An interesting couple of days. The Friday night “Ask the Pros” Q&A had the following pros: veteran Mike Hulbert, young gun Arjun Atwal, early 30s player Daniel Chopra and veteran Dave Rummells. Among the questions asked by me and others:
Q: What do you think about technology and in particular about rolling back the golf ball?
A: Daniel Chopra—it’s not so much about the technology as about the information we have now, the launch monitors and other measuring devices that allow us to match our swings to the equipment. I also don’t think the ball has much to do with it.
Nobody else in the Q&A tackled this one, but I did ask Boyd Summerhays, a young pro who was one of my pro-am partners (5 10” 170, he hits it a mile). He didn’t think it was a big deal—in fact he said technology was allowing the older guys like Jay Haas to stay with the younger guys. Paraphrasing slightly, he said, “It’s less of an advantage if both players are hitting short irons instead of mid irons.” Boyd also said it’s all about who can execute, not the equipment. From other questions and comments in the Q&A my conclusion from this small sample of players is that the Tour players are pretty indifferent to the equipment/ball issue. However, in response to a question about players doing more fitness conditioning, bigger, stronger players etc., there were some interesting GCA-related responses. Mike Hulbert said the way to combat today’s length (as he put it, “in addition to heavy rough”) was firm greens and wind. Daniel Chopra’s comments were more intriguing. He said, “We don’t want 9,000 yard courses. Architects should focus on green complexes as the principal defenses. Small, sloped greens create problems for any pros. Flat greens offer no challenge to us.”
Q: What do you think about Michelle Wie playing PGA tour events?
A: Several of the pros commented that they think Michelle should focus on winning on the LPGA first. Atwal said to a laugh from the crowd, “She should just kick ass on the ladies tour.” Hulbert said she should do everything she could to support the LPGA tour as she’s a huge draw. Chopra: “She has the capability to be the greatest woman golfer of all time. She’s wasting opportunities--it would be a shame if she’s 40 years old or so and a couple of victories shy of the all-time women’s mark and she could have earned those extra victories at age 16 or 17 by playing the women’s tour events.”
Q: What are your favorite tournaments/golf courses?
A: Several in the Q&A and the pro-am (my other pro-am partner was 1990s Tour regular—he won twice in 1994--and now journeyman Mike Springer) mentioned Pebble Beach, including both my pro-am partners. Boyd Summerhays said “Pebble isn’t that tough unless the wind’s up.” In addition to the Masters, several mentioned the Memorial as the tournament they most enjoy playing, it sounds like for the treatment they receive more than the golf course. Mike Hulbert and Charl Schwartzel, a young South African whom I met at lunch after the pro-am, mentioned Colonial as a golf course they like, and a couple also mentioned Westchester.
Q: Who was better, Jack or Tiger?
A: A couple of pros whom I asked this said Tiger—an incredible short game.
Q: Who should be the Captain’s picks for the Ryder Cup, and how can the US regain the Cup?
A: Chopra, who is of Swedish/Indian descent, said “Some really bad players since I’m from Europe” to a large laugh from the audience. Hulbert and Rummels commented that it would be good to have players with experience given the youth of the team such as Jay Haas or even Corey Pavin. [Who knows—if Lehman wins today he may be on it himself]
On regaining the Cup, Chopra said the US squad needs to "chill out," go have some beers together. He said the European team views the Ryder Cup as the most important event they play, and they approach it as a major rather than just another tournament.
A few other comments:
Mike Springer (who is a salty dog—expletives colored most everything he said) is designing a course outside his home town of Fresno with John Fought. It’s a city-owned course, and Mike’s first design effort. He said he’s really enjoying it. He said they did the routing “in a couple of days,” which surprised me. It sounds like an open piece of ground. He said they are moving quite a bit of dirt, but are creating wide fairways with preferred sides that will afford better visibility and/or angles, which sounds encouraging. He was surprised to hear of my interest in golf course architecture. I gave him a précis on GolfClubAtlas as the catalyst for my interest. I asked him if he knew of Tom Doak—not really. I mentioned Pacific Dunes and I don’t think he’s aware of that either. I asked him if he intends to do more design work and he said he wants to see how the Fresno project turns out.
Of all the Tour pros I met and heard from this weekend, I was very impressed with Daniel Chopra. Thoughtful, funny and even evincing some GCA savvy. Also from a brief meeting, Charl Schwartzel was impressive. Pleasant and a good young player (he finished T48 at the US Open and 20th at the British Open). He said he bogeyed 17 and 18 at Winged Foot and played a good 70 hole tournament there. When I said Phil Mickelson played a good 71 hole tournament, he said he couldn’t believe Phil Mickelson’s plays on 18. “Really dumb, he couldn’t find a fairway with driver and should have hit 4 iron,” he said. “Two really bad plays.” Of course the cynical among us would say, “Easy for you to say Charl. Get in the hunt in a major and we’ll see how you do.”
Both the pro-am pros used laser range finders. Boyd Summerhays' calculated both distance and elevation gain/loss. He said he uses it in practice rounds and it's a big help in preparing. Boyd's ballflight really reflects the new club fitting/launch monitor approach--the ball explodes off the club in a perfect boring trajectory. I hit his driver a couple times, and the ball flight difference between his driver and mine easily made a 20 yard difference. For the most part, these guys both hit it 40-50 yards past me. I'm not long but I've never thought I was a short hitter either. Summerhays is an impressive player, but he isn't a factor on the Tour. Bottom line--These Guys Are Good...