Professional Tour stop at Wild Horse Golf Club

[Scott Szabo]

The National Pro Golf Tour is in Gothenburg, Nebraska this week.  It seems to be standing up quite nicely to the boys, with -9 leading after three rounds.  I know the Super, Josh Mahar, posts here occasionally, and would love to get his thoughts on how the tournament is playing out.  Maybe Adam or a couple of others from the area are in attendance and could lend some insight as well.

Josh also has a column on Wild Horse's website that is a good read as well.

[RJ_Daley]

I'd be interested to know if that GolfWeek tour - Pro Tour has a player survey to make comments after the event.  I'd like to hear the comments of these good players as to what they thought were the strengths or weaknesses of the golf course.  ... wish I were there to watch their play.

[Steve Strasheim]

The National Pro Golf Tour is in Gothenburg, Nebraska this week.  It seems to be standing up quite nicely to the boys, with -9 leading after three rounds.  I know the Super, Josh Mahar, posts here occasionally, and would love to get his thoughts on how the tournament is playing out.  Maybe Adam or a couple of others from the area are in attendance and could lend some insight as well.

Josh also has a column on Wild Horse's website that is a good read as well.

Cool, thanks for posting.

A couple of links for the Wild Horse blog and the leaderboard:

http://www.playwildhorse.com/superintendant_news/

http://www.nationalprotour.com/leagues/golf_leaderboard.cfm?clientid=4941&leagueid=19717&seasonnum=2012&flightnum=58

[Joe Stansell]

I love the Superintendant's Report, which begins thusly:  "The National Pro Tour Midwest Open finishes up today.   They started earlier off of holes 1 and 10 to avoid the wind which has wreaked havoc on the players this week."

[RJ_Daley]

Joe, I think that Josh got his date wrong, dating his post as the 19th, when it is actually (today) the 18th and last day of the tournament.  Also, it was probably posted very early this morning, and means that instead of a 9Am start, they may have gone off at 7 or earlier, because the wind usually picks up as the day grows later, and this tournament wants to tone down the wind effects, for whatever their own organization tournament directors reasons.  Of course the wind is a big part of Wild Horse's test on a traditional basis.  But, maybe the organizers felt the test of wind was already cooked into the tournament as it has played out on first days, and today want to lessen wind effects. 

And, Josh may have done this superintendent's entry log early, because it has been a long week of course special preps, and he just may want to take it easy, bug out a little early and spend some family time and/or go fishing this weekend. 

[Pete_Pittock]

Rhein Gibson, the Aussie whose round of 55 is chronicled on another thread was a contestant. His rounds: 75-66-76-70, tied 27th.
 

[Josh_Mahar]

The wind was pretty light for most of the round yesterday and we had to put more water down to offset the off-the-chart ET rates we have experienced this week so there were several low scores yesterday.  -14 was the winner which isn't far off from the -16 I predicted.  The practice rounds were played in calm weather but we kept telling them that wasn't normal-they found out!!  It was extremely tough on day 3 with 25 winds and greens pretty hard so the tourney officials wanted to start early to avoid winds that might suspend play. 
The course only held up because of the extreme winds.  Wild Horse is just not long enough to really challenge pro players, but that is OK.  The only challenge to them was finding the right angles for their tee balls and adjusting to firmer conditions than they are used to.  Once they did that they could tear it up.  Amazing how many really good players there are!
Thanks for the links to the Wild Horse blog. If any of you have any questions or topics you might find interesting let me know.

[RJ_Daley]

Is Hurley still the holder of the WH course record, (64)? Some of us watched him miss about a 15 footer for 63 that year.  I saw a fellow got to 65 in the tournament.  I heard a H.S. kid shot that or better unofficially; T or F?

Was there some sort of questionaire survey for the tournament players regarding their thoughts about WH? 

With two motels in town now, and Cozad close enough, do you ever think a good field of college players invitational, men or women, might be in the future for WH? 

