Review: Merion Golf Club (Part 1)

Yes, that Merion. No, I didn't play it.

One of the benefits of my recent move to Philadelphia is that things actually happen here. Take, for example, golf tournaments. The PGA Championship was played at Aronimink this year, and while I did not go to that, heading over to the US Amateur at Merion last month was an absolute no-brainer. Merion is just 20 minutes away, tickets were just $35, and while Aronimink is obviously an excellent, maybe even great golf course, Merion is Merion.

And so, on a sunny Saturday afternoon, my girlfriend and I made the journey across the Schuylkill to Merion to take in the semifinals. Us and several thousand other people. Yeah, record crowds attended the Amateur this year (3,000 on Friday, and I can guarantee there were plenty more than that on Saturday). Like I said, Merion is Merion.

Naturally, while I wasn't entirely uninterested in the golf itself, I did take quite a few pictures (unfortunately, since dedicated cameras weren't allowed, I had to make do with my cell phone). Walking around a golf course isn't the same thing as playing it, but I think I got at least a general idea of the strategy for a good number of holes. So, since I've got the pictures, why don't we take a look?

The first hole isn't exactly what I'd call indifferent or bad, but it's not one of Merion's best. This 360-yard par 4 doglegs hard right about a hundred yards from the green, and with bunkers surrounding the fairway there's really no reason to hit driver. You'll still have a wedge into the green, which is also surrounded by bunkers.

The first hole.

The first green.

The second hole is one of Merion's two par 5s, with this one playing hard against Ardmore Avenue. The drive is not exactly spacious, and becomes less so as a series of bunkers pinch in from the left. Also, don't expect a lot of roll on the tee shot, as the drive will land straight into a big upslope. The second shot on this 590-yard hole will be blind, with a large bunker left of the lay-up area, as well as the road and a few more small bunkers right. The green is small and surrounded by four small bunkers. None of the amateurs went for the green in two, and while I'm sure someone out there could manage it, this hole feels like a very three-shot affair, one in which you have to plan and carefully execute each shot.

The second hole.

The third hole is a big par 3, playing 220 yards for the amateurs — though it can play well over 250 yards. The green is perched on the far side of a valley, with a very deep bunker front right. Front left isn't much better, as you'll end up with an awkward chip from a terrible stance. The strategy here is simple: Aim for the middle of the green and hope you can two-putt on an admittedly quite undulating green.

The third hole.

The fourth hole is the second of Merion's two par 5s, playing 620 yards with a tee shot over a valley to a fairway that quickly vanishes over the top of the far ridge. You basically want to aim right over the top of that little bunker between tee and fairway and let the fairway's natural slope feed the ball back down to the left. A poor drive that finds the rough or one of the blind fairway bunkers (usually a no-no, design-wise, but Merion didn't become great by following the rules) brings a massive Sahara-like bunker about 200 yards from the green into play on the second shot. A good drive will let you clear that bunker easily, and will let you lay up in prime position about a hundred yards short. The third shot is over a small stream to a large green ringed by many small bunkers.

The fourth hole.

The fourth green.

The sixteenth hole gets all the attention, but the fifth is arguably the best hole at Merion, and I made sure to focus on it; I watched both matches play the hole from a vantage point near the green. 

The hole plays just over 500 yards and turns subtly around a small stream that guards the entire left side. The fairway is banked heavily from right to left toward the stream, but the slope is decidedly less the closer you get to the water. The safe play is out to the right, but that leaves you with a worse stance and angle into the green. All four golfers during the semifinals chose to play relatively safely, giving the stream a wide berth. By doing this, they had to directly challenge the single, well-placed bunker about 15 yards short and just right of the green. It may be 2026, and we may be talking about the best amateur golfers in the world, but the ground game is still relevant.

Anyway, the green. Like the rest of the hole, it's tilted from right to left, and it is firm too. A long iron simply will not hold if the ball lands on the green. And with the stream lurking just a few feet from the green, you do want to play out to the right and let the slope bring the ball in toward the flag. Of the four golfers, one managed to play the second shot just right, landing his approach just over the front bunker and letting it release something like 40 yards out to the hole. He missed the 15-foot birdie putt, but he didn't need it; his opponent had already missed his par attempt.

The fifth probably isn't quite the greatest long par 4 in the world (an honor that likely rests with the Road hole at St. Andrews), but to be the best hole at one of the best courses on Earth puts it in pretty rarified air. I missed out on some golf to take this hole in properly, but I think it was worth it.

The fifth hole.

Approaching the fifth green.

The fifth green.

The sixth hole is 480 yards and plays to a mostly blind fairway tilted from right to left, continuing on in the same valley from the previous hole. There are two bunkers left (that you can see from the tee), so both the tilt and slope of the fairway favor a fade on the tee shot. A good drive will leave you with a mid-iron or something similar for the second shot, which is slightly uphill and plays to a green which is guarded by three bunkers and a false front.

The sixth hole.

The seventh is the start of a funky seven-hole stretch where no hole exceeds 400 yards. Not exactly what you'd expect from a US Open site, but when the property is as restrictive as Merion's, you make do with what you've got. This hole is 365 yards, with OB closely guarding the entire right side. But there's only one fairway bunker, and it's well back (acting more as a stopper for wayward golf balls coming at the nearby fourth tee), so there's really nothing stopping you from using driver. You can get pretty close to the green too; however, doing so will leave you with an incredibly awkward and difficult pitch up a 20-foot slope and over the corner of a deep bunker. The green too is quite difficult, with a swale running through the middle. The best play here is restraint, using a long iron or fairway wood to find a flattish plateau about a hundred yards out from the green. That gives you the best chance to get close on the second shot.

The seventh hole.

The eighth hole is essentially the same length as the previous hole, and while on the surface they might seem quite similar, in execution they are very different. The fairway here makes an S-shaped curved between two large fairway bunkers, putting emphasis on distance control on the tee shot. You have to be on the fairway to reasonably approach this green, as it's separated from the rest of the hole by a large bunker front left and a ditch in front and to the right. The green is small and sloped hard from back left to front right; if you miss the green, you're going to be working very hard to make par.

Approaching the eighth green.

The eighth green.

The ninth hole is another big par 3, this one playing 230 yards — at least this hole is downhill. Bad news, the green, while quite large in theory, looks pretty tiny out in the distance, surrounded by water in front and bunkers everywhere else. The green is also very undulating, being one of the wildest greens on the course. Is it an incredibly difficult tee shot? Yes, but so long as you don't end up short, the worst you should make here is a bogey.

The ninth hole.

The ninth green.

That's it for this week, next week we'll take a look at the back nine.