118th US Open Walking Thread, presented by Johnnie Walker

[Chef2]

U.S. Open 2018: U.S. Open tee times - Golf Digest

Delighted the USGA (don't even know if they did it on purpose or not), but Andrew Johnston in a group with Daniel Berger, so you can have the delicious Beef Berger pairing.

Some dandies. DJ with Thomas and Tiger. Koepka with Day and Bubba. Rory with Spieth and Phil. Rickie with Matsuyama and Leishman. Sergio with Rahm and Rafa.

Metamucil pairing of Stricker, Els, Furyk.

Bombers pairing of Woodland, List and Finau.

 

[Deskgrunt50]

The good news? Lots and lots of coverage. The bad news? The Fox golf broadcasts haven't been good.

Round 1, Thursday, June 14: 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on FS1; 4:30-7:30 p.m. FOX

Round 2, Friday, June 15: 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on FS1; 4:30-7:30 p.m. FOX

Round 3, Saturday, June 16: 11 a.m.-7:30 p.m. FOX; 4-7:30 p.m. FOX Deportes

Round 4, Sunday, June 17: 10 a.m.-7 p.m. FOX; 4-7 p.m. FOX Deportes

 

[Chef2]

The good news? Lots and lots of coverage. The bad news? The Fox golf broadcasts haven't been good.

Round 1, Thursday, June 14: 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on FS1; 4:30-7:30 p.m. FOX

Round 2, Friday, June 15: 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on FS1; 4:30-7:30 p.m. FOX

Round 3, Saturday, June 16: 11 a.m.-7:30 p.m. FOX; 4-7:30 p.m. FOX Deportes

Round 4, Sunday, June 17: 10 a.m.-7 p.m. FOX; 4-7 p.m. FOX Deportes

I've thought their on course audio has actually been pretty good. Announcers have been sketchy, but even at sketchy, it's a damn sight better than it was at Chambers Bay.

 

[playthrough]

U.S. Open 2018: U.S. Open tee times - Golf Digest

Delighted the USGA (don't even know if they did it on purpose or not), but Andrew Johnston in a group with Daniel Berger, so you can have the delicious Beef Berger pairing.

Some dandies. DJ with Thomas and Tiger. Koepka with Day and Bubba. Rory with Spieth and Phil. Rickie with Matsuyama and Leishman. Sergio with Rahm and Rafa.

Metamucil pairing of Stricker, Els, Furyk.

Bombers pairing of Woodland, List and Finau.

Supposedly in recent years they were getting away from cutesy pairings (didn't they catch flak for a group with Kevin Stadler and two other portly types one year?), but Beef Berger is fantastic. Love the Metamucil group too.

Good story about the NHL ref qualifying.

 

[Chef2]

Supposedly in recent years they were getting away from cutesy pairings (didn't they catch flak for a group with Kevin Stadler and two other portly types one year?), but Beef Berger is fantastic. Love the Metamucil group too.

Good story about the NHL ref qualifying.

Fat Boy Pairing-2014 US Open

Kevin Stadler
Shane Lowry
Brendon De Jonge

De Jonge laughed it off. Jr. Stads and Lowry......not so much.

 

[Double Down]

The good news? Lots and lots of coverage. The bad news? The Fox golf broadcasts haven't been good.

Round 1, Thursday, June 14: 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on FS1; 4:30-7:30 p.m. FOX

Round 2, Friday, June 15: 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on FS1; 4:30-7:30 p.m. FOX

Round 3, Saturday, June 16: 11 a.m.-7:30 p.m. FOX; 4-7:30 p.m. FOX Deportes

Round 4, Sunday, June 17: 10 a.m.-7 p.m. FOX; 4-7 p.m. FOX Deportes

Totally disagree. FOX was **** in year one and has been dramatically better since. CBS coverage is atrocious compared to FOX.

 

[Deskgrunt50]

It's fine to disagree. It's become better since the abomination at Chambers Bay. But it's still meh.

Not a Joe Buck hater at all. But he doesn't have to call everything.

 

[playthrough]

Totally disagree. FOX was **** in year one and has been dramatically better since. CBS coverage is atrocious compared to FOX.

I take Nantz over Buck, over-syrupy and all, because he's such an encyclopedia of golf. But I'll give Fox the edge on analysts with Faxon and Azinger. Too many of CBS' voices are very stale, like Ian Baker-Finch -- delightful guy, completely useless broadcaster.

Among the women, Amanda Balionis is light years better than Holly Sonders, and Dottie Pepper is excellent.

 

[MileHigh]

Totally disagree. FOX was **** in year one and has been dramatically better since. CBS coverage is atrocious compared to FOX.

This is ridiculous. Take CBS all day and night over Fox.

We are all in agreement that Chambers Bay will always be the ****show of golf coverage. Nothing could top it.

 

[MileHigh]

Also, a reminder: No dumb-ass 18-hole playoff on Monday. It's two holes.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

This is ridiculous. Take CBS all day and night over Fox.

We are all in agreement that Chambers Bay will always be the ****show of golf coverage. Nothing could top it.

Chambers Bay was an all-around ****show. USGA ****ed it up as much or more than did Fox. BTW, watched Women's Open coverage on Fox last week, They still suck.

 

[Deskgrunt50]

I always liked the 18-hole playoff. Unique. Always thought it was a better way than sudden death or a 2, 3, or 4 hole aggregate.

I think the last US Open playoff was Tiger's win in 2008. Naturally, this one will be a playoff now that they've changed it.

 

[da man]

I always liked the 18-hole playoff. Unique. Always thought it was a better way than sudden death or a 2, 3, or 4 hole aggregate.

