Golf tournament
Cherry Hills Country Club
Cherry Hills Country Club
The
1978 U.S. Open
was the 78th
U.S. Open
, held June 15?18 at
Cherry Hills Country Club
in
Cherry Hills Village, Colorado
, a suburb south of
Denver
.
Andy North
held on for a one-stroke victory over runners-up
Dave Stockton
and
J. C. Snead
to claim the first of his two U.S. Open titles.
[3]
[4]
The strength in North's game was putting, and he needed only 114 putts over 72 holes, tying the record set by
Billy Casper
in
1966
. This was North's second win on the
PGA Tour
, but he would not win again until the
1985 U.S. Open
; of North's three career PGA Tour wins, two of them came at the U.S. Open.
This was the third U.S. Open at Cherry Hills, which previously hosted in
1938
and
1960
. It was also the site of the
PGA Championship
in
1941
, and later hosted in
1985
. The average
elevation
of the course exceeds 5,300 feet (1,620 m) above
sea level
.
Three players received special exemptions into the field. They were
Billy Casper
,
Seve Ballesteros
, and
Arnold Palmer
.
[5]
Forty-three golfers received an exemption from the qualifying process. The
PGA Tour
felt this was too few players. To protest, the PGA Tour staged the
Buick Open
the same week to compete with the U.S. Open.
[5]
Course layout
[
edit
]
Hole
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
Out
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
In
|
Total
|
Yards
|
399
|
419
|
323
|
429
|
543
|
166
|
384
|
229
|
432
|
3,324
|
437
|
594
|
203
|
382
|
486
|
208
|
419
|
550
|
480
|
3,759
|
7,083
|
Par
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
5
|
3
|
4
|
3
|
4
|
35
|
4
|
5
|
3
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
4
|
36
|
71
|
Source:
[6]
Lengths of the course for previous major championships:
Round summaries
[
edit
]
First round
[
edit
]
Thursday, June 15, 1978
Second round
[
edit
]
Friday, June 16, 1978
Amateurs:
Clampett
(+1),
Holtgrieve
(+8)
,
Heafner
(+9),
Miller
(+9),
Edwards
(+11), Choate (+16), Hodge (+17),
Lewis
(+21), Pomerantz (+25).
Third round
[
edit
]
Saturday, June 17, 1978
Final round
[
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]
Sunday, June 18, 1978
North began the final round with a one-stroke lead over
Gary Player
. Two months earlier, Player had won the
Masters
with a blistering 64 in the final round. History, however, would not repeat itself, as this time around Player struggled to a 77 (+6) and finished in a tie for 6th. North owned a four-shot lead over Snead heading to the back-nine, and after birdies at 11 and 13 he appeared to have the championship wrapped up. A bogey at 14, however, combined with a double-bogey at 15 and a birdie by Dave Stockton at the same hole dropped his lead to just one. Stockton, however, missed an 18-footer (5.5 m) for par at 18, increasing North's lead to two.
Snead had a chance for birdie at the last after his tee shot skipped off the water and onto the fairway, but he missed the birdie putt. Needing just a bogey at 18 to win, North's drive found the rough. He hit his second shot into the fairway, then his third found a greenside bunker. Needing to get up-and-down, he played his sand shot to five feet (1.5 m), and after backing off twice, sank the bogey putt for the one-stroke win.
[7]
[8]
Amateurs:
Bobby Clampett
(+13),
Jim Holtgrieve
(+20)
Scorecard
[
edit
]
Final round
Hole
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
Par
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
5
|
3
|
4
|
3
|
4
|
4
|
5
|
3
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
4
|
North
|
?2
|
?2
|
?2
|
?3
|
?4
|
?4
|
?4
|
?3
|
?2
|
?1
|
?2
|
?2
|
?3
|
?2
|
E
|
E
|
E
|
+1
|
Snead
|
+1
|
+1
|
+1
|
+1
|
+1
|
E
|
E
|
+1
|
+2
|
+2
|
+2
|
+2
|
+2
|
+2
|
+2
|
+2
|
+2
|
+2
|
Stockton
|
+1
|
+2
|
+2
|
+2
|
+2
|
+2
|
+2
|
+2
|
+2
|
+2
|
+1
|
+1
|
+1
|
+2
|
+1
|
+1
|
+1
|
+2
|
Irwin
|
+6
|
+6
|
+6
|
+6
|
+5
|
+4
|
+4
|
+5
|
+4
|
+5
|
+4
|
+4
|
+4
|
+4
|
+4
|
+4
|
+3
|
+4
|
Weiskopf
|
+7
|
+7
|
+7
|
+7
|
+6
|
+6
|
+6
|
+6
|
+7
|
+6
|
+5
|
+5
|
+5
|
+5
|
+5
|
+5
|
+4
|
+4
|
Player
|
?1
|
E
|
+1
|
+1
|
+1
|
+1
|
+1
|
+2
|
+3
|
+3
|
+3
|
+4
|
+4
|
+4
|
+5
|
+5
|
+4
|
+5
|
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
|
Birdie
|
|
Bogey
|
|
Double bogey
|
Source:
[9]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Parascenzo, Marino (June 16, 1978).
"Hale fires hearty 69 in Open"
.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
. p. 11.
- ^
"U.S. Open results: Second round"
.
Spokesman-Review
. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. June 17, 1978. p. 15.
- ^
Bunch, Ken.
"North holds on to win US Open"
.
Milwaukee Sentinel
. p. 1, part 2.
- ^
Jenkins, Dan
(June 26, 1978).
"The bogey that won the Open"
.
Sports Illustrated
. p. 14.
- ^
a
b
"34 U.S. Open Spots Up For Grabs Here"
.
The Charlotte Observer
. June 4, 1978. p. 33
. Retrieved
June 22,
2021
.
- ^
"Cherry Hills CC hole by hole"
.
Lakeland Ledger
. Florida. Associated Press. June 11, 1978. p. 8D.
- ^
"North's Open winner: makes critical putt"
.
Spokesman-Review
. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. June 19, 1978. p. 17.
- ^
Parascenzo, Marino (June 19, 1978).
"North stubles to Open title by stroke"
.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
. p. 13.
- ^
"U.S. Open History"
.
USGA
. Retrieved
April 24,
2019
.
External links
[
edit
]
39°38′35″N
104°57′47″W
/
39.643°N 104.963°W
/
39.643; -104.963