Rich Beem recalls 2004 US Open and discusses Shinnecock Hills test
Wednesday 13 June 2018 12:32, UK
Rich Beem shares his memories of the last time the US Open came to Shinnecock Hills and looks at the challenges players will face this week in Long Island.
My US Open record is sensational. I've played in eight of them, missed the cut in seven of them and the one cut I did make I finished last! It was just remarkable that the USGA kept inviting me back really!
The layout back in 2004 was an absolute blast, but conditions-wise it was the most penal of golf courses I've ever played other than Oakmont.
I remember it being a golf course that was pretty amazing. I thought to myself that I would love to play this golf course on any other week of the year, just not this one!
It was just ridiculously hard. I've been looking through some of the holes and I don't remember a ton of them, but I know they've changed quite a bit with 400 yards added here and there.
If we tried to solve our child's algebra problem we would fail miserably, just like we failed miserably trying to figure out how to hit the seventh green that year!
That was the biggest joke of them all. I thought the course was pretty fair but was pretty baked out and they took this golf course to the edge and beyond. It was just obnoxiously difficult.
There were places where if you hit it there was no chance of stopping it on the green. The closest you could get it to some of the flags were in the bunkers and you knew it would stop on the sand, but if it landed on grass you weren't entirely sure where it would end up.
Live US Open Golf: On the Range
I kind of see a little of that this year because they've shaved some of the edges and I know it's supposed to blow on Thursday, so if they let the golf course get away from them again it could be a little scary.
This is going to play about as close to links golf as we have in the United States, it's an old-school golf course. It is all about your second shots here and you're not going to land it on every green.
You're going to have to use your imagination to get around this golf course, which is why Phil Mickelson loves this place so much. You have to have the mindset that it's going to be brutal on every single hole.
You need to be completely focused mentally and you have to expect a bad break here and there. You've got shaved-off areas, you've got rough to contend with and it offers a right mixed bag. It's just one of those things.
Live US Open Golf
Mother nature is going to provide us with warm and dry weather all week, which is only going to make the course firmer and faster. This is going to be a real test.
Watch the US Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports US Open. Live coverage begins with the On the Range show on Wednesday from 8pm.
