Presidents Cup at RM

[Mac Plumart]

man...the way the course is set up, I don't think I could break 100.

[Adam Clayman]

Even before hearing Johnny M just say how, if the hole location isn't in it's limited perfect position, some of these greens are "Unfair", I was wondering how much longer we will be blessed with seeing greens of this character?
 Afterall it isn't the greens fault, 14 on the Stimp is the new normal.

Also, Im wondering how much RM's unique playing characteristics, played upon Couples, when selecting his team?
And,

.. has there been a trend, where the American's actually play better on these firmer courses? The Ryder cup venues selected by the Euros is always uber lush "American Style" while it was Azinger's instruction to the Super, for firmer conditions, that accounted for our last Victory.

Mac, I bet I would.

[Colin Macqueen]

Gentlemen,

Terrific golf on a terrific course!

Mac, I reckon breaking 100 would be a first class, excellent round for me!

Cheers Colin

[Tim Gavrich]

For all those who think that technology has ruined the game at the professional level and given Dustin Johnson types a distinct advantage, I give you Royal Melbourne.  What a marvelous venue.

[John Kirk]

I'll go a step further, and say this is one of my (two or three) favorite events of the year.  I like this much more than the typical Ryder Cup event, for a variety of reasons.

Nobody seems to have mentioned this.  Tiger Woods is playing well this week.

[Terry Lavin]

It's an intriguing match play venue for the pros and it looks like nirvana for us normal slobs.

[Sam Morrow]

I don't even care about hitting drives, I just wanna hit shots around those greens for hours.

[Tim_Cronin]

Put the Australian Open there permanently, play it every November, nix the appearance fees, and you've got your fifth major.

[Craig Sweet]

Is there anyone that thinks Tiger will never win again?

[Kevin Pallier]

Craig

I'm positive he'll win on the PGA Tour again - though I'm less positive he'll pass Nicklaus' Major tally.

[John Kirk]

Actually, I have been saying the last couple months that I thought he (Tiger) would never win again.  This is the best he's played in quite some time.  His swing looks much better, doesn't it?

[Chris Johnston]

Actually, I have been saying the last couple months that I thought he (Tiger) would never win again.  This is the best he's played in quite some time.  His swing looks much better, doesn't it?

John - Looks like he trusts the knee again, Finally.

[Kevin Pallier]

Congratulations to the US.

Good contributions by all team members v some obvious lesser one's in the International team.

The 4somes results were the obvious difference.

The highlight ? Great to see RM under all conditions particularly the strong north wind.

[Randy Thompson]

Tiger has shown he is far from done if he can stay healthy! Wifes and caddies can come and go but the abiltiy he has is deep.

[David Kelly]

I did enjoy watching the pros play Royal Melbourne in a variety of conditions but after looking at the upcoming venues for both the Presidents and Ryder Cups I am done watching these competitions for the foreseeable future.

I would like to see a prominent tournament played at RM every Australian spring/summer so I could see the course each year on TV.

[Warwick Loton]

Jeff,

I watched a piece (I think yesterday) with the RM super. He was explaining the raking of the bunkers. Apparently, they are using timber boards (?) to smooth the sand on the faces to encourage balls to bounce down to the traditionally raked portion at the bottom. I don't really understand the impotus for this (admittedly I only caught the piece midstream) and it sounded odd to me as well. He was firing balls into the face and they wouldn't plug, but roll to the bottom.

The preparation of the bunkers has been very interesting. There was obviously a desire to have most balls run down the bunker faces to finish on the flat base area. This harks back to the traditional way that bunkers used to be throughout Melbourne's Sandbelt courses - except that bunker bases used to consist of a very, very modest layer of sand atop a hard-pan surface. In recent times, there has been a move away from this tradition, and toward much fluffier sand throughout. In order to firm up the sloped bunker surfaces in preparation for this event, small vehicles (eg Toro mini-tractors) were to be seen being driven up the bunker faces. (Obviously not all the way up the steeper sections.) After this compaction, boards and flat rakes were used to smooth these surfaces.

