The hole is playing 165 yards. Reed’s ball one-hopped into the hole, while Zalatoris took a different approach. His ball bounced four times before gently rolling up to the cup and then falling in from the left side.
They are the 46th and 47th holes-in-one recorded in U.S. Open history, and the first aces of the 2020-21 PGA Tour season. At the 1989 U.S. Open, Doug Weaver, Mark Wiebe, Jerry Pate and Nick Price set a championship record when they all aced the 159-yard par 3, 6th hole at Oak Hill.
For Reed it’s his first ace since 2015 and helped him to a first-round 66. Zalatoris currently leads the Korn Ferry Tour points list.
After Jordan Spieth’s first round at Winged Foot, he gave the impression of a young man trying awfully hard to find a bright spot.
MAMARONECK, N.Y. — The style of golf that typically prevails in a U.S. Open is of the methodical variety that efficiently navigates the numerous perils that present themselves. The type of golfer who typically prevails in a U.S. Open is a stoic, a man who commands his tiller with the gritty calm of a seasoned mariner.
That ain’t Jordan Spieth’s style of golf. And it ain’t Jordan Spieth.
In Thursday’s opening round at Winged Foot, Spieth spent the day pitching and rolling, at one point cruising with three straight birdies, at others narrowly avoiding being sunk with two ugly double-bogeys. It was the kind of roller-coaster round that has become all-too-familiar to the 2015 winner, who has slipped to 67th in the world after going winless for more than three years. In the end, it all added up to 73.
“Shooting 3-over at a U.S. Open, feeling like I had no control, it’s not bad,” he said. “Really struggling ball striking. Found a way to kind of grind it out on and around the greens.”
His round one statistics illuminate his shortcomings. On one of the most demanding venues for a U.S. Open, Spieth found just three fairways, continuing the dismal theme of the PGA Tour season that just ended, when he ranked 181st in driving accuracy and 190th in greens in regulation percentage. Afterward, he gave the impression of a young man trying awfully hard to find a bright spot.
“I feel that, even with not having much tee to green, I can somehow still shoot an even or under par round on this course, and that’s incredible self-belief in the grind,” he said.
It’s been three years since Spieth won the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, and five since his magical year when he claimed the Masters and this title at Chambers Bay. Even then, Spieth’s golf was an 18-hole thrill ride rather than an orderly procession from tee to trophy. He could win ugly, as he did from Birkdale’s driving range on his way to that Claret Jug. Now it’s just ugly.
“There’s a lot that’s off. I’m not really sure. If I knew, I’d fix it,” he admitted Thursday. “Standing on a tee at the U.S. Open and not exactly knowing where the ball is going to go is not a great feeling. But I’ll grind it out. I don’t ever give up.”
Jordan Spieth plays his shot from the second tee during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Winged Foot Golf Club. Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports
After his round, Spieth was back on the range with his swing coach Cameron McCormick and caddie Michael Greller in tow.
Though he’s still only 27, there exists a Spieth of then and a Spieth of now. Young Spieth played golf with exuberant abandon, brimming with confidence. Old Spieth is uncertain, paralyzed with technical thoughts before swinging the club and vocal in his agonized self-analysis after seeing the results.
So why not simply forgo the obsession with mechanics and swing with the freedom he once had? “I’d love to, but the second I try and just pick a tree and swing at it, the ball goes pretty far offline,” he said. “There still needs to be focus on the mechanics.”
Starting his ninth U.S. Open—having finished no better than tied 35th since his win—Spieth told himself to hit only draws off the tee. “The only shot you have to hit a fade out here is No. 8 tee, and I played four fade shots today. I played those holes 6-over,” he said with an air of resignation. “Two doubles and two bogeys with the four swings I played fades on. So I was right. The problem was I didn’t stick with that or I’d probably be at even-par worst case right now.”
As it is, Spieth finds himself eight strokes back of early leader Justin Thomas, a distant placing that has become too familiar after opening rounds. “If there’s any tournament where that’s okay, it’s a U.S. Open,” he said. “But it’s just too many first rounds where I’m at least seven back after one. It’s really frustrating.”
Spieth knows from experience that the distance between himself and the lead is far from insurmountable on a golf course that will only get tougher as the week wears on. He began Thursday with the goal of taking the lead and ended it with a more tactical mindset, one focused on holding his ground and hoping for incremental gains. In short, trying to give himself a shot at winning ugly.
