[Bill Brightly]

Just a few photos from today's practice round:

Back of Hole 3, a GREAT par 5 green complex. This hole is all about getting your second shot in position to be able to hit one of three distinct sections of the green. Today's pin was in the front third, by far the easiest. You simply do not want to try to hit this green from the rough. Hope the photo shows the tiers:


Approach to hole 6, a 470+ par 4. I marshalled this hole, so many pictures from here





I saw 30 guys miss this fairway and only Cabrera hit the green from the rough...






Green-side rough


Hole 7 tee shot, member par 5, played from front tee as par 4 for the Barclays. (Cemetary Hole) Do you all have this spine angle?


Hole 9


Hole 10
Cabrera from front bunker


Hole 11


Approach to 18, severe right-to-left tilt



A neat little par 3 with severe back-to-front slope. (This hole did not make the Barclays 18 routing)

 

[Jaeger Kovich]

3 is good hole, but there is a par-5 way to similar on the back to put it in the GREAT catagory.

Was anyone driving the green on the uphill short 4 with that tiny green that no more than 5 paces wide?

[Bill Brightly]

I said the  green complex on #3 was great...Hole 17 is a world class par 5 from tee to green!

I talked to a guy who marshalled the Five and Dime, Hole 5. He said most laid up, no one hit the green. VJ landed on the hill and bounded down, but not on the green.

Here is the green:

[Dan Herrmann]

I absolutely love this golf course.  It has so much going for it - great greens, good use of elevation changes, really nice angles, etc.  Classic... 

[Paul Richards]

Played Ridgewood two years ago, about a week or two before the Barlays.  The rough was laying over on itself and I lost numerous golf balls just feet off of the fairways.  My buddy was driving it 300 and straight for our trip - amazingly - so he didn't have to face the punishing rough that I did.

Anyways, I loved the golf course at Ridgewood - especially since they picked probably the best 18 of 27 there!

[Greg Stebbins]

Did anyone successfully take it straight over the tree on 3 center while you were marshaling?

[Paul Richards]

Great pick of my main man, DA!

[Bill Brightly]

Did anyone successfully take it straight over the tree on 3 center while you were marshaling?

Yeah, VJ and Cabrera!  That is one SICK line of attack!

VJ hit three drives, first one in left fringe, second on left edge of fairway and the last one hit the tree. But when VJ got there, it was clear he could not tell which of the drives cleared it, so he was very interested in which one hit the tree. Most pressure I had all day

[Mike Cirba]

Nice pics, Bill...Ridgewood looks terrific.

Did Gil do work there?   When I played it some years back they had just done a Reestoration and the bunkering looked really lame.

Glad to see it in much sharper definition.

[Bill Brightly]

Mike,

I think Gil did the work there, I will check.



Another pic, can anyone name the player:

[JR Potts]

That's JB.

And Paul, your man DA loves the course.

[Phil McDade]

That's JB.

I can't imagine a course less-suited for his game.

Now, watch, he'll go out and win it.

[Mike Policano]

Mike, Ridgewood was restored/renovated by Gil Hanse 6 years ago. All the bunkers were sympathetically restored and many of the greens were reclaimed.

Bill, in the Barlcays two years ago, on Nickle & Dime (aka 6 Center and No. 5 in the Barclays), 22% of the field went for the green from the tee and averaged 1/4 stroke less than those who layed up.

Finally as Greg says, on hole 6 (3 Center), going over the trees on the left, if you can do it, is the way to go. Otherwise unless you have to perfectly shape your shot, it is a challenge. Many of the pros will hit three wood to find a level spot in the fairway. Driver risks the rough or a severe downhill lie which brings bogey into play.    

[Mike Cirba]

Mike,

Thanks...I thought I recalled that but wasn't sure.   

I also seem to recall he was hoping for more tree removal than actually happened, but that could be almost any course, anywhere. 

