LOS ANGELES — “The course is spectacular. I can’t think of a hole that I don’t like.”
“It makes you think.”
“It’s just a big-boy golf course.”
Like a summer blockbuster making its Hollywood premiere, Los Angeles Country Club is in the spotlight this week as the ultra-exclusive club – ranked No. 2 among private courses in California – makes its U.S. Open debut. Most players had little knowledge of the course before they arrived on property, but the reviews are rolling in: so far, so good.
A handful of competitors in this week’s championship have pointed out how the setup differs from that of a usual U.S. Open, and most players say they will enjoy the unique test to be handed out by LACC.
From past champions like Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka to local qualifiers like Olin Browne Jr. and Uber driver Berry Henson, here’s what players are saying about Los Angeles Country Club.
Jon Rahm
“I like playing in California. I have a pretty good record, and I’m glad that this early in my career, I’m getting to play another U.S. Open here in this state. Magnificent golf course. It’s a great venue.”
“Played a few years ago here, and the golf course has changed quite a bit since. Obviously a little more difficult than it was 10 years ago. But still a great golf course, great design, has the potential to be one of the best U.S. Opens we’ve seen.”
“I think it’s deceptively wide. Those fairways look bigger than they play. You still need to strike it really well tee to green to be able to give yourself some looks at birdie.”
“Like I said, it’s a design that I like. It makes you think. It’s very intricate green complexes. You’ve got to play the angles a little bit, and especially if you miss the greens, you’re going to find yourself in some interesting spots to get up-and-down.”
“There is certain flow to the golf course in a U.S. Open that we haven’t seen before. That I haven’t … Yeah, I think it’s a bit different, and it’s fun. You’ll see a lot of birdies, and I think you also you see some high numbers come out of nowhere.”
“I think it’s going to be really fun for us, especially those guys I play with, obviously, and I think it’s going to really be fun for these spectators to see on TV because it’s quite different to what we usually see.”
Cameron Smith
“The course looks a little bit different to I guess what we’re used to in a U.S. Open venue, but nonetheless, pretty challenging, and yeah, should set up for a good week, I think.”
“I guess we’re used to that kind of really thick, juicy rough. It’s a little bit different here. I think the Bermuda rough, I think you can get kind of lucky or unlucky. There’s patches out there where they’re actually quite thin and you can get away with kind of a bad shot and other patches where if you’re in there it’s no good at all. I think that’s a little bit different.”
“I think the way you go through the hills there a few times, there’s lots of shots where you almost have to work the ball into the hill. It’s a really good challenge. But I think that Bermuda rough is definitely a little bit different. Typically we’re playing in the northeast and get that really dense kind of wet rough.”
Collin Morikawa
“I have been able to come out here, see it a few times this year, but finally seeing it yesterday for the first time, completely different, in a good way. It still has the structure of what it is, but the rough being up, the course playing a little firmer, being in tournament conditions, it obviously plays a little different.”
“It’s been great to see it as a course at a major championship. Yes, I do think the scores are going to be — there’s going to be a lot of variance to the scores. There are still birdie holes out here, no doubt about that. The par 5s are very gettable, but you have to keep it in the fairway.”
“I think we’ve all seen it this week, just like a lot of U.S. Opens, you throw a ball in the rough, it’s kind of hit or miss, roll the dice. Are we going to get a good lie or a bad lie? It’s going to be on us to hopefully find out certain spots can we get lucky in the rough, is it a little thinner than some other places.”
“It’s a big golf course. I think yesterday I played the front nine, played a few holes on the back, and I hit a lot of 4- and 5-irons into par 4s.”
“There’s a drastic change of short holes to long holes that I think the par-3s are some of the most challenging. Yes, some of them are very long. I think the USGA is going to be great about moving tee boxes around to where we’re not hitting 5-woods.”
“But it’s just a big-boy golf course. It really is. You’ve got to hit good shots, especially with how penal the rough is. You’ve got to hit it in the fairways. It’s what you want for a major championship.”
Brooks Koepka
“Yeah, I’ve only seen the front nine,” he said Tuesday. “I haven’t seen the back. I’ll go see that today. I was told the back nine, the rough is a little bit deeper. Some long par 3s, I do know that.”
