Despite great set-up, Torrey Pines has the ugliest finishing green in U.S. Open history

Players have sung the praises of Torrey Pines as a U.S. Open venue. It’s “tough but fair"—a phrase that seems to be a mantra around here this week. This said, Torrey Pines has some flaws. And I’m not just saying this to be contrarian. A couple of examples leap immediately to mind (and land with a sickening thud smack dab on my hypothalamus): The tee box at the 10th hole has got to be the most hideous abomination of a tee box ever. Even for a municipal course—which Torrey is—it’s terrible. Massive air conditioning units from an immediately adjacent building roar continuously just behind a chain-link fence (but still in view). Ugh. Ernie Else and Jeff Ogilvy tee off on the spectacularly ugly 10th tee at Torrey Pines. More seriously, though, is the terrifically homely, completely contrived 18th green complex. The reachable, back-to-front canted green would be far too dull (and easy to hit) without some gimmick. The gimmick is a pond that is completely contrived, unnatural, and utterly devoid of character. Seriously, it looks like one of my kids designed the hole. I’m not saying the water feature shouldn’t be there, but it could at least have a little zazz, a more amorphous shape, perhaps, with a fountain or a bridge. Lipstick on a pig, this, but at least it would be memorable. Fortunately for Torrey, the USGA, and us fans, Tiger’s amazing Saturday finishing eagle lent the very memorability that the final hole itself lacks. Let’s hope for the same today. Without the bleachers, would you ever believe this green is on the closing hole of a U.S. Open venue?