Thoughts on Quail Hollow?

[Ed Oden]

I have never seen anyone intentionally play to the portion of the fairway left of the creek.  But I have seen pulled shots and shots that ricochet off the rocks in the creek end up over there.  Its a dicey pitch from there unless the flag is on the right side of the green.  As you can see from this Google Earth image, there is a fairly large area on the left maintained as fairway:



I can't see how the creek is a missed opportunity.  Honestly, the 18th at Quail is one of the best finishing holes I have played.  Without the creek, it wouldn't be.

Ed

[Glenn Spencer]

Mark -

just from very casual veiwing, it's neat that the course allows low scores one day and not another; that Tiger can bridie two of the last three one day and Johnson go 3 over on the same holes the next; and that a leaderboard can have the Watsons and Furyks of the world sharing space.  Must mean something....

Peter

My thoughts exactly. Also, #14 reminds me a lot of #15? at the Connecticut tournament. I would watch a lot more regular events if they were played on courses like Quail.

[Stephen Britton]

Is it just me or does the bottom right corner of 17 green have an odd shape? The bottom right corner has a fairly square turn almost like the green should flare out a little more on the right???

[Sam Maryland]

Pat, to my eyes, Quail Hollow bears very little resemblance to Forest Creek South.  Quail's appearance and play is more like ANGC while Forest Creek is befitting of its location in Pinehurst.  Rumors about Quail nabbing a major or Ryder Cup have been around for several years.  I don't doubt that Johnny Harris would love to have one (or both). 

Jim, the NC state rankings are an absolute joke.  I am surprised Quail would even care.  That being said, I can't think of 5 courses in the state that are better than Quail.

Mark, I believe left of the stream on #18 is maintained as fairway for normal play.  You can see it is cut that way in my picture.  However, I haven't been out there this year yet so I don't know whether anything has changed.

Ed

I hear Charlotte CC also has a hankering to host a major, wonder how the two will work together or against each other in that quest?  Davis Love III said he didn't think Quail had the infrastructure to host a major.  Will be interesting to see what happens...















 

[Jason Topp]

I used the search function and thought this was the best discussion of the course.  Do people still like it?  It looks like a punishing slog based on watching on television in the background but there are plenty of positive opinions here. 

[Tommy Williamsen]

My wife and I played QH in June of 2017 a couple months before the PGA. I played it at about 6300 yards and enjoyed the heck out of it. Number one played as a par five for me and I made a quick birdie. The greens were some of the firmest I have ever played so hitting shots onto them required thought and precision. I played with the assistant from my club and the assistant from QH. It was fun watching a couple youngsters play the course. They had less trouble holding the greens because they hit it so high.


My wife loved the course. It was fair for her and she had no trouble making her way around the course. The terrain was interesting and Cobb did a great job in the routing up, over, and across some of the hillocks. I like doglegs and QH has plenty. Longer hitters have to work the ball to keep it in the fairway. The "green mile" isn't as scary as the announcers make it out to be. You just can't be stupidly aggressive. The tee shot on 18 is as scary as it appears.


It is a course for all kinds of players. There just are places you have to be smart or pay the price. I thought the par fives were the weak link. Some of the par threes were birdie holes and some of the par fours were just brutal.

[Kalen Braley]

The course looked super pristine via the TV Coverage.  My impression was they were going for the ANGC look.  A few holes had pine straw under the trees and the fairways, greens, and sugar bowl bunkers all looked beyond immaculate.  The rolling property also seemed to match a bit with a meandering stream on a few holes.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Kalen, I am amazed at how many courses in the Carolinas have put pine straw in the trees and how they are maintained. I was at Raleigh CC a few years ago and saw a guy in the woods picking up pine cones.

[Matt Wharton]

It's funny how the bulk of the thoughts on QH are from 2009 and the course has undergone many changes since then.  I will clarify my remarks by stating I've attended the Tour event numerous times since 2006, was there when Tiger won in 2007 and saw Rory hole the putt on 18 to shoot 62 and claim his first PGA Tour win in 2010.  I played the course prior to the 2016 Wells Fargo which was just before the most recent of course renovations prior to the 2017 PGA Championship.  I attended the PGA and I've had the good fortune to play the course since those changes.


I will say QH is one of, if not the finest conditioned course in North Carolina.  Keith Wood and his team do a phenomenal job of producing excellent conditions on a regular basis.  One of my favorite things about QH is that it has a short Par 4 on each side (8 and 14).  This produces scoring opportunities but with risk and challenge present.  And, I do think moving 16 green over close to the lake was a good thing.  But from the perspective of a golfer and golf fan that enjoys this tournament more than any other non-majors, I liked the course much better overall about ten years ago.  I liked the downhill par 3 second hole that no longer exists, and I liked the old par 5 fifth hole much better than the two holes that replaced it (par 3 4th and par 4 5th).


Also, this may come as a surprise considering I am a superintendent, but the course used to have many more trees than currently and I enjoyed the overall look and feel of the property then than now.  I always thought QH was a southern version of a classic northeastern course.  It's still great, those are my thoughts.

[Carl Johnson]

Weird.  I commented in 2009 and I'm still alive.  There are all kinds of courses.  Johnny Harris, who owns the club, does try to emulate ANGC.  So what's bad about that?  Not my cup of tea, but as a big time tourney course, I think it works.  I've visited as a "patron" more times than I can recall (but not this year).  Some say its conditioning is perfect, but of course that depends on your definition of what's "perfect" for a golf course, a playing ground for a game in which you have a starting point and an ending point for 18 competitive sites.  What I always enjoy is how the commentators refer to the water feature on the left side of 18.  Is it a stream?  A creek?  Who cares!  It's a penalty area, a totally artificial water feature, just like the bunkers are artificial hazards.