ARDMORE, PENNSYLVANIA | In 2013, the U.S. Open trophy was hoisted at venerable Merion Golf Club by champion Justin Rose, and this week the Curtis Cup will be lifted by those whose faces are patriotically painted for either GB&I or the USA.
One thing shared by Rose and 16 of the world’s best female amateurs is that they will be playing the Hugh Wilson-designed East Course, recently restored by Philadelphia local Gil Hanse, in similar course conditions June 10-12.
That similarity is real because of the USGA’s data-driven course-setup strategy that began in the mid-2000s. The governing body has numbers to back up its decisions for fairway width, rough height, green speeds, and hole locations. The USGA has measured and logged how the championship courses are played with precision and an intention to test physical skills and mental tenacity as well as efficient course management.
The philosophy also blends seamlessly with the restoration by Hanse that focused on a playable course for membership that simultaneously provided skilled elite players with crucial decisions on driving lines, club selection, and shot-making on the layout with famously undulating greens.
“The concept is to try to set up the course to be similar to the U.S. Open,” said Rachel Sadowski, the USGA’s Curtis Cup director. “We want to have the players use the same clubs as the U.S. Open, and have similar hole locations. The green speeds in 2013 were at about 14 (feet on the Stimpmeter), and we are aiming for about 12 for the Curtis Cup. But we always remember the number one thing is the challenge of the golf course.”
Any of the 19 previous individual or team champions from the enviable litany of major golf events hosted by Merion that stretches over 13 consecutive decades would attest to that challenge. The list of winners includes Chick Evans, Bob Jones, Dorothy Porter, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Leigh Ann Hardin and Rickie Fowler.
Georgianna Bishop, the winner of the 1904 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Merion Cricket Club, surely did not face what the 42nd Curtis Cup Match players will see in playing conditions.
“I was awestruck. It was so pristine, and the layout is so unique,” said USA team member Emilia Migliaccio, 23, of Cary, North Carolina, who saw Merion for the first time at a practice session in early May.
Migliaccio, who played on the winning American team in 2021 in Wales and is a two-time All-American at Wake Forest, loved the driving angles and undulating greens … and the history.
“The most I’ve heard about Merion was the last few years when there was talk that the Curtis Cup was going to be here,” she said. “People were saying, ‘It’s one of my favorite courses; it has so much history.’ I was intrigued by all the history that’s a part of the golf course. And hearing that the clubhouse is so close to the first tee, and you can hear silverware clink when you are putting your ball in the ground.
“Those were the first things I heard. When I got here (in May), we had a tour of the clubhouse. We got to see the archives and all the old clubs and outfits along with the balls, clubs, trinkets, and scorecards. It was so cool. All the antique golf stuff is fascinating to me.”
"Players will have to do some work in their practice rounds to see where they can be aggressive. We’ll have 3 inches of primary rough, and drive placements will be key for the undulating greens.”
RACHEL SADOWSKI
In essence, the history of the club is accentuated because of the quality of the East Course and how the past events played out. The USGA’s Sadowski wants the “stage” to be as grand as it has been before.
“It’s a fantastic match-play course,” she said. “Players will have to do some work in their practice rounds to see where they can be aggressive. We’ll have 3 inches of primary rough, and drive placements will be key for the undulating greens.”
She cites hole-location selection as being “somewhat deliberate based on the format of play for that particular session. We want the players to have decisions to make based on who is hitting the next shot in foursomes, or if one player can be more aggressive than the other in four-ball.”
Migliaccio believes that match-play hole locations emphasize the physical and mental tests.
“You can be more challenged, but you almost have a different level of boldness,” she said. “It might be a tucked flag, but I am just going to go at it because I am 1 down? The hole locations are more challenging, but in match play you put yourself out there more, rather than stroke play, where you go for the middle of the greens.”
So how will the classic finishing stretch of Merion look at the Curtis Cup?
“No. 15 is one of the most challenging greens, so in looking at hole locations, choosing the right length for the hole was very important,” Sadowski said. “Looking at 16, there is a ton of tee length there, so we have options to make sure players do have the right clubs into that green, which is important given the topography of that green and the placement of the hole locations on a given match. No. 17 will be the longest par-3 the players see all week, and we see another iconic and characteristic green surface adding to that challenge. On all the finishing holes, we’ll look forward to seeing where the players try to place their approaches to not short-side themselves.”
Sadowski used the short par-4 11th, with its creek- and bunker-protected green, as another prime example of Merion’s quality for match play. It certainly stands out in history because the 11th is where Bob Jones closed out Gene Homans, 8 and 7, to win the U.S. Amateur and complete the Grand Slam on September 27, 1930. Merion members commemorate that feat every year with a formal ceremony.
“I don’t necessarily think that is the hardest hole, but it certainly stands out to me like a hole where the drive placement will be instrumental in setting up the approach, even though they shouldn’t have more than about 120 yards in, on average,” Sadowski said. “No. 11 green is narrow and well protected on both sides, with bunkering and the creek. I think many holes are great match-play holes, but there are so many great holes it’s hard to pick out just one.”
Notes: In 1954, the only previous time the Curtis Cup Match was contested at Merion, the captain of the winning U.S. team was Merion club member Edith Flippin. … One of the co-medalists at the 1904 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Merion, its first USGA championship (with a score of 93), was Harriot Curtis who along with sister Margaret provided the impetus for the international match named in their honor. … No other club or course in the U.S. has hosted as many USGA championships/team events as Merion (18). And there are more in the future: the 2026 U.S. Amateur, the 2034 and 2046 U.S. Women’s Opens, as well as the 2030 and 2050 U.S. Opens, to mark the 100th anniversaries of Bob Jones’ completion of the Grand Slam in 1930 and Ben Hogan’s return from the car crash to win in 1950, respectively.
Top: Drive placement will be important in setting up approach to the well-guarded 11th green, where Bobby Jones clinched his Grand Slam at the U.S. Amateur in 1930.
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