“You look at trying to make the cut and finding a softer golf course on a Saturday and just trying to progress the next three days,” he said. “If I can hold myself anywhere around where I’m at right now, I mean, I would say 3-over would likely be in the top ten going into Sunday easily. That’s where I look at it.”
Davis Thompson jumped atop the leaderboard after posting three straight birdies during the first round of the U.S. Open at Winged Foot.
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Stepping foot on a track as daunting as Winged Foot Golf Club for your first crack at a major championship certainly can stir nerves in a guy.
Davis Thompson expected it. The University of Georgia star, who earned a berth into this week’s U.S. Open through his No. 4 standing in the World Amateur Golf Ranking — he’s No. 1 in the Golfweek/amateurgolf.com rankings — knew nerves would be an issue, and when the first person he saw at Winged Foot was one of his boyhood idols in Rory McIlroy, he needed to take a deep breath.
But finding a pair of fellow Georgia alums Harris English and Brendon Todd in his opening-round threesome marked the first sign Thompson might be able to ease into this thing.
“I mean, I play a lot of golf with Harris and Brendon, just them being Georgia guys. So that was a comfortable pairing,” the first-team All-American said. “Yeah, I was a little nervous, but once I hit that first tee shot, I think I was ready to roll.”
With his father, Todd, on his bag, Thompson jumped atop the leaderboard after posting three straight birdies en route to a 32 at the turn. He buried another birdie on No. 11 to maintain the outright lead for a bit, and although he dropped strokes on three of his final six holes coming home, the 21-year-old was still rightfully happy with a solid 69.
“I got off to a great start. I hit a lot of fairways coming out of the gate, which kind of gave me a lot of comfort at the start. Then I just missed a few fairways coming in and had to hack it out and try to get up and down. Unfortunately, I didn’t,” he said. “But a great start. That was kind of one of my main goals coming into this championship, just get off to a good start and not get behind the 8-ball. I’m excited about the rest of the tournament.”
And it’s not like Thompson simply got lucky. He misread a makeable birdie putt on No. 9, and after a long iron got him out of the rough on No. 16, he three-putted from 70 feet. Those were just two opportunities that could have pushed him higher on the leaderboard, and perhaps pulled him even with English and Todd, who each finished at 68.
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Still, Thompson understands how advantageous his position is, especially in light of the conditions at Winged Foot, where many expected the world’s best to all post scores above par.
“Yeah, just compete, just do the best that I can. I’m not oblivious to the fact this is my first Major Championship. I’m going to be nervous, but that’s part of it. Just compete my tail off, just stay in my routine, just not make it bigger than it is. Just try to play golf like I do every day,” he said, adding, “I’m not here to be a tourist.”
A colorful scorecard told the story of Tiger Woods’ up and down start at the U.S. Open.
Tiger Woods’ scorecard looked more like a coloring book after the first round of the 120th U.S. Open.
The 15-time major champion struggled to stay inside the lines for most of Thursday morning’s round, signing for a 3-over 73 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York. Woods walked off the course T-64 after one double bogey, six bogeys, six pars and five birdies.
Playing alongside PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa and Presidents Cup partner Justin Thomas, Woods got off to a strong start with a trio of pars before back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 4 and 5 put early blemishes on his card. He rebounded with his first birdie of the round on the par-4 6th before finishing par-bogey-birdie to make the turn at 1 over.
After the birdie on No. 9, Woods carried that momentum around the turn with two more birdies on Nos. 10 and 11. The birdie-fest ended with a par on No. 12 and a pair of costly bogeys on the par-3 13th and par-4 14th.
Woods picked up a shot on the par-4 16th and gave it right back after he failed to scramble from a wayward tee shot on No. 17. He made another bogey on No. 18 thanks to a duffed approach shot from in front of the green.
The trio will be back on the course Friday afternoon at 1:27 p.m. ET off the 10th tee.
Patrick Reed figured out a way to beat the Winged Foot obstacles, one-hopping in a hole-in-one on the 7th hole, which is listed at 162 yards.
All the talk was about the incredibly difficult rough and lightning-fast greens at Winged Foot.
Need a strategy to beat those obstacles?
Patrick Reed figured out a way, one-hopping in a hole-in-one on the 7th hole, which is listed at 162 yards.
Reed has one major under his belt — the 2018 Masters — but has never finished higher than fourth at the U.S. Open. He had posted a double-bogey on No. 5 and then birdied No. 6 before the ace.
