The course used to be bouncy and interesting. Now it needs to be soft to be playable. Another reason it must be a contender for the worst redesign in history.
This is seriously amusing (or depressing) stuff from Els:
'How much money did we spend on the 18th? We built a dam there. Why in the hell was the green not holding? 'Must I be a greenkeeper here?,' the former world number one fumed. 'I spoke to (the tours chief referee) John Paramor at the 15th and he said, Yeah we watered last night. 'I said, Youve got to triple that. Youve got a damn 30-mph easterly breeze blowing. Put water on the greens - you dont need to be a rocket scientist to figure that out.' Els, on the receiving end of a storm of criticism two years ago when many of the players said the re-designed course was too tough, feared another backlash on Saturday. 'The guys arent going to be happy,' said the triple major champion. 'They are very difficult conditions out there and the tour and the greens staff have got to play ball. 'Ive been asking them for a while now to play ball and I cant keep taking this. At some point they have got to start listening - its like talking to this wall behind me. FED UP 'Im fed up. I cant control the wind and it seems like I cant control the greens staff either,' said Els. 'The players are not used to these types of conditions.' The sun shone all day at the tree-lined West Course but only a handful of players managed to break par as the fresh winds sent scores soaring. 'If a player knows hes played badly, shoots a bad score, hell take it as a man,' said Els who has a property on the estate and has masterminded a complete makeover of the layout in recent years. 'Youve just got to play within yourself, you cant go playing wild shots or you are just going to get killed. 'Its like a major championship test. In two weeks time at the U.S. Open if you are just marginally off youll get killed. 'We tried to bring that element in here but you dont have to kill guys. The 15th green is not holding, the 16th green is not holding, the 17th green is not holding, 18 is not holding.'