by reliable sources is quite pure.

Now that I’ve gotten that off of my chest, I wanted to dive into some of the US Open pairings that caught my eye. I don’t know who is responsible for creating these pairings and what methodology is utilized, but they definitely do a good job of stirring it up.

Jordan Niebrugge, Talor Gooch, Kevin Dougherty – “The 2013-2014 Oklahoma St Cowboys”

In addition to having great names – “Gooch” and “Niebrugge” sound like euphemisms for naughty body parts – all 3 off these guys were part of the stacked 2014 Oklahoma State golf team that earned a runner up finish in the NCAA Championships, and all three are currently trying to battle their way onto the PGA Tour. Gooch is currently on the Web.com Tour and is a couple decent finishes away from earning a call-up to the big boy leagues next year. Niebrugge and Dougherty are both on the PGA Tour Canada circuit hoping to make their way up to the Web.Com tour. Niebrugge may be a familiar name to some. He finished T6 at The Open in 2015 as an amateur, which is the highest finish ever by an amateur in The Open, and also had a storied college career.

All three of these guys are a walking illustration of the incredible challenge that top college golfers face in trying to make it on the professional golf circuit. In no other professional sport is it such a struggle for top college talent to make it to the big leagues. While top rookies in baseball may be stuck in the minors for a few years and top rookies in the NBA may rot on the bench or spend some time in the D-League for a couple of seasons, they are at least earning guaranteed money. Top college golfers are forced to start from the bottom, facing an arduous series of qualifying processes and a hectic travel schedule with virtually nothing guaranteed outside of some sponsorship cash or staked entry fees, which dries up quickly without performance. Any of these guys would be a fun guy to root for, and I am betting that at least one of them will make the cut.

Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Thomas Pieters, Brooks Koepka – “The Bull Market”

If I had to go long in buying the stock of three guys from the field, these would be three solid choices. RCB is quietly becoming a force and despite a shaky stretch this past spring, is one of the most consistent players in the world. He’s also coming into the US Open hot on the heels of putting on the blue suede shoes last week in Memphis. While Koepka hasn’t made it to the winner’s circle this year, he’s been solid and has made 8 cuts in a row with 4 top 11 finishes in that stretch. Pieters is sort of the European version of Koepka, although he may actually have more potential. I’ve been burned by falling too hard for promising young Euros in the recent past (*cough* Matteo Manassero and Thorbjorn Olesen *cough*) but historical returns are not an indicator of future performance, so I’m all in on Pieters.

Henrik Stenson, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel – “Adele”

I’ve named this group “Adele” in part because it is a group of international sensations, and also because the only thing purer than Adele’s voice might be these three golf swings. This group will be a ball-striking symphony. At the same time, it would be fair to categorize 2/3 of the group as divas given their affinity for demonstrative antics. Stenson is not shy when it comes to showing his displeasure. Recent evidence supports the notion that Schwartzel is one of the more underrated head-cases on tour, between the divot middle finger incident this past week and Tron’s recent reporting of his post-round driving range self-flagellation sesh. Other groups have more brand name recognition, but for my money this might be the most entertaining group in the field.

Jimmy Walker, Justin Thomas, Paul Casey – “T Swift”

No Laying Up

Writing

Playing Through the Midnight Sun at Lofoten Links

Why I can't stop cheering for Jordan Spieth

Rahm is on the Loose at the Irish Open

Notes from the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open

Quicken Loans National: What to watch for at TPC Potomac

Opinion: Should the USGA return to Erin Hills?

U.S. Open: Three stories to (probably not) watch

2017 US Open Preview

Royal Portrush

Royal County Down

Memorial Tournament Recap

Jack Nicklaus and the Memorial: 40 Years of History

Hogan's Alley: Colonial's Tradition-Rich History

#EpicScotland Giveaway

Tron's Players Diary: Thursday

England Golf Trip, Part V: Wallasey

England Golf Trip, Part IV: Royal Liverpool

England Golf Trip, Part III: Royal Birkdale