For the first two days, Reed is playing in a threesome with Hideki Matsuyama and Jordan Spieth. The field of 144 players will face a tough, par-70 golf course playing 7,477-yards.
Follow Tiger Woods’ Thursday round at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot with shot-by-shot analysis.
Tiger Woods’ quest to catch Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 career major championships continues this week at the 120th U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York.
The last time the U.S. Open was held at Winged Foot in 2006, Woods missed the cut at a major for the first time in his career after a pair of 76s. The 15-time major champion enters the event after a two-week break following his FedEx Cup exit with a T-51 at the BMW Championship in late August.
Woods tees off at 8:07 a.m. ET Thursday alongside PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa and world No. 3 Justin Thomas. Following his opening round with shot-by-shot analysis below.
Pre-round
Get excited, golf fans.
The players are ready. Winged Foot is ready. We're ready.
“I learned in major championships, where the stage is the biggest. … that you could still control what you can control,” Gary Woodland says.
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Gary Woodland’s victorious march about the seaside emerald grounds of iconic Pebble Beach in the 2019 U.S. Open first took root in the Gateway to the West.
At Bellerive Country Club, to be exact, on the outskirts of St. Louis.
In the final round of the 2018 PGA Championship.
Alongside a man in a red shirt.
Until then, Woodland had been a bust in majors, a three-time PGA Tour winner with not one top-10 in 27 starts in the four marquee events of the year. He had eight missed cuts to go with just two ties for 12th as his only finishes in the top 20.
But at compact and packed Bellerive, Woodland clicked and opened in 64-66 to grab his first 36-hole lead in a major. After a middling 71 in the third round, he stood three shots out of the lead and was standing next to Tiger Woods in the penultimate group Sunday.
Then the meat-and-potatoes bruiser from Kansas, who rarely had been shaken on any field of play, became unsettled in the presence of Woods and the ear-splitting crowds. He quickly got lost in the Tiger vortex and remained adrift for far too long. By the time he gathered himself, it was too late. But while he lost his grip on the Wanamaker Trophy, he grabbed hold of his golf doctorate.
Gary Woodland and Tiger Woods shake hands after finishing on the 18th green during the final round of the 2018 PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club in St Louis, Missouri. Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images
“I got out of my element that day,” said Woodland, who finished in a tie for sixth with his final-round 69. “It was so loud. And Tiger shot 64 and was making a charge, so it got even louder. Honestly, I wasn’t even thinking about being in contention. I was thinking about playing with someone you’ve looked up to your entire life on a Sunday in a major championship and I got out of myself.
“Lesson No. 1? Don’t ever do that again. It was the first time in my career that I lost focus on what I was doing.
“Lesson No. 2? That day I learned in major championships, where the stage is the biggest, the noise the loudest, the pressure the most intense, that you could still control what you can control. I learned a whole hell of a lot. That round made me 10 more years a veteran. I wouldn’t have been able to hold on at Pebble if I hadn’t been in that situation with Tiger on Sunday in St. Louis.”
That final round in St. Louis proved to be the last piece of the puzzle Woodland was putting together. Craving to take his game to the next level, he had hooked up with short-game gurus Pete Cowen in December of 2017 (chipping) and Phil Kenyon in July of 2018 (putting) and gradually began leaving his tad one-dimensional ways behind him. The slugger with great ballstriking talents became a more well-rounded player with each passing month, especially when tying for eighth in the 2019 PGA Championship, and his confidence was brimming when he got to Pebble Beach.
And he indeed held on for his maiden major triumph. With rounds of 68-65-69-69, he was the one who made others tremble and finished three clear of major master Brooks Koepka, who was stalking a historical U.S. Open three-peat.
Woodland did so on Father’s Day, in front of his dad, Dan, his hero who nearly died of a heart attack 10 years prior. And with his wife, Gabby, watching at home with their son and expecting identical twins.
“You couldn’t write a better script,” Woodland said.
The script flipped in 2020
Woodland, 36, was supposed to be in Mamaroneck, New York, in June defending his title at historic Winged Foot Golf Club. Instead, he was in South Carolina at Harbour Town Golf Links for the RBC Heritage.
COVID-19 got in the way, but it allowed Woodland’s U.S. Open reign to continue three more months until the national open begins Thursday on the West Course at Winged Foot. Gave him more time to reflect on his biggest victory to date, especially during those times he eyed the U.S. trophy from his Kansas home. To think about the emotional day above Carmel Bay when he was able to put some of the darkest moments of his life, which included his wife suffering two miscarriages, a bit more behind him.
