[Greg Hohman]

A backstop on 18 where the grandstand normally is? It would have been fun to see the players account for a change with risk behind the hole, incl. water, as, I assume, the members must?

Strategy aside, a discordant visual too, no?

[Mike_Clayton]

Greg,


The one time I caddied the tournament (2014) it seemed like it was just an 80 yard par 3 with two pretty dull shots to get to the point where you wedge it on. Then one day they move the tee up so they go for it - thus making the backstop only really relevant for that one day.
It's a pretty poor hole really.


I haven't seen any of the play this week - it'll be interesting to see how it plays now there are a few 270y plus drivers out there.

[Mark_Fine]

#18 is not a dull hole for the pros or for the members (I used to belong to Mission Hills years ago).  The tee shot is stressful for many players for several reasons.  Good players know they might have a chance to go for it in two with a great drive (they will at least have the temptation to think about it if they do) and most everyone else knows if they don’t hit a good tee shot they might have a challenging second shot to get in proper position to play their third which they know is a forced carry over water regardless of where they layup.  When the wind is blowing it is a good test for most and a hole that provides interest and opportunity.  If you think about it most “risk/reward” par fives are at their best if the risk/reward option is present. If you are a golfer who never has a chance to go for the green in two, is it really a risk/reward hole?  It is probably just a three shot hole with a short iron for the third.  Same as a “driveable” par four.  Is a 300 yard par for really driveable for most golfers.  I don’t think so.

[Mark Kiely]

Greg wasn't the only one surprised:
https://www.golfchannel.com/news/players-surprised-see-logoed-wall-behind-18-green

[Kalen Braley]

I'm curious about the 6th hole.  Anyone played it?  Like it or not, pretty unique at least from the aerial view.


https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mission+Hills+Country+Club/@33.7934992,-116.4390171,443m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x80db02ae892d33f7:0x1e93813dd9991286!8m2!3d33.7979459!4d-116.4330438

[Mark Kiely]

Kalen: It's a wacky hole. Only played it once, earlier this year. I walked onto the tee box and really couldn't tell what to do. Basically it rewards you for playing to that peninsula fairway with a shorter, more direct second shot. I bailed out right, leaving a longer approach that needed to move a little left-to-right to reach the green. The rough got the best of me and I put it in the water.

[John Crowley]

I'm curious about the 6th hole.  Anyone played it?  Like it or not, pretty unique at least from the aerial view.


https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mission+Hills+Country+Club/@33.7934992,-116.4390171,443m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x80db02ae892d33f7:0x1e93813dd9991286!8m2!3d33.7979459!4d-116.4330438

It’s a one dimensional hole (for me). You really must hit the tee ball to the right side. Then you must hit the second to the center of the green no matter the hole location.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

It’s a one dimensional hole (for me). You really must hit the tee ball to the right side. Then you must hit the second to the center of the green no matter the hole location.

I think people would be surprised at how close they could be to a green where they should still be hitting "to the center of the green." It's shorter than most people would guess.

[David_Tepper]

https://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2020/9/11/blue-wall-anas-backstop-billboard-really-needs-to-go-for-the-weekend

[Daryl David]

Having played the 6th hole a hundred times at least,  I was always more concerned with the second shot than the drive.  The drive for members is pretty straight forward. Just hit a fairly straight 200 yarder leaving you 140ish. Your first challenge is to clear the water, but forget just going long to be  safe.  You really need to be below the hole. Even pin high is a brutal breaking putt. Rolling to the back of the green is an automatic three putt or worse if you were over and screwed up the pitch. It’s a hole that always makes you uncomfortable. A birdie at 6 is something to brag about which you doesn’t describe many par 4s that short.

[David_Tepper]

"The great wall of Dinah"

https://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2020/9/13/mirim-lees-amazing-chip-ins-overshadowed-by-the-great-wall-of-dinah

[Bernie Bell]

The wall didn't cost Korda the tournament, her two errant drives on 18 did.  But for those, she would have gone for the green in two like Lee and Henderson.  The wall was stupid, but the players certainly knew the deal by Sunday afternoon.

