Goofy Golf? Wish They Would Have Kept Playing!

[Mark Chaplin]

The greens were clearly too fast, we played last weekend in winds of 25-30mph gusting to 50mph. Only once did a ball move on the green and that was on a slope. A bag laying beside a green did roll a couple of times and I've only seen that once before when the (measured) gusts were over 80mph so I'd suggest it was getting close to 60mph at times.

On the first I was 150yds to the middle of the green, I hit a perfect 4 iron and ended up a yard short of the burn, so hit it around 125yds.

[Philippe Binette]

But a true thing is that the Tour Players are so stuck in the greens in regulation concept, that they have a hard time establishing a strategy in windy conditions.

Remember the 2009 Open Championship, the reason why a 59 years-old Tom Watson almost won he mainly because he knows how to play in tough conditions. As I watched him play, I noticed that he did those things:

1) At all cost, keep the ball in play (on mown grass)

2) Make sure the worst you do on a hole is a bogey (Watson was one of the only, or the only player not to make a double bogey during regulation play). If you miss the fairway, don't try the hero shot, hit the ball back in play and on the next shot, make sure to hit the green. Even if you have a 50 yard pitch to play, aim 10-15 feet on the safe side.

3) Make sure to miss your target on the low side of the wind, it's better to chip from off the green into the wind, then hit the green and having a 50 foot putt downwind.

Tour players don't play survival golf often... so what the conditions get bad, the old folks and europeans have an advantage..

[Wade Whitehead]

Slugger White claimed this afternoon that greens are rolling 8 and a half.

[jeffwarne]

Slugger White claimed this afternoon that greens are rolling 8 and a half.

The winds have been predicted all week.
If they've cut them since Wed, they're bigger knickleheads than I thought

[Carl Nichols]

Slugger White claimed this afternoon that greens are rolling 8 and a half.

The winds have been predicted all week.
If they've cut them since Wed, they're bigger knickleheads than I thought

He said today that they cut them yesterday afternoon, but didn't roll them, nor did they cut them today.

[jeffwarne]

Slugger White claimed this afternoon that greens are rolling 8 and a half.

The winds have been predicted all week.
If they've cut them since Wed, they're bigger knickleheads than I thought

He said today that they cut them yesterday afternoon, but didn't roll them, nor did they cut them today.

How'd that work out.......
That's kind've like watering them lightly during a downpour

[BHoover]

Slugger White claimed this afternoon that greens are rolling 8 and a half.

The winds have been predicted all week.
If they've cut them since Wed, they're bigger knickleheads than I thought

He said today that they cut them yesterday afternoon, but didn't roll them, nor did they cut them today.

How'd that work out.......
That's kind've like watering them lightly during a downpour

I don't understand why the Tour is getting criticized in this case. Unless they're more powerful than I thought, they can't control the weather. They've been unlucky with three days of freak winds.

[jeffwarne]

Slugger White claimed this afternoon that greens are rolling 8 and a half.

The winds have been predicted all week.
If they've cut them since Wed, they're bigger knickleheads than I thought

He said today that they cut them yesterday afternoon, but didn't roll them, nor did they cut them today.

How'd that work out.......
That's kind've like watering them lightly during a downpour

I don't understand why the Tour is getting criticized in this case. Unless they're more powerful than I thought, they can't control the weather. They've been unlucky with three days of freak winds.

If it's too windy, it's too windy.
Didn't see any balls roll away at address in the fairways though.

High winds were predicted all week.
The weather is warm, the grass will grow.
If you don't cut them, the greens will get slower.
They were able to play today until balls wouldn't stop rolling on greens.
At slower speeds their odds of playing would go up.
They weren't slow enough, hence the golf stopped.
maybe it would've anyway.........but far less likely on 4-5 days growth  (wouldn't be any bumpier than Pebble or other west coast swing courses)

[Josh Tarble]

I really would love to criticize them for not playing....I thought it was really fun to watch them play shots in that weather, but, when a ball blows off a tee, tough to question stopping play.

