Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course won’t play like most other U.S. Open host sites. Originally designed by George C. Thomas and opened in 1928, then restored in 2010, LACC will offer wider fairways with a greater emphasis on strategy than many recent Open courses.
The team of Gil Hanse, Jim Wagner, Geoff Shackelford and several top assistants cleared out loads of trees during that 2010 restoration, allowing the course to play as Thomas intended. That means players must be on the proper side of a given fairway to attack flags on various portions of the greens – even a good swing from the wrong angle can result in a missed green.
Many holes feature greens with bunkers carved into the putting surface – it’s entirely possible to have to pitch from a putting surface, over a bunker and back onto a green, or to have to putt around the trap and accept your fate.
And don’t consider all that width off the tee to be necessarily easy. Many of the fairways feature dramatic slopes, forcing players to consider accuracy to a preferred high spot in the fairway over raw distance that might result in a steep approach shot.
Take a look at photos of all 18 holes below, with a brief description of each.
No. 1 LACC North
Par 5, 578 yards. The downhill opening hole will be reachable in two shots for most…
Par 5, 578 yards. The downhill opening hole will be reachable in two shots for most of the U.S. Open field. The green is protected by a single bunker front-left and slopes from front to back, making it difficult to stop an approach with a long iron or fairway wood (the included photo was shot from behind the green). (Bill Hornstein/USGA)
No. 4 LACC North
Par 3, 229 yards. The long downhill par 3, playing adjacent to Lionel Richie’s mansion, requires…
Par 3, 229 yards. The long downhill par 3, playing adjacent to Lionel Richie’s mansion, requires a precise long iron or possibly a hybrid over a ditch to a green that slopes down from back to front and is protected by bunkers on either side. (John Mummert/USGA)
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golfweek…