McDonald's LPGA Championship at Bulle Rock (Dye)

[Joe Bausch]

I'll be working at the tournament which starts on Thursday.  If any other GCAers are going, give me a shout.  

On Thursday morning I'll be the scorer for the first group out at 7:15 AM on No 1 tee (Anna Nordqvist and Hye Jung Choi).

Note:  The Golf Channel is covering all 4 days of the tourney in high-def.

Th-Fr:  12:30p – 3:30p Live | 7p – 10p Replay
Sat:  4p – 7p Live | 7:30p – 10:30p Replay | 12a – 3a Replay
Sun:  4p – 7p Live | 8p – 11p Replay | 12a – 3a Replay

[Dan Herrmann]

Joe,
Watch out for t-storms!

We're going to try to get out there for the swan song at Bulle Rock over the weekend.

[Joe Bausch]

The young rookie Swede Anna Nordqvist managed a 66 today with a grand total of 22 putts.  Amazing to watch.

[mike_malone]

 Joe,

    Do you have any architectural observations from her play of the course? Or ,did she prove that when you hit it great architecture is irrelevant?

   

[BCyrgalis]

Bulle Rock is an absolutely fantastic tract.  A big Dye layout, with not as many quirks as most.  One of my favorites of all time.

And Nordqvist's 66 was brilliant.  When the greens are as receptive as they were today, it was like throwing darts.  They also ran so true, if you've got your stroke going, 22 putts (with some kick-ins) is a feasible task. 

One thing that was infuriating about the telecast was Christina Kim being Mic'd Up!  She's loud and funny and friends with Michele Wie - YAY!  Goodness gracious, gimme a break.  The LPGA has become so focused on promotion that they've forgotten the real draw is great golfers on great golf courses.  I tuned in to get some looks at the course and see how they were handling it, but I was forced - absolutely forced! - to change the channel.  I saw more graphics from the Golf Channel - you're not getting away scot free here, either - that were about C. Kim's Twitter account than about the course.  Yea, Carolyn Bivens, it's a great idea to have them tweet during their rounds.  Really reeling in the fans.  There are some great personalities on the LPGA tour, and some absolutely tremendous golfers, but Bivens is running this damn thing into the ground.  It's sad.

[Dan Herrmann]

Bivens really irks me.  But so does Bettman (NHL), Selig (MLB), and Stern (NBA).   Bivens dumped Corning for - wait for it -  an open weekend.

Back to GCA...  Bulle Rock has some wonderful holes.  #2 is a favorite, and it's got some very strong par 4s.  But I think it also has some very weak holes - I really dislike 15 and 16 and I still haven't figured out why anybody would ever play the "direct to the green" route on #9 (so why build it).

#1 is a great starting hole - pretty easy, which is A-OK with me.
#2 is a brilliant par 5 to an elevated green
#3 is a sporty par 3..
Yeah, it's a good course, but I always preferred its neighbor Beechtree (NLE).

I hope the tournament goes somewhere with better fan support next year.  I've been out there many times since its days at DuPont, and groups with more folks inside the ropes than outside aren't all that uncommon.

[Garland Bayley]

Anyone care to describe 15 at Bulle Rock. It looks on Google Earth as if an earthquake happened and one end of the hole separated it from the other end. Is the effect there to force crossing the creek as a diagonal hazard? How long is the hole? How long are the ladies playing it? Can the second half of the fairway be reached from the tee so that they can get home in two?

[Joe Bausch]

Anyone care to describe 15 at Bulle Rock. It looks on Google Earth as if an earthquake happened and one end of the hole separated it from the other end. Is the effect there to force crossing the creek as a diagonal hazard? How long is the hole? How long are the ladies playing it? Can the second half of the fairway be reached from the tee so that they can get home in two?

The ladies are playing basically from the white tees, so the 15th hole is measured at about 490 yards.  It plays slightly uphill.  On the diagram below the solid black line is how about 490 yards is measured, with the 2nd shot back across the creek.  With a drive of about 250 yards, a 2nd shot of about 215 to the green is possible.  The bigger hitters can hit the drive farther up the FW, up to say about 280ish, leaving a shot of less than 200 yards in.  Yesterday Ochoa reached it in two.

The left FW is not reachable on the drive for the women.  Heck, if they held a men's event here they might make this a long par 4.  From the tips the big hitters could probably reach the left FW if they work a draw around some trees near the tee, leaving a short to mid-iron in (pink dotted line).

[Joe Bausch]

The young rookie Swede Anna Nordqvist managed a 66 today with a grand total of 22 putts.  Amazing to watch.

One of the posts I made yesterday that was lost in the GCA.com hiccup was something saying I really like Anna's game, but I'm more impressed with her concentration and demeanor.  Then I said I hoped she would win this tourney b/c she is very likable, but I said she probably wouldn't.

