Aside from the blimp crash and an E. coli scare, the first day of the U.S. Open went off beautifully at new venue Erin Hills.
U.S. Open 2017: E. coli found in Erin Hills ‘hydration stations’
The water stations at the U.S. Open were found to be distributing free E. coli bacteria.
Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images
The fiery blimp crash became the big news of the day, but late Thursday night, I tuned into Golf Channel’s Live From postgame show and looked up from my computer to find Rich Lerner reading a statement on ... E. coli?
The local Washington Ozaukee Health Department discovered the bacteria in a hydration station near the 12th hole at Erin Hills. There have been no reports of fans becoming ill from that hydration station, but they did say anyone using it from Tuesday afternoon to Thursday morning could have been affected.
The U.S. Open, which always falls on this weekend, sets up these hydration stations around the course for fans trudging the grounds under the June heat. It’s a fine service so long as it’s not distributing a potentially harmful bacteria. Here’s the full release from the USGA, which will now provide bottled water at all these hydration stations for the remainder of the championship in Wisconsin:
The Washington Ozaukee Public Health Department notified the USGA that it identified evidence of E. coli bacteria from a sample from one hydration station near the 12th hole at Erin Hills golf course, site of the U.S. Open Championship. The water line to the hydration station was disconnected immediately, and bottled water was provided to guests while we waited for the preliminary results to be confirmed by the Public Health Department.
The safety and security of our guests is of paramount importance to the USGA. Out of an abundance of caution, we will offer all guests complimentary bottled water at all four hydration stations throughout the duration of the championship.
The big talking point coming into the championship was that the USGA needed a “mistake free” U.S. Open after a couple of years of messy drama and the organization tripping over itself. It’s unclear if this is a USGA operations team issue, but the “free E. coli at the U.S. Open” headlines are not ideal to have early in the championship.
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