Before we dig into the Am at Merion, a reader reached out to me with an interesting question: Should non-dues playing members be allowed to play in club championships?

As a junior, I always appreciated the extra competitive reps, but as an older guy who now pays dues, I have a different perspective…

The rules change depending on the club, but if you have an opinion either way, I’d be interested to hear it.

I feel uniquely qualified to write about the US Am at Merion. (Fill in the blanks, if you so choose.) Having grown up in the area, it’s always special to see the club open its gates to the best amateurs in the world. The club has championship blood and is set to host yet another USGA event this week.

If you aren’t familiar with Merion, it was once described as a three-act play, which is perhaps the best possible way to describe its ethos and what makes it so compelling as a sub-7,000 yard golf course.

The first six holes are characterized as the “Drama.” While some architecture “experts” overlook the first hole, it has a case as the greatest opener in the game. The following five holes contain both par fives. The fifth hole has the best green on the property and the sixth plays long and is deceptively uphill.

The next chunk of holes, from 7 through 13, is the “Comedy” section of the course. Characterized by short, strategic, and “quirky” holes, it’s a reprieve from the demanding test posed by the opening six.

In my view, it’s the best stretch of match play holes in the world.

I spoke with a friend who was marshaling the 7th tee box on Monday, and he said almost every player laid up with an iron, and he only saw one player attempt to drive it in the front bunker. Excellent design is immune to technology improvements.

The 8th is the best strategic hole on the golf course, playing just shy of 350 yards, and the 10th and 11th are “birdie holes”. Players then walk under the bridge to the par 3 13th, a final breath before the brutal closing holes.

The final five, or the “back five” as they are referred to by the membership, are the best set of closing holes anywhere on the east coast, maybe the world.

Comprised of four strong par 4s and a devilish par 3, it’s a difficult final exam. I’d suggest watching the tee shot on 15 if you plan to be on the grounds.

Merion uses the tight acreage to its advantage. If you have a chance to go and see the action live, you’ll notice that the closer to the boundary a ball is, the better the angle of approach to the green. Many tee shots offer this risk/reward - take a look at the fifteenth hole in the background of the above image. The closer to the road you play your tee shot, the better the angle coming into a very difficult green.

We all know about the wicker baskets. Iconic, yes, but their functionality (or lack thereof) is often overlooked for their beauty.

The wicker conceals the wind. Especially on the approach shots to 11 and 13 the wind seems to swirl. Without the comfort of looking at a flag moving in the distance, the approach is more unsettling than you’d expect.

The lack of dispersion of scoring averages between Merion and Philadelphia Country Club is a tad alarming. Anyone who has played both knows that Merion presents as a much more difficult test, yet the course setup allowed for low scores. The pins were not interesting, and not all of the back tees were employed. A missed opportunity for the golf course to show its teeth.

I was on the grounds Monday and plan to be back on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Here are some thoughts from walking around:

If you’re on the grounds, I’d recommend watching the approach shots into 5. Watching the balls roll on and around that green is hypnotizing.

I’d also suggest following groups playing the short holes, 7 through 10. After 10, you can catch groups teeing off on 2, or walk across the road to the back five. The beauty of Merion’s routing is the proximity of the holes, so it’s easy to catch a lot of the action.

You can follow along at the links below:

Live Scoring

TV Schedule

I’ve been a Titleist glove loyalist forever.

You can’t go wrong with the higher end gloves from FootJoy, either. Red Rooster is an upstart company that I haven’t seen in pro shops yet, but its Sussex model is very clean.

(I’d suggest staying away from the flamboyantly colored golf gloves. You can get away with it if you’re the Club Comedian or a +3, however.)

While I couldn’t find an old article in Golf Digest discussing the Amateur won by Edoardo Molinari, I found a few interesting tidbits about the tournament.

Molinari, the eventual champion, holed a bunker shot on his final hole of stroke play (the 9th at Merion) to qualify for a 19-for-17 playoff. He would make his way through, and never looked back.

In the 36-hole final against Dillon Dougherty, rain soaked Molinari’s shirt. At lunch (already 3 down) he went into the pro shop, asked for a “magic shirt,” and bought a white one with horizontal stripes.

He hadn’t packed enough clothes because he never expected to go that deep and ended up buying multiple. After the win, club historian John Capers reportedly took the shirt off his back for the archives and had him sign it.

(Editor’s note: This is also when my younger brother ran into Molinari, and got him to sign a hat. I’m definitely not still thinking about it.)

The afternoon is when the putter went nuclear. Over the final 15 holes Molinari needed only 18 putts, making four from 25 feet or longer and one-putting 10 times.

It’s not clandestine, but Gulph Mills is a local neighbor of Merion and is certainly a hidden Donald Ross gem.