Back in the days when Sandbelt bunkers fed all balls down to a really hard base, there was a big incentive to stay out of greenside bunkers: they were truly penal.

[Warwick Loton]

A few quick observations:

A lot of the time players hit iron or fairway wood to the same locations that pros used to hit their driver to - that is, in spite of the moden equipment adding to hitting distances, it seemed that most approach shots were hit from the same zones they used to be hit from during the 1980s. (Unsure if others had this impression too??)

Where this week's players tried to use their modern-equipment-aided-length to drive par-4s (primarily the 6th (10w) & 11th (1e)) they didn't seem to gain an advantage - frequently they finished with pars, whereas a more conservative drive would have given them a good chance of birdie.

Over the final two days (when the greens were softened by the rain) we got to see a number of exceptionally difficult pin placements. Talking to various people who know the course well, nobody had ever seen a number of these. It would seem that the Super has been quite imaginative in rethinking possible pin locations, rather than simply reverting to the long established spots. This innovation made for an alternative challenge when the weather blunted the potency of the greens, and to my eye made for terrific matchplay.
 

[Joe Bausch]

Will this method of bunker presentation be seen more often?  And will we see this golfer again soon in the winner's circle?



(figured out how to get m2t streams from my cable box to my computer via FireWire)  

[Neil_Crafter]

Warwick
Thanks for your observations. I saw the course on Thursday.
While you suggest the Super may have chosen the pin locations, that would be highly unlikely. While he MIGHT have been in the group that set the next day's pins, this would have primarily been a PGA Tour responsibility. There were some very difficult pin spots out there that I saw on TV today.

[Tim Martin]

Sitting around after golf yesterday with 8 guys proved what a star RM is. Only one other guy really has an interest in golf architecture although everyone was talking about the course. The bunker style,the way they were raked,grasses and green color all popped up in the discussion. Additionally the types of shots played around the greens had everyone`s attention. I have never been to the land down under but it would certainly be a dream trip to see RM and some of the other Sandbelt courses.   

[Mac Plumart]

Will this method of bunker presentation by seen more often?  And will we see this golfer again soon in the winner's circle?



(figured out how to get m2t streams from my cable box to my computer via FireWire)   

East Lake is doing their bunkers that way now...just started about a month ago.  That is not raking the sides...only the bottom on the bunkers.

[Michael Hayes]

 I am a little surprised that no one has mentioned it, but Rock Creek Cattle Co., in Montana maintains their bunkers in a very similar manner.

Michael

[Warwick Loton]

Warwick
Thanks for your observations. I saw the course on Thursday.
While you suggest the Super may have chosen the pin locations, that would be highly unlikely. While he MIGHT have been in the group that set the next day's pins, this would have primarily been a PGA Tour responsibility. There were some very difficult pin spots out there that I saw on TV today.

Hi Neil,
Great you were able to have a look round on Thursday.

I'm sure you're correct that the PGA Tour held all the power in the daily selection of pin placements. Do you think that they would have thought up their own pin placements, or have worked mainly from a list of recommended options from the Super?

I'd presumed the latter. Although this presumption may be quite wrong, that's what I was attempting to suggest. As background, Richard has introduced a number of novel pin placements since he's arrived. Although various ones on show this week have been new, they are in the style of the others he has introduced - being very close to the edges of greens, and commonly around corner sections (eg front right of 6th (10w), as used on Sunday; front left of 12th (2e) as used I think Saturday... are like a front left one he'd previously introduced on 3e, and a rear corner one on 16w).

Whoever's responsible, did you have any thoughts on those tough placements?

[Sean Leary]

This event was so much more interesting by having the greens as fast as they were IMO. Too fast for the rest of us but thats part of what you need to challenge these guys (along with the firm).

[Neil_Crafter]

Warwick
Some pins looked extremely devilish and I had never seen pins there in my time of playing and watching tournaments at RM, such as the very tight left pin on 16 (18E), still they were the day after the greens were rained upon, so if there was a day when you could get away with it, yesterday was it.