I have just got my copy of Greenkeeper International and in it is the usual July feature on the superintendent at this years Open. I will post a link later if the article gets onto their website.

Euan Grant is the man in charge on TOC and he does come up with one very interesting comment, namely that the fairways will be stimping at about 10 for the event with the greens at not more than 10 and a half.

Any comments on that statement?

My own concern is that it will result in the bump and run becoming obsolete for the simple reason that controlling that particular shot will be impossible. After all, the top players will even resort to hitting a wedge on the greens if they are faced with an especially long putt, so with the fairways running at the same speed as the greens, what will happen??

Marc,

My own concern is that it will result in the bump and run becoming obsolete for the simple reason that controlling that particular shot will be impossible

I'd take an opposite view, fairways that short make running shots  more predictable.

Next we'll be told the course needs to be "modernized" again(lengthened)because the fast fairways are letting the drives roll too far.
I'm all for a good drought and controlled scarcity of irrigation causing fairways to play super firm and fast,but using the stimpmeter on fairways at TOC gives me chills.

This reminds me of the Nicklaus interview recently where he said the players were shocked by the speed of the greens at Oakmont in '62. They had never seen anything like it.

He said they would have stimped at about 7.5.

Bob

on the other hand, is it possible that the course will play too fast and too short and turn St. Andrews into a joke for this competition?

is there any other course that is used for such tournaments that has such concerns?  I know they've added length, but will that really matter?  aren't there 3-4 par 4's that can be driven?

I can see where one might argue that ANGC has been tinkered with too much re tree additions, etc., but not re additional length

the USGA and R&A totally fumbled away control re the distance craze

BCrosby,
At a slope of 6 degrees and a stimp of  8 a golf ball will not stop rolling. At a stimp of 13 a ball won't stop rolling at about 3 degrees.
A good source for seeing the relationship between slope and speed is found here:
http://turf.lib.msu.edu/1990s/1997/970312.pdf

well...I guess downhill lies won't be much of a factor in this year's open

Cabell,
You'd have more of a chance of being right if everyone were rolling their tee shots with stimpmeters instead of hitting them with clubs.  

Sandbox (what's with the nick names?) -

That's not my view. Hard, fast fairways are a good thing. And will be at TOC.

Balls will come to rest in some funny places, but those places will not be very inclined. I think that's interesting. Its something I had not thought of before.

Bob

My own concern is that it will result in the bump and run becoming obsolete for the simple reason that controlling that particular shot will be impossible.

No, I think 2000 showed us through all the bobbing, bumping and rolling how crucial it is. The spinning high shot goes through the same motions once its earth ridden.

If players can't hit to a fairway point by stopping it there softly, they will have to work out how to get it there by landing it elsewhere. Same goes for certain sections of a lot of greens.

I would wager that fairways stimping at 10 on TOC means they are close to dead.

That's the only criticism I had for Sand Hills:  the greens are too fast in relation to the fairway.

Sounds great to me, I cannot wait to see their golf balls rolling all over the crazy slopes at TOC. We're probably going to see alot of blasts from fairway bunkers because the ball rolls in them at funny angles and hopefully some interesting lies. The short game is once again going to play a vital role and with fairways that tight and fast, the test is probably going to come down to the flat stick around the greens, or perhaps the utility clubs. I hope we don't see too many players grinding down the bounce on their wedges to get close to the turf, allowing them to play their lob shots just like every other tour stop...

Hopefully the wind blows and the weather sucks like it did in round 3 at Muirfield in 2002 or 2003's first round and Royal St. George's and not a repeat of 2000 at TOC when the weather was like a perfect July weekend in the Midwest of the states...Owell, wait, watch, and find out...

~The New Guy (Nate)

Here’s the link to the article:

http://www.bigga.org.uk/greenkeeper/viewstory.php?id=728

By the way, no criticism of Euan. I think he’s done the perfect job of creating links conditions without incurring the wrath of the professionals who want wall to wall perfect lies.

Interesting what Tom Doak was saying about the difficulty in judging the difference in speed from the fairway to green and I agree. But I wonder if everything will be too fast to play the bump and run effectively. Maybe we should all accept the demise of the shot in professional golf. I can see them taking a putter from a few yards off the green, after all, they will be playing on a 7000 yard putting green, but will we see a 100 yard seven iron? Personally I doubt it. With fairways that tight, I suspect the wedge with about 20,000 RPM of munch will be the order of the day for downwind holes and anything into the wind and they’ll be able to stop a four iron on concrete.

Interesting also what has been identified regarding the lack of uneven lies. Surely a prerequisite for links golf but maybe eliminated with fairways stimping at 10.

My own feeling is that the only way to make the true bump and run a viable option  is to let everything get very slow;  very firm but very slow and let’s face it, that’s not going to happen.