I think the last US Open playoff was Tiger's win in 2008. Naturally, this one will be a playoff now that they've changed it.

I liked the 18-hole playoff, too.

 

[Double Down]

This is ridiculous. Take CBS all day and night over Fox.

We are all in agreement that Chambers Bay will always be the ****show of golf coverage. Nothing could top it.

This is an outdated narrative. It's like saying "The Jaguars sucked in 2015, so they must suck now."

Fox was garbage at Chambers but really good at Oakmont during the rules fiasco and good at Erin Hills during a mostly blah US Open.

CBS' coverage is truly lazy and bad in almost every way. It's just familiar. Fox uses technology that CBS simply refuses to use. TopTracer on every tee, and from the fairways, and green mapping that is way better than CBS. Fox doesn't bring Jack up into the book to masturbate for 20 minutes, nor does it completely miss important shots the way CBS does (like Cantley making a hole-in-one last week, which they DID NOT EVEN HAVE VIDEO OF).

Azinger and Faxon are so much better than Faldo. Azinger works so much harder and is so much more insightful. They just showed an entire Women's US Open without commercials, which is an incredible feat. Meanwhile Dustin Johnson, the world's No. 1 player, shot a 29 on the front 9 at Riv this year, and CBS didn't have any coverage of it. At all. They didn't even have highlights of it, that's how hard they dropped the ball.

More recent: The way CBS ****ed up the coverage of Spieth's run at the Masters was unforgivable. The fact that they went to commercial as he was about to hit his second shot into 13 was insane, and the fact that we never heard any of his pre-shot conversation with Greller (it was only available on the featured group streaming) was ridiculous. The way they ****ed up the PGA Championship last year (not showing and of Kisner's shots down the stretch until JT won) was ridiculous. They literally cannot show live golf. Their motto ought to be "Just a moment ago...."

CBS without Tiger to be the primary driver of the narrative is totally lost. I was down on FOX as much as anyone, but they're so much better than tired ass CBS at this point. FOX strived to get better, while CBS is happy to be totally complacent.

 

[lcjjdnh]

I always liked the 18-hole playoff. Unique. Always thought it was a better way than sudden death or a 2, 3, or 4 hole aggregate.

I think the last US Open playoff was Tiger's win in 2008. Naturally, this one will be a playoff now that they've changed it.

I like it in theory...but of course it’s hard to actually watch 18 holes on Monday if you have a job with normal hours.

 

[lcjjdnh]

This is an outdated narrative. It's like saying "The Jaguars sucked in 2015, so they must suck now."

Fox was garbage at Chambers but really good at Oakmont during the rules fiasco and good at Erin Hills during a mostly blah US Open.

CBS' coverage is truly lazy and bad in almost every way. It's just familiar. Fox uses technology that CBS simply refuses to use. TopTracer on every tee, and from the fairways, and green mapping that is way better than CBS. Fox doesn't bring Jack up into the book to masturbate for 20 minutes, nor does it completely miss important shots the way CBS does (like Cantley making a hole-in-one last week, which they DID NOT EVEN HAVE VIDEO OF).

Azinger and Faxon are so much better than Faldo. Azinger works so much harder and is so much more insightful. They just showed an entire Women's US Open without commercials, which is an incredible feat. Meanwhile Dustin Johnson, the world's No. 1 player, shot a 29 on the front 9 at Riv this year, and CBS didn't have any coverage of it. At all. They didn't even have highlights of it, that's how hard they dropped the ball.

More recent: The way CBS ****ed up the coverage of Spieth's run at the Masters was unforgivable. The fact that they went to commercial as he was about to hit his second shot into 13 was insane, and the fact that we never heard any of his pre-shot conversation with Greller (it was only available on the featured group streaming) was ridiculous. The way they ****ed up the PGA Championship last year (not showing and of Kisner's shots down the stretch until JT won) was ridiculous. They literally cannot show live golf. Their motto ought to be "Just a moment ago...."

CBS without Tiger to be the primary driver of the narrative is totally lost. I was down on FOX as much as anyone, but they're so much better than tired ass CBS at this point. FOX strived to get better, while CBS is happy to be totally complacent.

Great analysis.

One thing I think hurts Fox (in golf, and other sports): the graphics--even when providing better information than elsewhere--always just sort of look somewhat unpolished and unprofessional.

 

[Deskgrunt50]

Fox uses technology that CBS simply refuses to use. TopTracer on every tee, and from the fairways, and green mapping that is way better than CBS.

Agreed here. Love the technology advancements in golf, regardless of who is broadcasting the event.

As a golf fan, the shot tracer is on par with the yellow first-down line on football broadcasts.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

OBTW, John Smoltz qualified for Senior US Open.

I think Fox well-outshines CBS, esp. in the commentary department. Not a huge Faxxon fan, but Azinger is tremendous.

I do love me some Dottie Pepper.

 

[I Should Coco]

Chambers Bay was an all-around ****show. USGA ****ed it up as much or more than did Fox. BTW, watched Women's Open coverage on Fox last week, They still suck.

I'm guessing the on-site fan experience will be much better this week, too. Quite a few issues at Chambers Bay, from getting around the course to literally running out of food/drinks mid-afternoon.

 

[trifectarich]

Never been to Cypress Point, but if I had only one course I could play for the rest of my life, Shinnecock Hills would be in my top three choices. It's as pure as it gets. Take away all the U.S. Open infrastructure and when you stand next to the clubhouse and look out over the terrain, you can easily sense that 100 years ago, someone standing in the same place saw exactly the same thing. The 11th is a world-class par 3 (no one builds uphill par 3s anymore), and the closing holes on each side are phenomenal.