[jeffwarne]

I really would love to criticize them for not playing....I thought it was really fun to watch them play shots in that weather, but, when a ball blows off a tee, tough to question stopping play.

Fair enough.
Given that the day was washed out, no one had anywhere to be, there were fans, sponsors, and TV, why not wash it out and have a 9 hole shotgun event for charity
Was fun to watch

[Matthew Rose]

As soon as I saw Kuchar's ball get blown off a tee, I knew it was a lost cause.

[Sam Morrow]

How long until a player says they need to move the event away from Kapalua?

[Paul Jones]

I loved it, wish they would have continued playing.

[Sam Morrow]

Johnny Miller is making fun of Poulter, pretty good stuff.

[Paul Jones]

I'm watching replay in few holes they did play and even announcers making fun of how long it took Poutry to 3-putt

[Bryan Lewis]

Sam I've been arguing that for years. Move the pro game indoors where they can really control all the variables, and therefore better identify the best medal player of the week. They have no desire to test these guys mentally, just physically, so why are they still playing the outdoor game? Leave the old game to those of us that like the mental challenges.

Cheers,
Dan King

I think you are right, Dan.  Furyk at the 16th at Olympic Club is an ideal example.

Bryan

[jeffwarne]

Sam I've been arguing that for years. Move the pro game indoors where they can really control all the variables, and therefore better identify the best medal player of the week. They have no desire to test these guys mentally, just physically, so why are they still playing the outdoor game? Leave the old game to those of us that like the mental challenges.

Cheers,
Dan King

I think you are right, Dan.  Furyk at the 16th at Olympic Club is an ideal example.

Bryan

Perhaps a simulator

[archie_struthers]

Anyone old enough to remember Dallas Green Bay in Super Bowl at -15 Fahrenheit.  As long as its not dangerous , I just don't get why you wouldn't keep playing on. So what if its too hard , these guys play great.  Someone would have figured a way to get it in the house around even. Lots of money out there. Just play baby!

[Sean_A]

Jeff is right.  Ya gotta go with the weather forecast.  The greens should not have been cut that week.  Whats the worst that can happen - slow greens for one day?  I am not saying they could have played anyway, but it the odds would have been better.  In my book, 25-30 isn't fun, but it should be playable if the course is set-up properly.  Once it hits a steady 35, I think it would be hard for exposed areas not to be unplayable.  Anyway, once its blowing that hard, the pace would be terrible and more unwatchable than golf normally is. 

Ciao     

[Mark Provenzano]

My 13 year old son and I played the other Kapalua course on Saturday (with, as fate would have it, the father of one of the pros who suddenly found himself with a free afternoon that day.) The conditions were challenging at times, especially at the two holes on the ocean, but certainly not the worst I've played in recently. Not even close. Hitting a PW 150 yards or having a crushed 5 iron go only 110 on adjacent holes was part of the fun.

(Yes, I realize that the Plantation course is across the highway from the Bay course and is more exposed to the weather in spots. They've certainly played the Open in worse conditions than I saw Saturday.)

[Tim_Cronin]

Two mistakes this week:
1. Cutting the greens after Wednesday.
2. Restarting. Just pick up where you left off, as is the case in every other PGA Tour tournament. Conditions different? That's the rub of the green. And with 30 players, you might have still gotten 72 holes in by Tuesday night.
I do love the 87-yard 8-iron, though. That's my game against a 3-club wind!

[Jeb Bearer]

Some perspective.


Stolen from the PGA Tour Facebook page.

[Tom Yost]

Thought this photo was amusing  (from pgatour.com)

[Tim_Cronin]

Photo of the year!

[Dan King]

Of course the wind made the tournament unfair. That is the point of playing the game outdoors. You are going to face unfairness. The test is how you handle the unfairness of the game. The PGA Tour failed by not allowing the players to be mentally tested. If you have no desire to play golf don't clog up the courses for those of us that like the game. Play your silly faux-game indoors.

Cheers,
Dan King

However unlucky you may be, it really is not fair to expect your adversary's grief for your undeserved misfortunes to be as poignant as your own.
  --Horace Hutchinson