Bumpy greens for the Byron Nelson
06:55 AM CDT on Tuesday, April 24, 2007
By BILL NICHOLS / The Dallas Morning News
brnichols@dallasnews.com
IRVING – Four Seasons will have a renovated TPC layout for next year's EDS Byron Nelson Championship. Pros who played it on Monday said that's a year too late.
The old greens are in such bad shape that they are patchy and bumpy, causing balls to bounce off line. The putting surfaces of Nos. 5, 9 and 16 created the most problems.
"You hit a putt and it goes anywhere," Flower Mound's Rod Pampling said. "It's going to come down to the lucky guy who wins. It's two years in a row that the greens have been really bad."
With the bent greens at the end of their life cycle, they suffered infestations of Bermuda grass. So most greens have two or three varieties of grass on them, and that patchwork creates bumps.
Four Seasons officials are confident that they can improve the roll of the greens by Thursday's first round.
"Those are not up to our standards. We're disappointed that they're not better than they are," said Paul Earnest, Four Seasons director of golf. "We've got a plan in place to get them better every single day. Our job at this point is to get them as smooth as possible for the players."
Jason Gore said players shouldn't get upset about the conditions. He said there's one way to cure poor greens.
"I think it's really going to change your strategy," Gore said. "You've got to get it close.
