Baltusrol

[Ken Moum]

If the players and by extension the PGA Tour radio announcers, had their way,
TOP Golf would design the next Major course i.
Super long ,Super fair--straight holes,Artificially elevated tees, bunker left, bunker right, obligatory water-especially on 18.
[/quote]

This morning I was listening to Charlie Rymer from the 18 tower, expound on what a GREAT thing it was that the committee had made history by deciding that would be the first ever major championship round conducted under lift clean and cheat.

It was, he said only fair that skilled players didn't have to deal with mudballs.

I yelled, "Fair my ass!,' at the radio and he must have heard me because he quickly said he understood gold isn't fair but that it is about skill and having an unpredictable mudballs removed the skill element.

I have believed for some time that the most interesting competition is when players have to deal with completely unpredictable and unfair outcomes... and the winner is the one who does it best.

K

[Tim Fenchel]

A lot of the greens look to have brown patches. What's up with those?

I was wondering this as well.  Different type of grass?  Certainly not a water issue.


My time at the PGA on Friday was nice.  My kids had a great time.


The course does strike me as pretty bland overall.1-5, 15 and 18 were the holes I appreciated most.  Its a big ball park for sure which is why, I suppose its major worthy in some peoples minds. I can see what some of you mean by thinking there should be some tree removal. I'd would be in agreement...not only from a aesthetics standpoint but also as it impacts play.  You could see some recent liming on the trees to the right of the 17th tee and it still wasn't enough. Several players almost made contact on well struck shots.


I will say the shuttle setup and the walk in was not the best for older folks.  Not sure what the other options would be but I have to think not many majors require a 2 mile walk to the club house.


Its always great to get close to the best players in the world and watch how they play a game so different from what I do...but I won't rush back to Baltusrol the next time it hosts a tournament.

[Keith Grande]

A lot of the greens look to have brown patches. What's up with those?

I believe that's dying out poa on the greens.

[Thomas Dai]

This morning I was listening to Charlie Rymer from the 18 tower, expound on what a GREAT thing it was that the committee had made history by deciding that would be the first ever major championship round conducted under lift clean and cheat.

Looked from the TV that the players were taking l-c-p within 1 club length. Is this correct and if so is 1 club length now standard on the various US tours (and other tours) these days?


Once upon a time l-c-p was 6". Indeed I was once told that as an aid to measurement this was why many scorecards were 6" wide.

Atb

[Pat Burke]

Fwiw
One of the biggest fears this week, was that the early forecast had rain through Monday
With that much water, you would have had ridiculous amounts of casual water.  It has happened where there was so much water in fairways that there was no reasonable place to take relief.  Playing lift clean and place was a hedge against the incoming weather, likely as much, if not more than a "fairness" decision imo


Of course, it IS the pga, they can screw up a one car funeral

[astavrides]

A lot of the greens look to have brown patches. What's up with those?

I believe that's dying out poa on the greens.

One of the announcers said the greens looked uniformly green until Thursday, when the brown patches started coming. I don't know what caused it.

[SL_Solow]

Grass that is brown isn't necessarily dying.  Ever watch the Open championship?  Indeed, to green is often the result of overwatering.  The rain will green everything up in time.

[Dan Moore]

I was wondering if they might have applied something to retard poa growth to avoid bumpy greens that turned the poa brown or perhaps more than the usual amount of water on top of such a treatment had that effect. Don't know just speculating.

[Josh Stevens]

Did Baltusrol steal their logo from Royal Melbourne/Metro, or just a coincidence?