Well, yesterday she goes out and fires a 2 under 70 and she leads the tourney by 1.

If you are going today, I'll be there.  Drop by and say 'hi' if you can.  I'll be scoring for a group teeing off somewhere around 12:15 PM, which could be Paula Creamer's twosome.

[Andy Troeger]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the 13th--I thought that was definitely the best hole on the golf course, and there are quite a few other good ones. I liked the 15th as an option par five--there is a carry that has to be made at some point but its not all that long. In fact I thought the finish to the course was the best stretch of holes. I do agree on the 2nd and 3rd being strong as well.

[Garland Bayley]

Thanks Joe,

[Dan Herrmann]

Joe,
We missed you yesterday.  

OT - I'm amazed at two things:
 - The pace of the LPGA.  They were playing in twosomes, but it was glacially slow around the greens.
 - The fact that I didn't see anybody make a putt over 3'.  

I know that every putt means $$$, but the PGA guys weren't anywhere near this slow at The Barclays last year.

And this applies to PGA/LPGA - Don't these folks carry rulebooks?  I was amazed at some of the goofy things players asked for rulings on.  Whatever happened to reading the rulebook and checking with your fellow competitor?

[Brent Hutto]

Joe,
We missed you yesterday. 

OT - I'm amazed at two things:
 - The pace of the LPGA.  They were playing in twosomes, but it was glacially slow around the greens.
 - The fact that I didn't see anybody make a putt over 3'. 

I know that every putt means $$$, but the PGA guys weren't anywhere near this slow at The Barclays last year.

And this applies to PGA/LPGA - Don't these folks carry rulebooks?  I was amazed at some of the goofy things players asked for rulings on.  Whatever happened to reading the rulebook and checking with your fellow competitor?

Welcome to modern golf. They don't scratch their nose without asking for a ruling because they don't want some idiot watching on TV or in the gallery to raise a stink and get them disqualified and insulted in the media for the next three weeks. They want every bit of cover possible and asking for a ruling is one way to get some. So what if it adds 10 minutes to the round. You're going to be there all day anyway, right?

I've only seen one LPGA Tour event, a couple days worth of the tournament they used to have at Mt. Vintage down the road from me near Aiken, SC. And I would have thought somewhere in those two days I'd have seen someone with a reasonably hot putter but it's just like you described. Maybe a handful or 4, 5, 6 footers made out the 100+ putts I watched. Nothing like seeing a player and caddie stalk a 15-footer for several minutes then not even touch the hole. And don't get me started on how many of these ladies are abysmal chippers of the ball. With some notable exceptions (Cristie Kerr, Annika, Laura Davies) they had all sorts of trouble getting the pace and line right on chips from anything other than a perfect lie. Most of the non-"Name" players I saw just plain old did not have that magical touch out of the rough around the greens that every decent male player I've ever seen has (not male Tour players, I'm talking even decent collegiate guys or the very best high-schoolers).

I can't imagine watching a Tour event (either gender) nowadays with all the dicking around they do before hitting the ball. And I will absolutely not attend any events until they outlaw the stupid practice of caddies lining up each shot from behind the "player". That is not golf, that is mental midgets pretending to play golf. But it's just like asking for constant rulings. When there is no negative consequence to slowing the game down miserably and/or looking like an idiot then most players are going to use every crutch in the book and then some in trying to avoid wasting a single stroke in their career. It's sad.

[Joe Bausch]

My twosome yesterday, M. J. Hur and Chella Choi, teed off at 12:25 and finished at 4:20, so some rounds can be fast.

And as I wrote earlier in the thread, some putts are made, as Nordqvist made just about everything she looked at on Th (22 putts).

FYI:  Anna went out this morning and completed her 3rd round by getting to 11 under and now leads by two.

[Dan Herrmann]

Joe,
I was actually watching your group tee off on #10 on Saturday.  They were doing well, but the Creamer twosome was at least 2 holes behind the group in front of them.  Granted, they lost a ball on #1 and spent (over) 5 minutes looking for it, but they never caught up.  I was watching folks hit into 15 green and ended up leaving after 15 minutes went by without any players.  Turns out it was the SLOW Creamer/Mrs. Votaw twosome.

By the way, I have no problem with stating that the worst player this week would beat me 99 times out of 100.

[Joe Bausch]

Anna Nordqvist wins going away, by 4 shots.  Are we looking at another Swedish golf star, sort of like Annika 15 years or so ago?

And how much will this golf ball get me on eBay?!     She gave this to me right after holing out on the 18th of her Th morning round.

[Mike_Cirba]

Joe,

I'm certain she clearly won after being inspired by the Cobb's Creek restoration stories I'm certain you regaled her with.