They've seen the courses on TV, they've seen the shots and they want to try their hand.
Who out there hasn't hit a chip, pitch or bunker shot worthy of a PGA Tour Pro ?
And, we all want to try to hit those shots if we get the opportunity to play those courses.
Patrick:
What shots, specifically, do you want to hit at Firestone (South) ?
The only shot that comes to mind for me is the pitch over the pond at the 16th ... and that one would rate about 1,000th on my personal list of shots I'd like to try.
I think Firestone (North) and (West) -- I haven't seen the West -- benefit tremendously from the South course being so overrated.
Tom:
A little late to this thread as I was busy at the tournament and not keeping up with GCA. I am surprised you consider the South overrated - not because I enjoy the course (which I do), but because I have never really considered it that highly rated. It makes no lists of 100 greatest courses that I am aware of. It is, however, popular, because people see their golf "heroes" tackle it every year, usually finding it a challenge to break par. And despite that fact, the pros certainly shower it with praise year in and year out.
Does that make it a great course? No. I will give you that the design itself is less than memorable. At times the South seems like it is an endless string of 440-yard, uphill par fours. And I am afraid it has fallen prey to its own popularity -- TV viewers are addicted to the tight fairways, overhanging trees and, of course, the 16th hole. But to me, those are the least things to remember about Firestone. The approaches to 3 and 16 are my least favorite on the course. Perhaps because they capture my ball far more often than should be the case.
What shot do I want to take? The approach to No. 2 after a great drive. To me, there is no better feeling in golf than to stripe a long iron into a well protected, sloping green and come away with a good result. The fact that it is substantially uphill merely adds to the challenge. Or the approach to the 8th green when the pin is up and the course is playing hard and fast. Your eye tells you the green slopes back to front, but experience tells you that you must land the ball short of the green to have any chance of a makeable birdie putt. A yard or two too close and you will be chipping from behind a very long green. And for fun, I'll throw in the drive and approach on No. 9. It's extremely difficult to find the fairway off the tee, and when you do you have (another) long, uphill approach to a well-bunkered green with a false front. And, oh yeah, there's a bunch of railbirds on the deck of the 55th Hole taking bets on whether you can pull it off.
To me, the quality of the course cannot be experienced on TV or even by playing only a round or two. It is experienced by playing it week in and week out, trying to keep your ball to the proper side of a sloping fairway because that is the angle you need to get your approach near the flag. Or in trying to figure out the incredibly subtle greens. (Just ask all the pros who -- despite all their Strackalines and years of experience -- missed short birdie putts while I was watching No. 12 late on Sunday.)
So is Firestone one of the greats? No. It is a challenging course, that from the hybrid or back tees demands you use every club in your bag at some point during the round. Is it overrated? Not really. It's merely popular because we see "the best players in the world" take it on every year. And most years the course holds its own. That's pretty good testament to me.