Bellerive Giving Up Low Scores

By Dave Shedloski

Town and Country, Mo. – Bellerive Country Club is the longest course in U.S. Senior Open history – and so far it is the easiest.

At 7,117 yards, par-71, Bellerive's layout for the 25^th Senior Open is only 31 yards shorter than the configuration for the 1992 PGA Championship. But soft conditions Thursday and an even softer and more forgiving test Saturday after heavy rains washed out play on Friday turned the long Robert Trent Jones design into a sponge that soaked in low scores and demanded little sweat.

The longest previous layout was played in the thin air of Nevada at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Club in Stateline, Nev., which measured 7,055 yards.

Though the lead of 7-under -- shared by Peter Jacobsen and Craig Stadler -- is not the lowest through 36 holes, 60 players made the cut at 4-over-par 146, the lowest cut in U.S. Senior Open history. The previous low was 5-over 147 at Saucon Valley Country Club's Old Course in 2000.

"It doesn't matter how long a golf course is or how tough it can get in terms of where you set the [flagsticks]," said Tom Watson. "When you have wet conditions, it's just going to be a lot easier. What little wind there was came from a different direction, the southwest, which made club selection a bit more challenging, but, overall, the conditions weren't that tough."

"I won't say the course played harder today," said Jay Haas after following up a 67 with a 70 on Saturday. "It played longer, but the greens are soft. You can throw it right at it and the fairways being soft made it easier to hit fairways. It was kind of a tradeoff."

After many players noted that hole locations on Thursday were about as difficult as they could be – Bruce Lietzke called them "Sunday pins" for their locations on slopes and edges – Saturday's hole locations were a bit more forgiving. That, as well as the softness of the turf, contributed to a field scoring average of 74.104, nearly a stroke lower than the 75.187 on an overcast opening day.

Thirty-four players broke par Saturday while 25 did so in the opening round.

Length has made some difference in how the course has been navigated by the competitors. Not surprisingly, the par-4 10^th hole, which measures 484 yards, is the longest par 4 in U.S. Senior Open history by eight yards. Though its wide fairway has been the second-easiest to hit – 66 percent of the players found the short grass -- the 10^th has yielded just 11 birdies in two days and nearly three times as many double bogeys (32). Thus, the field has averaged more than a half-stroke over par, at 4.554 strokes.

Another indication of length-dictating scoring is evident on the par-5s. The fourth hole, at 541 yards, is playing the easiest at 4.853 strokes among the 156 players. But no one has eagled it, and, in fact, there have been only four eagles for the championship. Three came on holes-in-one in the first round, a record. The other was scored Saturday on the par-5 17^th by Jim White, who holed out with a wedge from 20 yards away.

Dave Shedloski is a free-lance writer whose work has appeared previously on www.ussenioropen.com.