Erin Hills: Unplayable - and that’s just the grass!

It must be US Open week because the pros took one look at Erin Hills, site of the 117th US Open, and you heard more bellyaching than a hospital emergency room.

It usually takes one practice shot from the heavy rough for them to pronounce the course unplayable. On cue, Kevin Na posted a video on Instagram where he dropped a ball in the wispy fescue grass and struggled to find it let alone advance it. Na characterized the fescue as “almost unplayable.” Later, Billy Foster, the longtime caddie of Lee Westwood, emerged from the fescue on his belly in another video, lifted a ball in the air and proudly proclaimed, “Found it!”

The cacophony of complaints is a tradition as long as the U.S. Open final round being played on Father’s Day. Michael Hurdzan, one of the three architects who combined to design Erin Hills, took to Twitter with his retort: “Dear Kevin, Don’t hit it in the rough. Problem solved. Sincerely, Planet Earth.”