I really enjoyed going to the Tuesday practice round with Ryan Simper and a couple of Minneapolis friends. Seeing a course in person sure gives a different impression than watching on TV. Overall, I was surprised to learn that the advantage long hitters traditionally have enjoyed at the course has probably been reduced due to the added length and the positioning of the fairway bunkers.
1. The course is incredibly long and yardage doesn’t really tell you how long.
2. Number 1 is really uphill, 5 is really uphill off the tee,
3. The fairways are still really wide. With the exception of 7, I would guess most are 40 yards or more and some of the narrow ones have slopes keeping the ball in the fairway (such as 13).
4. Fairway bunkers are interesting – almost no one can fly over them, there is an advantage to hitting near them, their position minimizes the advantage of long hitters but increases the advantage of accurate drivers willing to take a risk.
5. Despite the width of the fairways, players use 3 wood off the tee at surprising times, like 5 to take the faiway bunkers out of play.
6. I understand why Zach Johnson’s layup strategy might be a good one. If you play the par 5's as 3 shot holes you can hit a 3 wood or driver to a 50 yard fairway off the tee without any risk, lay up a specific spot with no hazards within 25 yards of your target and then a wedge from a perfect angle.
By contrast, watching players in practice rounds struggled tosqueeze drives around the corner on 13, to the right on 15, down the left edge on 2 and near the bunker without going in on 8.
7. Many greens are built on hillsides causing the break for which you see on television but cannot figure out why it is there #3 is the example that immediately comes to mind but probably all of the greens with the exception of the 12th and 16th fit this description to some extent.
8. Hight points on the course are 10 tee, 2 tee, 5 green, low points are 12 green and 16 green. I believe the elevation drop is 200 feet from 10 tee to 11 green but I may have that wrong.
9. Terrific stadium type course. 4-5 excellent vantage points to see multiple holes without the unnatural look of stadium golf.
10. I can see why the place has greatly increased the cost of private club maintenance across the country. The flowers are so beautiful and my first green committee meeting is April 15. I could see many people headed into that meeting with a lot of beautification ideas.
11. The course lacks the variety it used to have. Oakmont last year showed the value of sprinkling in some short par fours into the course. Shortening 7 would help a lot.
12. It was unclear to me how much the trees on 15, 17 and 11 really hurt those holes but I did not get a great look at them.
13. The course would be very playable and really fun for the average player from 6300 yards. It would be driver/ 3 wood for nearly every amateur from the back tees.