[Kalen Braley]

Still trying to understand what was fundamentally different between having the wall there and the stands that would normally be there to serve same function?  I know it looks different, but did it play different?

[Mark Kiely]

It didn't, Kalen. I think the point people are making is, without spectators, why not make it a more interesting hole by not providing that crutch for players. Amazing how much it really factored in!


Definitely an entertaining tournament, though!

[John Nixon]

Isn't the question then not why the backstop this year, but if it was designed as an island green why a backstop/grandstand any year? Let's stick a grandstand on the back of #17 at TPC Sawgrass or behind #15 green at ANGC while we're at it.

[David Ober]

Isn't the question then not why the backstop this year, but if it was designed as an island green why a backstop/grandstand any year? Let's stick a grandstand on the back of #17 at TPC Sawgrass or behind #15 green at ANGC while we're at it.

I've played there 30+ times probably, including a few times the Monday after the Dinah. On 18, the water is simply not in play over the hole, unless you are going for it in two, which the vast majority of the women do not do, I believe -- except on maybe one day when they move the tee up.

The "island" is enormous. It's about 35+ yards deep at its narrowest on the left side and almost 60(?) yards deep on the right side. In all the times I played it, I hit it in the water once or twice, but only ever on my THIRD shot after hitting a bad tee ball that lead to a less than ideal lay-up that put me in the rough where I was trying a stupid shot that I shouldn't have tried.    But that's also playing it from 580 to 620, so a completely different animal.

An earlier commenter mentioned that it's actually a tough tee shot -- and it definitely is for a player of my length (240 to 255). If you don't hit a good tee shot, it also makes the lay-up deceptively difficult. Overall, I actually LIKE the hole, but only for the difficulty that the drive and lay-up can pose. The approach is actually a big nothingburger if you are inside 150 for your third.

[Ian Mackenzie]

tHat whole jumping in the pond thing after winning has to be one of the dumbest "traditions" in all of sports.


If I won...;-)...id be like "Bite me...I aint doing it, but you can so feel free."

[Michael Moore]

It’s a one dimensional hole (for me). You really must hit the tee ball to the right side. Then you must hit the second to the center of the green no matter the hole location.

I think people would be surprised at how close they could be to a green where they should still be hitting "to the center of the green." It's shorter than most people would guess.

How close?

[Kalen Braley]

Isn't the question then not why the backstop this year, but if it was designed as an island green why a backstop/grandstand any year? Let's stick a grandstand on the back of #17 at TPC Sawgrass or behind #15 green at ANGC while we're at it.

Thanks John,

That's what I was trying to get to by asking why the hubalub over the wall when it still basically plays the same.  And I'm fine with that as I'd much rather see them be temped to go for the green as opposed to watching an 'exhilarating' layup followed by a wedge to the green.

[Garland Bayley]

tHat whole jumping in the pond thing after winning has to be one of the dumbest "traditions" in all of sports.


If I won...;-)...id be like "Bite me...I aint doing it, but you can so feel free."

I'm with you on that.

[Mark_Fine]

When it is over 100 degrees out, I might jump in even if I didn't win 

[Mark Kiely]

Isn't the question then not why the backstop this year, but if it was designed as an island green why a backstop/grandstand any year? Let's stick a grandstand on the back of #17 at TPC Sawgrass or behind #15 green at ANGC while we're at it.

It's the 18th hole of a major venue, and spectators want to see the finish. Where else would they sit? Water left. Water behind that the grandstand is actually built on top of (in normal times). They already have a small grandstand to the right. There's no place else to have a grandstand, and in a normal year with lusher grass, the water over the green doesn't really come into play nearly as much as it did this year with drier conditions.

[Wayne_Kozun]

Here is the normal setup:

[Matthew Rose]

They might as well fill in the back half of the lake if they are just gonna block it off with something.

[Mark Kiely]

They might as well fill in the back half of the lake if they are just gonna block it off with something.

Yeah because all that matters is the tournament. I'm sure it comes into play for many others throughout 51 weeks of the year.

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