U.S. Open preparing for possibility of heavy rains

Merion Golf Club has put together an emergency plan for next week’s U.S. Open in case Tropical Storm Andrea dumps too much water on the East Course, where the tournament will be played beginning Thursday.

The 11th and 12th holes — both par fours — would be most vulnerable to heavy rains forecast for sections of Pennsylvania. No. 11 runs through a flood zone.

Officials are preparing the fourth and fifth holes on the West Course.

“I’m not really concerned at this point,” superintendent Arron McCurdy told Golf Course Management. “They’re calling for about two inches [of rain tonight and tomorrow]. We already have missed a huge band of rain, so that was good.”

No. 11 holds a special place in golf history — that’s where Bobby Jones finished off the 1930 U.S. Amateur to complete the Grand Slam. It has flooded dozens of times in the years since then.

Silt is the main problem when too much rain falls. McCurdy said that Merion already has plenty of help on hand.

“We got calls from some of the other courses around here, telling us they’d send their whole crews over to help get us ready,” he said.

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