[Andy Shulman]

Any thoughts on the decision by several of the longer-hitting Solheim Cuppers to aim for the 16th fairway when teeing off on #17?  The angle into the green seemed quite good, even for players whose tee shots ended up in the rough between the two holes.  Do long-hitting members play the hole this way?  And, is this the site of the NLE Lon Hinkle Tree?  It's hard to know given the recent restoration and the swap of the 9th and 18th holes for the Solheim Cup.

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

Here's the background to the story:

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/videos/2016/06/03/1979-u-s--open-hinkle-tree-feature--amex--4926489189001.html

And its demise:
https://www.golfdigest.com/story/the-notorious-hinkle-tree-from-the-1979-us-open-has-died-but-the-legend-lives-on

[Steve Kline]

Just from watching on TV it didn't seem to provide much of an advantage. While the players may have been hitting into the slope of the green, it seemed like they had less green to work with. And, it looked a steep grass bank they were playing over. So, you couldn't run it onto the green like you could from the fairway.


Also, I never did get a sense if it was shorter playing in the alternate fairway.

[Kyle Harris]

“Alternate fairway”
“16th fairway”


It’s grass cut to a certain length on the course within the General Area.


Stop labeling it under some arbitrary proprietary concept as though one non-putting green area belongs to a certain hole.


That’s why it’s called “General Area.”

[Brock Lynch]

“Alternate fairway”
“16th fairway”


It’s grass cut to a certain length on the course within the General Area.


Stop labeling it under some arbitrary proprietary concept as though one non-putting green area belongs to a certain hole.


That’s why it’s called “General Area.”

Yes...and the Old Course comes to mind.

[Mark Smolens]

Just from watching on TV it didn't seem to provide much of an advantage. While the players may have been hitting into the slope of the green, it seemed like they had less green to work with. And, it looked a steep grass bank they were playing over. So, you couldn't run it onto the green like you could from the fairway.


Also, I never did get a sense if it was shorter playing in the alternate fairway.

The players I saw hitting from 16 had much shorter shots into the green (probably because the fairway on 17 gets so narrow that most of the players -- Nordqvist aside-- couldn't hit driver). Ciganda had 110 to the pin yesterday, and Lexi had 122. As I recall Nordqvist had 145ish. Scott Fawcett would tell us that hitting your approach shot from 20-30 yards closer to the green, with the pin on the rightish side of the green, is a clear SG advantage.

[Andy Shulman]

I noticed that as well.  Which leaves me wondering whether modifying the 17th fairway to make playing to it more inviting for the longer hitters is something that should be considered.  While that certainly has its drawbacks, too many players taking the route used by Lexi and others would seemingly result in even slower play (if that's possible!) as those playing #16 wait for those playing from the teeing area on #17, or vice versa.

[Steve Kline]

Thanks for the info Mark. Hitting a wedge would be a good trade off of course.

[Matt_Cohn]

“Alternate fairway”
“16th fairway”


It’s grass cut to a certain length on the course within the General Area.


Stop labeling it under some arbitrary proprietary concept as though one non-putting green area belongs to a certain hole.


That’s why it’s called “General Area.”

That’s great, but if people are blasting drivers into places where there might be people standing there who can’t see them, that’s bad. 

[Kyle Harris]

“Alternate fairway”
“16th fairway”


It’s grass cut to a certain length on the course within the General Area.


Stop labeling it under some arbitrary proprietary concept as though one non-putting green area belongs to a certain hole.


That’s why it’s called “General Area.”

That’s great, but if people are blasting drivers into places where there might be people standing there who can’t see them, that’s bad.

Don’t hit the shot until the target area is clear? Surely the players have the right to clear the area of their intended target.

[mike_beene]

This should keep a generation of lawyers employed.

[Matt_Cohn]

“Alternate fairway”
“16th fairway”


It’s grass cut to a certain length on the course within the General Area.


Stop labeling it under some arbitrary proprietary concept as though one non-putting green area belongs to a certain hole.


That’s why it’s called “General Area.”

That’s great, but if people are blasting drivers into places where there might be people standing there who can’t see them, that’s bad.

Don’t hit the shot until the target area is clear? Surely the players have the right to clear the area of their intended target.

And if you can’t see the target area?

[Kalen Braley]

Seems like rule 5-6 could be at play as well.

Does/should the player have the expectation that waiting for adjoining fairways to be empty is OK before they play?

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