Gary Woodland lines up a putt on the 6th hole during the second round of the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park. Photo by Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports
“It feels great to be the defending champ, and it was nice to have that trophy a little longer than normal,” Woodland said. “Walking through New York City with that trophy for media day afterwards was pretty cool, taking it back home, taking it to a couple football games was pretty special. Any time you get to hold a piece of trophy that your name is etched on forever is pretty cool, and to share it more with my friends and family and my team just proves the hard work pays off, and that was very special for me.”
Woodland earned the trophy at Pebble Beach with a foursome of power, accuracy, touch and poise that held off Koepka, Jon Rahm and Justin Rose. And it all started to come together as soon as he got there the Saturday before the tournament began.
“When he got to Pebble, he had like a calmness to him all week unlike anything I had seen with him,” said his caddie, Brennan “Butchy” Little. “He was just in a different zone that week. What happened at Bellerive was huge to him.
“He’s always been a good ballstriker and has always been long. But when he started working with Pete and Phil, that’s when he put it all together. Winning at Pebble hasn’t changed him. He’s still the same guy. Except now he knows he can put it all together on the biggest stages.”
Woodland was on his game when the curtain fell Thursday and remained on the first page of the leaderboard throughout. Standing at 11 under through 54 holes, he led by one going into the final round. That presented another hurdle for Woodland – he was 0-for-7 on Tour when holding at least a share of a 54-hole lead. This time, however, there would be no final-round disappointment.
Woodland instead kept delivering star turns that proved his seasoning as a player. A perfect drive on the difficult second hole and then a precise 7-iron set up birdie that calmed his nerves. He led by one when he arrived at a testy decision on the wicked par-5 14th, where he faced 265 uphill yards to the flag after a solid drive. Out of bounds was to the right, trees to the left, a monster bunker in front of a dangerous, two-tiered green. A birdie 4 was in play, yes, but so, too, was 6 or 7.
Lay up or go for it? Woodland went for it.
“I’m a very aggressive player and I like to play aggressively, and Butchy is very conservative,” Woodland said. “And it was the first time in my life I probably thought about being conservative, and I think it was the first time in our relationship of more than four years where Butchy was definitely the more aggressive. He didn’t hesitate, and that gave me confidence.
“He trusted me. Best swing I made probably since I’ve been on Tour.”
Little won’t argue.
“Going for it, worst case you’re over the back, or you hit it left you’re in the grandstand, or you go right it’s a tricky pitch. But you’re up near the green. At worst he makes 5,” Little said. “If you lay up, then you have one of the toughest third shots to a par 5 anyone has ever seen. You can easily hit a good shot and be in trouble. Then you have to get up and down for 5.
“Going for it took 6 out of the equation. And laying it up is not his style. Then he hit the best shot of the tournament.”
Woodland uncorked a 3-wood that just flew the front bunker and wound up 16 feet from the hole on the fringe. From there he two-putted for birdie.
His work wasn’t done. He held a 2-shot lead on the par-3 17th, where he left himself 90 feet from the cup on the hourglass green after a poor tee shot. Instead of putting, he cleanly chipped the ball that rested on the green. With perfection, too, the ball stopping two feet from the hole.
“I trusted myself and the shot came off perfectly, Woodland said.
He capped his win with a 30-footer for birdie on the final hole.
“His short game was great all week, and that chip on 17 was the defining moment,” Little said. “What Pete and Phil have done is they’ve made him understand the mechanics of chipping and putting; the downward pressure in chipping, keeping the face square longer in putting. He’s so much better now. And more confident.”
Add thinner, too.
Woodland lost 30 pounds during the PGA Tour’s COVID-19 break. He eyed the future, glanced at his birth certificate that proved his advancing age and knew the robust schedule full of big-time tournaments including the FedEx Cup Playoffs, U.S Open and Masters was ahead.
Gary Woodland hits from the fourth tee during a practice round for the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club. Photo by Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports
So he cut out fried food and sugar to lose the weight (he’s added 10 pounds back). After initially losing a touch of his power with his new body, he’s regained all his distance and averages 304.9 yards off the tee this year, good for 32nd on Tour. And he feels fitter and healthier.
