Bethpage May Need to Rework No. 18 Before US Open Returns

Other than deploying the squeegee brigade, there wasn't much Bethpage superintendent Craig Currier could do about the torrential rains last week. But if the U.S. Open is to return to the Black Course -- and there's no reason to think that it won't -- the USGA might have to do something about the finishing hole.

The 18th is listed as a 411-yard uphill par 4, and the fairway is one of the lowest point on the course. Which means that a downpour will leave the landing area for tee shots virtually unplayable. The USGA's workaround? Move up the tees.

On Sunday, before the third round resumed, the Daily News reported just that.

The hole measures 411yards, but the tee could be moved up so the hole could play 250 to 325 yards. It would turn the closing hole into a drivable par-4, and the wettest part of the fairway would not be in play. The decision likely will hinge on how much more rain falls.

"That would be an interesting way to finish a round," Geoff Ogilvy said. "It's getting quite wet down on the fairway, for sure, and it wouldn't take much more rain to put it under water. That would be a fun finish actually, fun for the fans."

In general, that's a fine solution, but this is the U.S. Open, billed the "toughest test in golf." I'm not sure a 300-something-yard hole to finish the round -- or the tournament -- conveys that message. On Monday, the 18th measured 354 yards, and according to Dan Jenkins' Tweet Machine, eventual winner Lucas Glover reached the green with a 6-iron/9-iron. That's sort of embarrassing.

Golf Digest's Geoff Shackelford offers a technical fix:

A restoration of the original Tillinghast-Burbeck bunker configuration would open the door to a much needed regrading. This could introduce new sandy soil and the novel concept of surface drainage. Because the pre-Jones hole featured intriguing strategy: bend it around the left bunkers and open up a nice angle into one of the more interesting greens on the course.

Another option: just skip the Black Course's 18th and use the adjacent Red Course's finishing hole. Shackelford writes that, "The 463-yarder plays uphill to a beautiful amphitheater setting. [the USGA's Mike] Davis ... contemplated but ultimately decided against using it so that Black Course customers could experience the entire U.S. Open course."

While I'd like there to be something more challenging than a 350-yard pitch and putt between the golfers and the club house, the bigger issue is making sure the fairway isn't underwater. Obviously.