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2008 U.S. Open
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 Rees Jones has helped restore venerable layouts such as Hazeltine, Baltusrol and Pinehurst No. 2, giving them the chance of hosting U.S. Opens in the modern golf landscape. Here, he talks about his work at Torrey Pines. Many Tour players have criticized the USGA for setting up courses that are too challenging. What do you think? The USGA works independently, whereas the PGA Tour takes advice from some of their players, so that may be what they object to. But [at Torrey Pines] the fairways aren't going to be much wider than we had for the Buick Invitational. Other than the sixth hole being a par 4 and some of the mowing heights and speeds of the greens being different, they're playing the same visual golf course - it's just going to be a firm and fast one. The players that win the Open usually praise the course. The ones that don't do as well obviously aren't as happy. What the USGA is trying to do is have a national championship; it ought to be the most difficult setup of the year. What was your opinion of the South Course before the redesign? It was sort of a combination of different people's ideas, and I think they needed to be consolidated. I think the site needed to be optimized if [the city of San Diego] wanted a U.S. Open by bringing the holes closer to the cliffs and the canyons. You initially wanted the South's par-5 18th hole to be converted to a par 4 for the U.S. Open. How do you feel about it staying a par 5? It wasn't exactly the fact that 18 should have been par 4. I just like the par 70 setup because I like around par to be the winning score - the standard of excellence. When we met there last June, they made the decision [to keep it a par 5], and I thought it was probably the right one because what they're trying to accomplish is for not just the big hitters to have an advantage on the last day. As a par 5, there are a lot more shot options for every level of player. Some have said the new back tee box on the par-5 13th is too long and it will severely limit the ability to go for the green in two. What do you think? I totally disagree. It's a downwind hole. Right now from the other tee every player is hitting it with iron, practically. The ball's just going so much farther that the tees have to go back. The players like to have the opportunity to make up ground on par with a two-shot par 5, and they'll still have that opportunity. The thing they object to is the fact they may have to lay up and have a very unusual shot from the little valley back up to the green. I think that's more of a problem than the actual length. Where does the redesign rank in your portfolio? Every one is different, but you don't get a coastal site this often to build a new golf course on. That's like a dream come true for a golf course architect - to have a chance to redesign the course almost in its entirety, except for changing the routing. It was very exciting for me. You've been characterized as the Open Doctor. A lot of that has to do with the reputation of your father, Robert Trent Jones, Sr., but also what you've done. Do you like that title? I like it. I've worked on seven Open sites. I went to my first U.S. Open at Merion in 1950, when Ben Hogan picked up the trophy and I was on the Movietone News. This was before TV - and I went to the movies every day that week because I saw myself with Ben Hogan. I learned how exciting it was to go to "Broadway in golf," that's what the U.S. Open is. It is the ultimate stage in United States golf. You can't always please everybody with the changes you make so you have to be ready to accept a little criticism, and that usually happens before the Open is played. After the Open is played, you get a lot more unified praise. Your dad passed away shortly before the redesign at Torrey Pines got under way. Were you thinking about him that much more when you began the project? He died during the week of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. That's when we met with the USGA and Jay Rains and Rich Gillette the first time and asked them what they thought if we rebuilt the course. I think that was sort of an omen. I think my dad was the best at contouring greens, and that's what he passed along to me. You're going to find that at Torrey Pines: It's got some great little terraces, transitions and tongues - those little sections, like on the left of the 12th green and the right of the 11th green - where they can hide the pins and mix up the hole locations. I really learned all that from my father, especially when he was doing all the U.S. Open courses. SG FYI: Rees Jones Best round: A 71 at Scothurst Golf Course in Lumber Bridge, North Carolina. Holes in one: Two. Favorite golf course food: Tuna fish sandwich on whole-grain bread. Favorite band: ABBA. Best memory: Attending the ’88 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., the first of his restoration projects to host an Open. |
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