“Hanging around Justin Thomas and all these young guys, I need to take care of myself if I want to be here for a lot longer,” he said. “I wanted to feel better … and I wanted to be healthy. I wanted to be out here for a long time, and I needed to change my body to do that.”
During the down time, he also relished the time with his family. Seven weeks after winning at Pebble, Gabby gave birth to identical twin girls – Lennox and Maddox. And their son, Jax, turned 3. All healthy and happy.
While all seems good in his world, Woodland is disappointed that he has not built on his U.S. Open triumph. He hasn’t won in 25 worldwide starts since Pebble, a stretch that includes just seven top-10s. He missed the cut in the Open Championship in his next major and tied for 58th in this year’s PGA Championship.
But his confidence has not been shaken.
“I’ll be ready,” he said. “I think overall the game is kind of trending in the right direction. I just have to start to score. With what has happened this year, with not knowing if we’d play again because of the virus, it hasn’t been easy. But we got back playing, and I’ve been looking forward to Winged Foot and I’ll be ready.” Gwk
Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth are tinkering with their gear in hopes of winning a second U.S. Open this week at Winged Foot.
MAMARONECK, N.Y. – Two former U.S. Open champions are tinkering with their equipment in hopes of winning a second title this week at Winged Foot Golf Club.
Dustin Johnson, the winner of the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont and the 2020 FedEx Cup champion, took his TaylorMade SIM Max 7-wood out of the bag and replaced it with a new SIM DHy 2-iron that is fitted with a Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 100X shaft.
Johnson, who is currently ranked No. 1 on the Official World Golf Ranking, not only won at East Lake two weeks ago with the 7-wood in his bag, he also used that club when he shot a second-round 60 and won the Northern Trust at TPC Boston.
So why tinker with a good thing? Last Sunday evening, after playing a practice round at Winged Foot, Johnson decided that he wanted to hit a draw, a right to left shot, on some holes when he is not playing a driver. Like all fairway woods, Johnson’s 21-degree 7-wood is designed with a curved face, but the hollow-bodied 17-degree SIM DHy 2-iron is designed with a flat face. For elite players, flat-faced clubs tend to make it easier to hit draws and fades. Plus, the SIM DHy should create a lower launch angle for Johnson, so if he can hit a draw off the tee, the ball could run more after it lands.
Jordan Spieth, the winner of the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay by one stroke over Johnson, switched into Titleist’s new TSi3 driver last week at the Safeway Open. His club has 10 degrees of loft and is fitted with a Fujikura Ventus Blue 6X shaft.
Spieth finished the 2019-20 PGA Tour season ranked No. 165 in strokes gained off the tee (-0.279). He averaged 301 yards per tee shot, a career-best, but hit just 52 percent of the fairways, a career-worst.
Titleist has remained mum on the details regarding the yet-to-be-released TSi3 and TSi2 drivers. Still, several golfers switched into the clubs last week, including and 25 others last week at the Safeway Open and 31 at the Portugal Masters, including Tommy Fleetwood (TSi3).
MAMARONECK, N.Y. – There are perks that come with the job, but Colin Burns rarely ventures down the meandering stairs to play the historic courses outside his office window at Winged Foot Golf Club. It’s the quiet breakfasts with staff, the …
MAMARONECK, N.Y. — There are perks that come with the job, but Colin Burns rarely ventures down the meandering stairs to play the historic courses outside his office window at Winged Foot Golf Club.
It’s the quiet breakfasts with staff, the conversations with longtime members about new dining spots and the detailed tours of a historic clubhouse with flabbergasted guests that inspire the iconic club’s longtime general manager.
And the sight of parents and children hustling to squeeze in a few holes before the sunlight fades brings each long day to a fitting end.
“It’s so special to watch that,” Burns said. “I’ve witnessed so many families evolve. I’ve seen kids grow up and get married here then have their own children. That part of the job never gets old.
“Golf is at the heart of everything we do here. This is a fun membership. We all work to be welcoming and want to make sure there is nothing stuffy about the member or guest experience. Winged Foot continues to be a place where men and women play the game, practice the game and introduce their children to the game. It’s very special in that regard.”
The 61-year-old New Jersey native is comfortable in any setting, any conversation.
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Burns enjoys some of the finer things in life and openly shares frequent excursions on social media, but he is also enthusiastic about Taylor Hams.
