[Mark Arata]

"I think this is the best conditioned course we've played on tour this year and the best set of greens I've seen in maybe four or five years on Tour," said Elkington, a consultant on the design, who describes it as a thinking-man's course.

Man, talk about trying to pump yourself up a bit.....

There is absolutly nothing to think about on this course, every hole is long, sand left, long, sand left, lather, rinse, repeat.

The greens might be in great shape, but they are pretty typical "tour" greens, there is nothing special about their shape or slope at all, and inside 3 feet, everything is dead straight.

Everything that is wrong with PGA tour golf can be seen on this course at anytime, IMHO.......boring, overpriced, no ground option golf at it's finest (worst)

So there.

[Rick Shefchik]

Doesn't this argue against having pros with perfect swings consult on courses? What does a guy like Elkington care about strategy?

At least Crenshaw sprayed it around, even at his peak.

[Mark Arata]

On the other hand, the extended story does have something nice to say about tree removal.......(pretty damn expensive tree removal I might add, but tree removal none the less.......)


{This is the third time the Zurich Classic has been played on the 7,341-yard TPC Louisiana course. Completed in time for the 2005 tournament, Hurricane Katrina hit the Pete Dye-designed course hard, flooding several holes and knocking down nearly 2,000 trees. It was closed for 10 months.

"I think this is the best conditioned course we've played on tour this year and the best set of greens I've seen in maybe four or five years on Tour," said Elkington, a consultant on the design, who describes it as a thinking-man's course.

Elkington said Katrina actually helped the course.

"We had to keep about 80 acres of trees just by law, but 50 [acres] got knocked down, so there's much more air," he said. "I think that's why the course is flourishing."}

[Matt_Cohn]

"I think this is the best conditioned course we've played on tour this year and the best set of greens I've seen in maybe four or five years on Tour," said Elkington, a consultant on the design, who describes it as a thinking-man's course.

Man, talk about trying to pump yourself up a bit.....

There is absolutly nothing to think about on this course, every hole is long, sand left, long, sand left, lather, rinse, repeat.

That's not really true from what I've seen. There are actually a lot of short-cut chipping areas all over the place.

The greens might be in great shape, but they are pretty typical "tour" greens, there is nothing special about their shape or slope at all, and inside 3 feet, everything is dead straight.

This also doesn't seem to be true. Both the commentators and David Duval, who's playing, talked a lot about how busy all of the greens are and how many mounds and slopes they have compared to typical tour greens.

Everything that is wrong with PGA tour golf can be seen on this course at anytime, IMHO.......boring, overpriced, no ground option golf at it's finest (worst)

The pro's hardly even use the ground game during the Open Championship anymore, so criticizing a course in Louisiana for not presenting ground options doesn't seem very meaningful. I don't think you'd see a lot of bump and runs even if the greens were all open in front, do you?

So there.
Ditto 

[Mark Arata]

OK, so I will give you the ground option dig since I did say PGA golf instead of regular golf . But for mortals, it is beyond boring to me. I would rather play Metairie 9 times to 1 in a 10 round sampling.

I have played this course a lot, and there is nothing special about those greens.  And the course to me is extremely repetitive in nature.

I think 4 and 5 are pretty good holes, and 13 is a neat risk reward hole for a big hitter, the par 3's are not that great, 9 is ok, 3 and 14 are almost the same hole, and 17 was better to me before they took out any type of a miss on the left by putting the railroad ties on the side of the hill and forcing you to play a draw to the right and away from the water.

Maybe for the pros, it is a different course than they normally see, but for a 12-18 hdcp, to me, the course isnt any fun. I am pretty much on scholarship there because of my work and we hardly ever play there anymore unless it is a tournament.

[Matt_Cohn]

I just watched Bubba play a bump and run from 50 yards.

Are the greens really flat? They even look kind of moundy. Late edit: Just saw Elk miss a 3-footer with a cup of break. Maybe they're just faster than when you've played? I don't know. Roger Maltbie seems entranced with how much movement the greens have.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Mark thanks for noting how silly Elk is for those comments. He has played really well the first two days and I certainly wish him the absolute best. TPC Fairfield is no more and thinking mans course than most of the rest of the TPC courses. I guess i need to put on gol;f channels and see what he and Bubba got in a spat about. They did not shake hands on 18 as best i could see from the box. It was a beautiful day in nola but that is not a thinking mans course period unless he really meant the most thinking mans course in the Parish.

[Mark Arata]

I just watched Bubba play a bump and run from 50 yards.

