[V. Kmetz]

Its kind of ridiculous that being 40 minutes away, I've never taken greater pains to play it...but I've been there for the GHO many times, and thoroughly watched it most years on TV...


Each year, seemingly, there's a good takeaway from the tournament and how the course played and this year, I'm really noticing how #11 - 17 are as good a "pro-watching" stretch and back nine excitement as almost one on the Tour... kinda feel like it's every bit as good as PB or Riv...or at least equivalent.


I like that this course gives up low(est) scores, but each hole (of that back stretch) has a danger in it that could blow up a tournament.  I still think it might be a little too hard for the everyday player, even played from a lo'6000s yardage, but more and more I'm thinking I'd like to give it a try before my playing skills completely erode and I'm dubbing into marsh grasses.


And lastly, though it doesn't matter most in pure GCA regard, the course usually attracts a good field in a tight calendar spot
 and usually produces interesting tournaments, including a fine Sunday denouement...this year looks the same.   

[Mark Kiely]

Fully agree. I love watching this tournament every year and would love to play the course one day.

[Pat Burke]

In the era I played in, the course obviously played differently.
I loved playing there.
You had to move the ball around in both directions and there were some “uncomfortable shots” which demanded a good execution


While it never got to a gale, very often it was windy enough to make a big difference.


It’s a very fun tournament course imo

[Kalen Braley]

Agree with the sentiment, I enjoy the back 9 on this course as well.

P.S.  On TV at least, Quail Hollow 14 and 15 at RH seem to look and play nearly identical...which one came first and are they both Faz courses? (At least the last time they were renovated)

[Mike Sweeney]

I hosted 4-5 PGA Caddies at Yale over the years on the weekends when "Their Player" did not make the cut. None of them ever talked about TPC River Highlands, and I am guessing 2 or 3 of them were Aussies.


That said, this tournament is very often interesting to watch. It confirms the old adage - "There is golf, and then there is tournament golf."

[Phil Burr]

15 RH plays quite a bit differently than QH's drivable back nine par-4 as RH's hole is almost a volcano.  Didn't they put up a stat earlier about 90+% of players going for the green and less than 10% hitting it?


Fazio had nothing to do with RH.  The course started life as a Pete Dye course called Edgewood before the tour requisitioned it during the 80s and had Pete make it look a little bit like a TPC.  A problem with Pete's routing was that tee shots on #16 crossed paths with those on #17.  After a decade or so, the tour came back with Bobby Weed, who created holes 10-14 on land previously not owned by the club and integrated those with the holes around the big lake to create today's back nine.


Much of the original outward nine, which sat on flat land way up above the lake to the left of 17 fairway (as viewed from the tee), was plowed under for housing.  In contrast to the elevation changes of the back nine, the front nine is pretty flat except for the down-&-up first hole and the uphill second hole.


Few tour courses have gone through more changes than Edgewood/TPC River Highlands over the last 35 years or so.

[Kalen Braley]

Phil,

Thanks for the comments regarding TPC RH. I wasn't sure what its genealogy was, but I wouldn't have guessed Pete Dye, but makes sense considering its gone under the knife more often than Joan Rivers.

P.S.  13 is the one hole I could see a little Pete in with the double dogleg twisting par 5 forcing players to challenge the angles, but its not even his...

[V. Kmetz]

Well, the tournament and the course are showing well and English/Hickock are showing amazing resolve...


This playoff is incredible in its tight rope back and forth and this day, which was until about 4:45 all about Watson going into a jog turned into a pile up...I think of the last 6 groups only Day birdied #15 and Nantz made the remark that a bigger number and a bigger spread can be made on that hole than other attractive ones like 10 Riviera... I think I agree.

[Tim Martin]

Bobby Weed’s changes were a positive and the par three 16th hole is in its current form over the water is way better than the drop shot that preceded it.

[Tim Martin]

I don’t want anyone to lose. Love how fast both English and Hickok play. Terrific!!!

[V. Kmetz]

Bobby Weed’s changes were a positive and the par three 16th hole is in its current form over the water is way better than the drop shot that preceded it.

Yes... in the distant reaches of my memory, I remember big Phil Blackmarr hitting that drop shot en route to winning the first year at the first Edgemont incarnation..1985.


What a final day of a tournament

[Tommy Williamsen]

Kudos to both players. How did those two birdie putts of Hickok not fall?

[Phil Burr]

Karen,


Now that you mention #13 at RH, it is a clone of #5 at PGA West (Stadium) with softer edges.  I’m trying to think of other Dye par 5s with water running the length of the tee shot on one side and then running the length of the second shot on the opposite side.  It seems to be a favorite ploy of Pete’s (I think #8 at Loblolly is a derivative and I’m sure I’ve seen it elsewhere).  As Bobby Weed cut his teeth with Pete, it’s not surprising to see it at RH.

[Phil Burr]

Bulle Rock #15 is also based on the same theme as #13 RH except the hazards are a stream and surrounding junk rather than large lakes.

[Tim Gavrich]

Glad to see some well-deserved plaudits for TPC River Highlands. Having grown up near Hartford, I got to play it a handful of times and attended the tournament a handful of times as well.


I first played the golf course my freshman or sophomore year of high school, when I was competent but by no means a very strong player. I remember being surprised at how playable it was, especially relative to my expectations for a course the pros played. I think under everyday private club conditions, it is very playable for all, especially the front nine, where there is no real obvious blowup potential. The front nine is a good mix of shots and then gets going in a hurry once you start making your way down the hill and into the cauldron of the inward nine.


Holes like 10, 13 and 17 are stressful for anyone because of how narrow they are, but from the right tees they are manageable. And I think 15 is one of the best modern short par 4s in golf, in large part because it's short enough that golfers from every tee have similar prospects of glory or disaster. And, as we see every year, the shifting hole location alters the plan of attack in subtle ways.


My one real complaint about the course is mostly a personal/aesthetic one: I liked the way the bunkers were before 2017 or so more than the current style. I understand that part of the impetus was to reduce the overall sand footprint, which I support 100% (the par-5 6th had a dozen or more, mostly in clusters). I just find that the transition from sand-faced and bowled to (often quite high) grass-faced and flat-bottomed bunkers has done something eerie to the aesthetics of many shots. The bunkers seem caught between Pete Dye and Donald Ross in terms of build. I expect as they continue to mature they will look more and more at home there.


Finally, TPC RH is a great antidote to bomb-and-gouge golf. It's about position and guile more than raw power. The course is not even 6,850 yards, yet it took -13 to get into a playoff yesterday. Kevin Kisner shot 63 twice during the tournament, but don't ask him about his Saturday. The course can be had on any one day, but it's hard to conquer for four days. It's an upper-tier regular PGA Tour host course, with an unsexy location that makes it underrated on the national scene, IMO.

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