 

[Scott Szabo]

Josh, what was the overall reaction to the course?  It's one of my favorites.  I would think if it was playing firm, it would also play very short for the pros.  I'll be bringing a group out in about three weeks.  How much differently does the course play for the tournament compared to how it will play in about three weeks time? 

[Josh_Mahar]

Dick,
62 in a Nebraska interclub championship.  Had another 62 in state Match Play but  a couple putts were conceded. 
We've hosted some local college events (div 2) but unlikely anything bigger will make its way here.  Logistics get in the way.
Don't think there was a survey, but the response was very favorable as in "best place they will play all year".

Scott,
It is short for them.  As mentioned they only struggled finding the right angles as some fairways "narrow up" on them like 6 and 8 and 10 for example.  Once they knew where they needed to hit it to avoid going through the fairway they could really attack.

The difference between normal play and championship play is not really that much.  Greens are maybe a bit quicker and overall the course might be a bit firmer but somewhat similar.  It all just depends on the weather leading up to the time you play, the weather that day and  what we might be doing agronomically.  Conditions vary quite a bit from day to day just due to the weather and time of year you play.  More variability in spring and fall, but more consistent (but usually softer) in the summer.

[Jason Hines]

Hi Josh,

I am a bit disappointed that I won’t make it to Wild Horse this Memorial Day weekend, I usually try and visit family in Kearney but it’s not going to work out this year.  Maybe in the fall.  I assume the conditions are softer in the summer because of the amount of water needed to battle the heat and wind?

For tournaments such as this, do you utilize some of the back tees that have been added over the years?  Such as #1 and #9?  I have played the back tee on #9 and a 6 iron vs. a 9 iron off the tee definitely changes how that hole plays. 

Enjoy your updates on the website as well.

[Josh_Mahar]

Most of the new (added) tees were utilized.  #1 every day, but they only used back tee on 9 on Thursday.  New tee on #2 was used everyday as well.  Didn't make much difference-might have to move back to #18 tee for the hole 2 tee ball the way they launch it- HA!

[Ken Moum]

Most of the new (added) tees were utilized.  #1 every day, but they only used back tee on 9 on Thursday.  New tee on #2 was used everyday as well.  Didn't make much difference-might have to move back to #18 tee for the hole 2 tee ball the way they launch it- HA!

They do that here in Kansas, at Alvamar GC, because one of their par fives is too short for the best ams.

BTW, my wife, a friend and I have a 10 a.m tee time next Sunday, and we are really looking forward to seeing your golf course.

Ken Moum, (formerly w/ GCSAA)

[Jason Hines]

From Google Earth and Maps, the quality is not very sharp to try and focus in on the “new” tee on #2.  I can see a green dot that to the north and east of the back tee of #2 and north and west of the back tee of #18. 

Hope to see in person this fall.

Jason

[Adam Clayman]

Wish I had known about this earlier. Not that I've made it over, but certainly the opportunity would've been considered.

Josh, Don't go see a doctor about all that ringing in your ears. Your name has come up quite a lot recently, as many of the courses are having turf issues. Needless to say, your course looked great about a month ago for the one man, and I'm sure plays great everyday. When people ask how you do it, I just tell them that whenever I'm there I always see you out on the course doing something. That type of intimate knowledge about your course is no substitute for delegating.

Good on ya.

BTW, Dan Yancy is just about up to his eye balls with me mentioning the old fescue collars, so, either becareful at your meetings, or give him major shit for not understanding how integral they were to the design of the course. 

[Patrick_Mucci]

Scott & Josh,

I'm a big fan of Wild Horse, but, the sad truth is that modern tech, combined with the athleticism of today's golfers has made it almost impossible for any course to present a significant challenge due to the lack of substantive length and/or extreme conditions.

You can't judge the merits of a golf course based upon the scoring performance of PGA Tour Pros.

Other than off a tee, I wonder how often PGA Tour Pros use 2, 3 and 4 irons.  (some now replaced with utility clubs)