Senior Open NCR

[noonan]

I was there for the practice round today. What was a firm and fast course was made soft by huge rains overnight.

[Lance Rieber]

Caught my first glimpse of the course on tv today.  Does it play as good as the course looked on tv.  I was really impressed by the contours of the greens and the great topography from tee to green.  Can it be this good or am I crazy?
lance

[noonan]

Except for holes 3 through 6, the course keeps coming at you.

You must place the ball in the correct spot in the fairway or you will have a very unlevel lie.

The grass in the rough in Ohio this time of year is thick!

The greens are very undulating and if you are above the hole, it is impossible to lag close.

Watson's 4 putt is no surprise to me. The slope on 6 is very steep.

15 will be a pivotal hole if someone has a small lead, the typical Sunday pin is back right or in the front. The green slopes so much right to left the right side of the green is out of play for your tee shot. The green has a false front and putts can roll back at you or you can putt off the green from above the hole easily.

[John Keenan]

Curious is it still owned by NCR ?   Is it public or private? I have heard about it for many yeras but must admit I know very little about it.

On TV is looked like a great course with very tough greens. I must note some of the pin placements were not very typical Saturday PGA set up.

 

[noonan]

NCR sput it off into it's own entity.

NCR employees do not have to pay the 20K initiation fee.

[JohnV]

I just got back from 5 days there, including walking the course with 4 different groups of players during the tournament.  I'd disagree with Jerry when he says except for 3 through 6 the course keeps coming.  3 and 4 are both quite difficult.  3 required a good tee shot and it was tough to get it close to the hole.  4 gave every player I had problems  The tee shot is a tough layup and the green has some incredible contours.  #4 was the fourth hardest hole of the week.

The greens are scary and some of the players I had definitely felt that a few could be blown up.  It is probably a good thing they got the rain on Wednesday or they might have been even more difficult.  I'm not sure if they were slower than the player expected or they were just scared of them as I saw a lot of putts come up short.

I'm glad Alan Doyle won as I was with his group on Friday and he definitely hit the ball better than any other player I saw all week.  He hit the last 17 greens in regulation on Friday and could easily have shot a 63 that round if his putter had behaved a little better.

I was at NCR for the 1998 US Mid-Am and came away from this trip there even more impressed.  The par 5s are not too tough, but the rest of the course is a bear.  Even the shorter par fours like 4, 11 and 17 have a lot to offer as they require precise shots to the correct parts of the fairways to open up some of the hole locations.

[John Kirk]

Allan Doyle is proof that a great golfer does not need to have a picture perfect swing.  Very important aspect of the game.  Being a tough son of a gun is very helpful.