[Mike Policano]

Mike, over 1000 trees were taken down as a result of the work done by Gil. Since then, probably another 300 or so trees have come down including around 100 this winter.

The 15th hole (6 West) is a short par3 where every tree around the green was taken down this winter greatly improving the hole.

Cheers

[Bill Brightly]

A few more pros for you to identify





Note the two trees over this guys shoulder, Cabrera's ball was 5 feet in front on the first tree. He chose to hit a cut between the trees and hit it 15 feet  from the pin!

[Mike Benham]

Sabbatini ...

Casey ...

De Jonge ...

Micheel ...

Campbell ...

[Patrick_Mucci]

Nice pics, Bill...Ridgewood looks terrific.

Did Gil do work there?   When I played it some years back they had just done a Reestoration and the bunkering looked really lame.

Mike,

I"ve been playing Ridgewood for close to 60 years and the bunkering NEVER looked lame and they always played well.


Glad to see it in much sharper definition.


Could you please define "Sharper Definition" when it comes to the bunker at Ridgewood ?
That's a term and an application I've never heard before.

[Bill Brightly]

Tiger drove the 5th hole today (I heard he hit a 3 wood) and just missed the 12 foot eagle putt... In fact, Tiger hit driver only once. VERY smart of him. The course is wet and the roughs are brutal, but it is "lift,clean and place" in the fairway...

Davis Love was 7 feet and also missed the eagle.

[Joe Bausch]

Tiger drove the 5th hole today (I heard he hit a 3 wood) and just missed the 12 foot eagle putt... In fact, Tiger hit driver only once. VERY smart of him. The course is wet and the roughs are brutal, but it is "lift,clean and place" in the fairway...

Davis Love was 7 feet and also missed the eagle.

If I was to attend the tourney, I would try to find a spot near that green to see the action.  What a nifty little hole!

[Bill Brightly]

Joe,

You are right, this is a GREAT place to watch the tourney.  I was marshaling the 6th tee, so once the guys left the tee, I ran down to the 5th green to see the action. The pros are just so amazing with their short game, almost everyone puts for birdie from 15 feet or less, but the VARIETY of shots that are hit to get there is endless.

I wonder what Tillinghast would say if he saw pros hitting this green on the fly...I think he would NOT be pleased...but he left it VERY well defended.

[David Lott]

Are the fairways this narrow for ordinary mortals? Were they in the past for pros? Or is it just an optical illusion? But the photos look like they really narrowed it to protect the course. No wonder Tiger kept the driver in the bag.

[Mike Policano]

David, the fairways were not narrowed for the Barclays. In fact, they are wider now than they were six years ago before Hanse's work. The fairways are actually wider than they look although some of the turns in the fairways make them effectively narrower.

Only one fairway, 16 (7 west), is near US Open width. And some of the fairways are very wide. For example, 3,11, 12, 14 and 17.

Given how tough the rough was playing today, the rain softened fairways greatly benefited those that hit fairways.

Cheers

[Gary Slatter]

thanks for pictures.

Watching the PGA event yesterday I decided that I really like the course and think the way the fairways and aprons are cut is perfect, should become PGA standard.  I really dislike the striping and pattern cutting (90s), and didn't see any at Ridgewood - perfect!  The bunkers look good too!  Ridgewood, to me, is the look of 2010.

[AndrewB]

Watching the PGA event yesterday I decided that I really like the course and think the way the fairways and aprons are cut is perfect, should become PGA standard.  I really dislike the striping and pattern cutting (90s), and didn't see any at Ridgewood - perfect!  The bunkers look good too!  Ridgewood, to me, is the look of 2010.

Todd Raisch, the excellent superintendent at Ridgewood CC, told me two years ago that originally they switched from the striped cut to half and half for the 2008 Barclays at the PGA Tour's request.  That year he found it saved a lot of money in labor and fuel, and also that it improved the quality of the rough since the mowers weren't turning around on it.  So, they decided to keep it.

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