Winged Foot: The toughest US Open course
By Bill Felber
The Myopia Hunt Club
A long, long time ago – back when the US Open was a mere pup – it made four visits to a quaintly devilish place in Massachusetts called the Myopia Hunt Club. The USGA hasn’t visited Myopia since 1908 and there is no current plan to go back, which is why including Myopia in our comparisons doesn’t really work.
Still, it’s impossible to consider difficult US Open tracks without at least a passing nod to Myopia.
The USGA first came to Myopia, a par 74 layout, in 1898. The field averaged 351.28, a score that was pretty bad even for those days. A fellow named Fred Herd won at 328, a little matter of 32-over par.
The event returned to Myopia in 1901, when Willie Anderson won the first of his four titles at 331, 35 over par. When Myopia hosted a third time in 1905, Anderson won again, this time at 314. That as 18 strokes better than the 332 field average.
The 1908 event was won by Fred McLeod at 322, 26 over par. The field average was 345.87, the standard deviation a breathtaking 10.32 strokes.
Considered outside the context of time, there is every argument to be made that Myopia is actually the toughest course ever to host four or more Opens. Consider that 204 of its era’s best players took on the challenge of Myopia, and not a single one came anywhere close to breaking par.
The average score there was 344.67. Even for the first decade of a deceased century, that’s high.
I don’t factor Myopia into the difficulty rating because the impact of changes over time, and the reality that Myopia has never hosted a modern-era tournament, render the numbers incomparable. Still, they’re worth noting, even if only in passing.