O/T Follow the Sun

[Thomas Dai]

Pro golf as the saying goes ‘follows the sun’ and yet in many ways the most enjoyable pro golf to watch is when the weather conditions are not the best. Not necessarily horrible conditions, but certainly not perfect.
Be nice to see events played slightly outside the period when conditions are less than perfect. Not necessarily way off main summer season, perhaps more shoulder season timing.
For example, The Open has I believe been played in May and in October.
Thoughts?
Atb

[JohnVDB]

Watching the European Tour (sorry, DP WorLd Tour) today should have brought joy to you.


High winds made for a crazy round.  The average score was 77+. McIlroy, Westwood and Hatton combined for one eagle and two birdies.

[Tim Martin]

I’m a fan of the less than perfect conditions for the elite players as it provides one of the few defenses from super low scoring.

[Thomas Dai]

Watching the European Tour (sorry, DP WorLd Tour) today should have brought joy to you.

It certainly did.
I had visions from the past of Seve playing a multitude of different shots and thoughts of Sandy Lyle’s 1-iron play.
One shot in particular today though, a low, knocked-down long iron draw from the tee by Rafael Cabrera-Bello, was an absolute pleasure to watch. Shades of Gil Morgan’s famous 2-iron at a Pebble Beach US Open. Not the kind of shot you see much of these days, alas. Skill and thought combined. Same with run-up shots with straight faced clubs from distance or curving shots into the wind to get a soft landing.
The players these days have the skill but modern day equipment and course conditioning and usually playing in good weather conditions precludes the necessity for them to play such shots.
Some lovely descriptions by the commentators and players in after-round interviews today about “ball control” and “hitting shots at 85%” and how the hardest part of play was putting.
Delightful. More please, hence the thread.
Atb

[jeffwarne]

Watching the European Tour (sorry, DP WorLd Tour) today should have brought joy to you.

It certainly did.
I had visions from the past of Seve playing a multitude of different shots and thoughts of Sandy Lyle’s 1-iron play.
One shot in particular today though, a low, knocked-down long iron draw from the tee by Rafael Cabrera-Bello, was an absolute pleasure to watch. Shades of Gil Morgan’s famous 2-iron at a Pebble Beach US Open. Not the kind of shot you see much of these days, alas. Skill and thought combined. Same with run-up shots with straight faced clubs from distance or curving shots into the wind to get a soft landing.
The players these days have the skill but modern day equipment and course conditioning and usually playing in good weather conditions precludes the necessity for them to play such shots.
Some lovely descriptions by the commentators and players in after-round interviews today about “ball control” and “hitting shots at 85%” and how the hardest part of play was putting.
Delightful. More please, hence the thread.
Atb

Sadly, quite often when the tours get challenging conditions such as all of us have encountered in shoulder seasons in the UK(or anytime at Bandon) the greens are so fast they can't continue play in high winds.
And such winds are about the only way to create compelling play worth watching outside a major or an arcitecturally fantastic course in firm conditions.

[Kalen Braley]

Yea nothing quite like watching, hit, splat, clean, and replace in soggy conditions in February at the AT&T in Monterey.  Love the sights and scenery and all that, but the golf is rarely compelling that time of year.  You gotta watch the other Tours/Events if you want to see that area in all its splendid glory in late summer...