“This is really in his blood,” Winged Foot president Brendan Boyle said. “What makes Colin so great is a wonderful sense of service, a true dedication to his job. We see Winged Foot as an extended family, we’re very social and Colin helps engender all of that. He does a terrific job with the staff, which is great from top to bottom. And he’s got a great love for the history of the place. So many of the members are multi-generational. We don’t take ourselves too seriously and Colin has got a wonderful personality and management skills that glues everything together.”
When the USGA reached out in 2012 to mend the proverbial fences and inquire about coming back to Winged Foot to play a sixth U.S. Open, it was Burns who answered the phone.
Burns was raised in Clifton and spent a good portion of his childhood peeling shrimp for guests at the family’s restaurant.
“Everyone back then knew about Burns Country Inn,” he said. “Elizabeth Taylor would visit along with Richard Burton. It was considered the country back then. It was a straight shot, maybe half an hour from New York City.”
Bruce Willis had a job there while attending Montclair State.
That experience opened doors and Burns was hired as the general manager at Plandome Country Club in Manhasset at the age of 28.
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“Our membership came mostly from Queens and was very, very Irish Catholic,” he said. “That was a great group of people. There were some members from Winged Foot who used to visit the club and they were apparently impressed with the operation. We always had a lot going on. Every once in a while I would get approached, but then one day, I was told, ‘Hey, the job at Winged Foot is going to open up.’ I was the first one to have my application in.”
And for the last 29 summers this has been home.
“My job has really evolved over the years,” Burns said. “At first, it was a very intensive food and beverage job. I became more involved with managing the club’s relationships with the USGA and the PGA of America. Next came more capital planning. We built employee housing, built a new pool complex, renovated the clubhouse and both golf courses. It’s not something I would’ve been prepared for when I arrived. The job is more administrative now and we have built a great team.”
The folks who handle the day-to-day operations and look after 600-plus members—head chef Rhy Waddington, director of operations Lily Braswell, head golf professional Mike Gilmore and director of golf courses Steve Rabideau—came with top-shelf credentials and have spent more than a decade together.
Length of service at some clubs is measured in dog years, but not here.
Along with getting ready for a U.S. Open that was nearly canceled or relocated several times before July, the staff at Winged Foot was tasked with finding a way to handle the unprecedented influx of members looking to play golf this spring during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For all of us in this area, it was awfully scary at the beginning,” Burns said. “March really felt like doomsday. We didn’t know what might happen next. And then the rates began to come down a little. The weather improved and in April, we were allowed to golf. A lot of people couldn’t go into work so they found themselves here. It was wonderful to see members and families golfing probably more than they have in their lives. The sport demonstrated how great it is even in difficult times. For a lot of people, the golf course was a place they felt safe.”
He’s not even taken a practice swing this season.
Burns has played cathedrals like Augusta National and Pine Valley. He’s joined royalty and poet laureates on the course, but right now, there is no time.
“We go seven days a week in season,” he said. “We do a lot of large charity outings on Mondays, so on a typical day, we get in by 8 and get home by 8. Everyone in this industry learns to balance their lives. You can’t necessarily balance everything over the course of a month, but you can over the course of a year.”
Burns has also become a resource for his peers.
He was part of a club managers conference last year in London alongside Wilma Erskine, who helped transform Royal Port Rush into an Open Championship venue. He also spoke at Cornell’s school of hospitality.
“Colin is without question a go-to person for club managers,” Westchester Country Club chief operating officer Thomas Nevin said. “He’s always available to listen and to provide counsel. With regards to running a business, he’s the very best when it comes to attention to detail. He walks the path of members and guests to make certain every area and every service provided is at the very highest level, providing the ultimate golf experience. When you walk with Colin around Winged Foot, he is as much a curator as a club manager. Winged Foot has done a spectacular job showcasing its history in the same way the Metropolitan Museum of Art presents an exhibition.”
When he’s not sitting in on a meeting or assisting the staff or checking in with USGA officials, Burns is buzzing around the grounds this week. He is clearly disappointed fans will not be a part of the 120th U.S. Open, but eagerly greets anyone walking around with wide eyes.
He was here for the 2006 U.S. Open and the 1997 PGA Championship, as well, and would love to be part of the next major.
“Why not?” Burns said. “None of us knows what the future holds. My career here at Winged Foot will last as long as the relationship remains positive and I continue to contribute. I have no intention of retiring. I’m only 61 and in my industry that is relatively young. And if the opportunity to host again were the option presented, I think it would be a thrill.”
