Merion Golf Club, home-base for the 2013 US Open golf championship, not just has a status as one of the top golf courses around the world, but its saga is really exceptional. When the club membership in 1910 decided to construct a brand new course, they selected a club member who was 32 years old and had not designed one golf course. To think that a person who was on his first piece of work would create such a stunning success that would host five Opens within the next 100 years is really remarkable. Positioned a little west of Philadelphia, there exists an East and West Course, but what we are going to discuss now will be the East Course, the first of the two constructed and the one where the tournaments are held.
Hugh Wilson is the designer who was from Scotland, a member as well as an excellent golfer. First thing he would do was tour England and Scotland for seven months studying and playing the celebrated golf courses of the time that had been there. When you walk Merion during the Open or watch it in the media, you'll likely make out some of the features that you will discern in old courses in Great Britain. Probably the most notable will be the bunkers; the 120 steep-faced bunkering can be quite reminiscent of just what you will see in Great Britain.
The other remarkable thing regarding this great golf course is how tight it is. It was initially constructed on only 126 acres, as in comparison to some which might be 300 acres and more. The initial course was around 6500 yards, and subsequent to the 1981 U.S. Open it had been believed that the small space might make this great golf course obsolete for future Open tournaments. Not only were most professionals able to overpower some of the shorter holes, but bigger galleries and corporate tents required more room. Concerns became alleviated when additional adjacent real estate was then purchased, lengthening the course to its present almost 7000 yards.
Merion Golf Club has had a major impact on several of the golf greats, but two of the all-time premier players stand out. For Bobby Jones, the 1916 U.S. Amateur was the first time Jones appeared in a national competition at 14 years of age. In 1924 he would be triumphant in his first U.S. Amateur victory, as well as in 1930 Jones finished winning the "Grand Slam" of golf by winning that year's U.S. Amateur, every one at the Merion Golf Club's East Course. Seven weeks later Bobby Jones retired from competitive golf at 28 years of age.
The other great player who made golf history at Merion was Ben Hogan. He won the 1950 U.S. Open in one among the great athletic achievements of all time, playing 16 months following a head-on crash with a bus that nearly killed him. He somehow won in a playoff, playing through incredible pain while still recovering from the accident. Really one among the great moments in sports history.
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