Gessner Pace Golf Course Image

Walk It Off

During the USGA’s initiative in the early 2000s to promote walking, he took the lead within the club to develop a policy to encourage members to walk. “We developed a policy that said we think walking is a part of the game and should be allowed,” Ellis says. “You can really enjoy the game walking.

2024 US Open Winner with trophy

The Shot

Payne Stewart in 1999 needs a par to hold off playing partner Phil Mickelson, but his tee shot on the uphill, par-4 finishing hole misses the fairway to the right. He’s in five inches of suffocating rough, the grass wet on a cool, misty day. He punches out, has 78 yards to the hole, hits a three-quarter sand wedge to 18 feet short of the back-right hole location.