Are the greens really flat? They even look kind of moundy. Late edit: Just saw Elk miss a 3-footer with a cup of break. Maybe they're just faster than when you've played? I don't know. Roger Maltbie seems entranced with how much movement the greens have.

Methinks Roger might have spent some extra time in the quarter before the broadcast, everything has movement after a few hurricanes at Pat O's

You are correct about the speeds, they do not play at 13 all the time

Here was a quote from Furyk this morning in the paper.......

Furyk was non-committal about any future return to New Orleans.

"I'm wishy-washy on the course," he said. "I don't dislike it, but it's not at the top of my life. We'll see how it fits into my schedule."

Can someone turn on the PGA pro translation device and tell me what that means? I sort of think it was a backhanded compliment at best, and a WWE smackdown at worst.

[JESII]

What it means is that the tournament itself is not prominent enough on its own for the course to not matter...and the course itself does not warant a locked in spot on the schedule the way Riviera does to many of the guys...

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Mark thanks for noting how silly Elk is for those comments. He has played really well the first two days and I certainly wish him the absolute best. TPC Fairfield is no more a thinking mans course than most of the rest of the TPC courses. I guess i need to put on gol;f channels and see what he and Bubba got in a spat about. They did not shake hands on 18 as best i could see from the box. It was a beautiful day in nola but that is not a thinking mans course period unless he really meant the most thinking mans course in the Parish.

[Pete_Pittock]

Tiger,
   Shackelford has the TV clip from yesterday. It doesn't tell all but Elkington brushed past the TV cameras and walked to the green (up the left side?).
Bubba was in the right rough and backed off his shot. The mikes picked up something like "that really frosts my ass" in reference to Elkington and it seems to be something that has gone on for two days.
   Bubba has spoken, but the Tour has asked Elkington not to comment.
   Could Bubba have said something bad about the course, not realizing that Elk was the player consultant?

[Bill_McBride]

There was something in today's paper to the effect that Elk moved or talked or did something while Bubba was in his routine and Bubba's got frosted.  Bubba lives nearby and is the nicest kid in the world.  I suspect Elk was in the wrong but Bubba is the youngster and Elk is the elder who merits more respect.   

[CJ Carder]

There was another point that I caught on tv last night where Bubba was getting ready to hit and backed off his shot saying something along the lines of... "could you stop walking for once?! G-D, you did it all day yesterday."

Apparently Elk was getting a little ansy and ready to move on with the round.  I've never seen Bubba in person, does he play a little slower than possibly desired?

[Bill_McBride]

There was another point that I caught on tv last night where Bubba was getting ready to hit and backed off his shot saying something along the lines of... "could you stop walking for once?! G-D, you did it all day yesterday."

Apparently Elk was getting a little ansy and ready to move on with the round.  I've never seen Bubba in person, does he play a little slower than possibly desired?

Not slow enough to merit that discourtesy.

[Brian_Sleeman]

Here it is - the audio is pretty clear:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FOySaUc_Rc

[Andrew Summerell]

I find it amusing that we hear Bubba Watson insult Elkington, yet a few of you seem to think it’s Elkington’s fault. I would want to hear the facts before commenting.

It’s a shame Bubba said what he said about veteran players, but is a little heat & controversy that bad ?

[Dan Herrmann]

Doesn't this argue against having pros with perfect swings consult on courses? What does a guy like Elkington care about strategy?

At least Crenshaw sprayed it around, even at his peak.

I think the Hanse/Faxon collaboration has been successful in Boston.

[Steve Lang]

  Seems bubba took all the heat and apologized.. he'd been hooking it right all day.. it was the straw.. something bubba deals with every round being the long hitter, certainly no real cause of Elk's from across the fairway! .. other than he was playing better ..  I'm almost surprized bubba didn't chastise the gulls

Tiger, do you think Elkington will invite Bubba out to Champions for a round during the SHO?  Speaking of which, ..

you'll likely hear the same "best conditioned course, nicest greens" comment from there also..

[Adam Clayman]

I'm with Bubba on this one. This dicourteousness, of moving around or talking while someone is attempting to play their shot is pervasive throughout the sport.

The new rule book, compared to the old, is deficient in highlighting the importance in this type of consideration.

For us Ams, The newer double shoulder strap bags make being stealthy nearly impossible without iron covers. 

[Steve Lang]

 

or a simple hand steadying the clubs woeks very well...

[Scott Whitley]

I seem to recall Elkington being voted "least favorite playing partner" in a magazine poll a few years back.

[Michael Whitaker]

Elk got some votes, but Sabbatini was the least favorite:

http://www.golf.com/golf/gallery/article/0,28242,1617060-13,00.html

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