The recent U.S. Open at the Bethpage Black Course has been bountifully praised, and for all the right reasons: for being the first true public Open, for restoring a historic course to its original design and playing conditions, and for attracting fans from a considerably more populist demographic. The golf that was played in challenging weather made for intriguing television, even if a certain drama was lacking at the end.
However, in all the analyses I missed the sense that a watershed moment had been reached -- and that the USGA had, with Bethpage Black, successfully closed a chapter on what had been a very difficult journey. Although there were many CEOs and other top executives in attendance as usual, I doubt they realized they were witnessing a rare and complex business triumph, one that any company caught in a tidal wave of change would wish to emulate.
The USGA has historically been made up of very exclusive and private clubs. Like most businesses, it faced a world in transition in the decades after World War II. The totality of the U.S. war effort had forced the government's hand in finally dismantling the barricades of segregation and class -- not very quickly and not wholeheartedly, it seemed at the time, but if we look at how things stand today, not so ineffectively.