“But it’s a tough golf course. These bunkers are incredibly soft, which I’ve found quite interesting. If you’re in these fairway bunkers, it’s extremely penalizing because you’re not going to get a good lie, number one, and it’s not like the ball is going to funnel to the middle of the bunker.”
“If it goes into the lip it’s going to stay there. It could plug. Or if it gets in the back, the rough around these bunkers is quite difficult, too, so it’s never going to quite chase in.”
“You can get some interesting lies. You’ve really got to pay attention to where your misses are. You can be a little aggressive off some of the tee lines, but I don’t think on the front that it’s too rewarding. You can kind of play it safe.”
“But 6 is going to be interesting. You could see anything from a 7 to possibly a 2. It’ll be a fun hole to just stand on and watch. If I was watching, that’s where I’d go stand.”
Scottie Scheffler
“It’s got a good mix of holes where you have some of those holes that you really need to get after, and then you have other holes out here where you’re kind of hanging on. You’re hitting a lot of different clubs into greens and it gives you a lot of options, and it’s a really good test.”
“Yeah, the golf course — I feel like the front nine is a bit easier than the back. The front nine hole you have hole 6, you have hole 8 that are very gettable. You have hole 1 that is very gettable.”
“Then let me think. Like 3 is another wedge hole where the fairway is pretty wide. So there’s definitely some opportunity on the front. As you turn, you get 10 that’s a wedge, and then the golf course kind of just hits you and you’ve got to play — I think 11 through 18 is probably the toughest stretch on the course.”
“I mean, 11 obviously being such a big par-3 and then 12 if you don’t put the ball in the fairway you pretty much can’t hit it on the green, and so you’re fighting for par.”
“I think 12 is probably one of my favorite holes out here. I think it’s just a great design.”
“Then 13 through 18, there’s really not much to say. There’s just a lot of long, hard, difficult holes.”
Patrick Cantlay
“I played golf at UCLA just right down the road for a couple years, so played here dozens of times. They had announced the tournament I think around then, so it’s been a long wait to get here, and it’s going to be great. I think it’ll be a good test. It looks like it’s going to be in good shape and we’re going to get good weather.”
“I feel like we haven’t played a lot of Bermuda U.S. Opens. That’s a little different. Then also, we haven’t seen fairways maybe this wide. But I don’t think these fairways will play particularly wide.”
“I think there’s just more an extreme collection of really tough holes and then birdieable holes. I think some of the par-5s, like 8 and then the drivable hole, 6, although they kind of tricked that up so it’ll play I think more difficult than it ever has for sure, there’s just holes where you feel like you should definitely make birdies and give yourself looks.”
“There’s some early wedges you can get; 1 you can get. But then there are some really hard holes, and if you’re not playing from the fairway they can get really difficult.”
“I think the harder holes may be harder and the easier holes may be a little bit easier than a standard U.S. Open.”
Olin Browne Jr.
“I’ve been here a few days. The course is spectacular. I can’t think of a hole that I don’t like. It’s fun to play. It’s hard. It’s big. If you hit it in the right places, it’s playable. If you hit it in the wrong places, you’re going to struggle. Around the greens, around the bunkers is very, very difficult. It’s going to be difficult to run the ball up around the greens. You’re not going to be able to just hit it willy-nilly. You’re going to have to pick your spots and play to proper places.”
Berry Henson
“Amazing. I mean, what a test of golf this is going to be. This golf course sitting in the middle of LA, you don’t realize how many undulations there are and the riverbeds and how natural it is.”
“It tests — every major championship is going to test all aspects of your game, but this week definitely as the course starts to dry up and get firm and fast, which I think the USGA wants to do, then it’s going to be very difficult to get the ball close and very difficult to make some birdies out there.”
Max Homa
“I hope it’s carnage. I hope it’s a typical U.S. Open. This golf course lends itself to that. It’s generous enough off the tee, and it’s kind of a second-shot golf course in a way.”
“You can get around here probably hitting a lot of shots from the fairway, but you’re going to have to hit really quality shots. The greens are severe, and if they keep getting firmer and faster I think it’ll be a really good test. I think it will be really fair.”
“I think it’ll be a great test of all areas of your golf, and it will really show a quality shot will go to a good spot, and one that’s not great is going to go to a bad spot and you’re going to see a lot of silliness go on.”
“This venue is awesome for a U.S. Open.”
