[Darren_Kilfara]

Or for that matter, which did you watch on TV over the weekend? Quite a contrast in styles...traditional/parkland Congressional, modern/faux links Whistling Straits. One could argue that the two tournaments being played on them were of equal interest - the biggest senior major vs. a regular event with a good field and a marquee host - so that left me judging the golf courses to determine which event to watch. And I have to say, for me the much more unique (if a bit goofy) Whistling Straits left Congressional in the dust...what did others think? In general, which type of visual presentation captures your interest more?

Cheers,
Darren

[Dan_Callahan]

Darren,

I agree. I would normally watch the PGA 9 times out of 10 over the Champions Tour. However, this week I was far more interested in seeing WS. What an amazingly cool course. The recovery shot Watson had to play on 17 was about as intimidating as any I've seen.

[John Kavanaugh]

The best opinions are always found on GeoffShackelford.com...His site should be checked every morning so we do not waste time with dublicitious threads.

http://tinyurl.com/ystc2z

[Darren_Kilfara]

The best opinions are always found on GeoffShackelford.com...His site should be checked every morning so we do not waste time with dublicitious threads.

http://tinyurl.com/ystc2z

Better yet, why don't we abandon GCA.com altogether and instead devote all of our resources to improving the content over at Geoff's website?  

Anyway, back to the question at hand...

[Ted Kramer]

I love the Senior tour. I watched way more WS than Congressional with weekend. I'm not so sure why people think Congressional is so good. I've never played it, but it doesn't look very exciting . . .
I think WS is a bit much, the holes tend to look similar, but I think the 17th is a GREAT 17th hole.

-Ted

[Jeff Doerr]

Put me in for channel jumping. Most of my time was spent watching the Sr. Open. After Bryant finshed I switched to mostly PGA. Choi did the un-Watson and closed super strong. He really should have made that one putt late in the round. The "Worm Cam" view was amazing - tracking, tracking, tracking, just a bobble to the left, break right again past the hole.

[Jerry Kluger]

I think that both broadcasts missed an opportunity by not emphasizing the strategy necessary to play the respective courses.  I haven't played WS but it was clear that the wind and the firm conditions required certain strategies and it was surprising that Watson would not be the best player in those conditions.  He and Roberts missed shots in the wrong places which surprised me and the necessary recovery shots were simply not executed.

Congressional has the appearance of being flat and straight which is simply not the case.  There are significant elevation changes, especially on the back, which can make approach shots very difficult.  TV doesn't have that third dimension so there needs to be more explanation of what the shot involves other than simply stating the yardage.  

[George Pazin]

A bit of both, but more Congressional than WS - I can't take NBC's pitiful "HD" coverage.

[PThomas]

WS for sure

[Glenn Spencer]

I watch by the importance to the player at hand. The Girls Junior is a much bigger tournament than a regular tour event to me. This weekend was no different. WS got first view and then the PGA later on in the evening.

[Patrick_Mucci]

The golf course that usually has the most WIND gets my vote.

[Tom Yost]

I was finally able to settle in front of the TV to watch the final round of the Sr. Open at Whistling Straights on Sunday.  I was busy most of the day Saturday and the Golf Channel gave it so little coverage so I was happy to get to see this very interesting golf course.

I was more interested to see WS because it is a public access facility that I hope to someday travel to and play and because it presents a real contrast to the typical PGA parkland style courses.

I noted from some of the aerial shots, one could see four fairways wide, where the WS course is out and back (two fairways wide) - Would those other holes be on the Irish course?

Tom

[redanman]

WS for the golf course.  I really could not watch either tournament for long.  I think I am nearly completely jaded as regards professional golf.  I do love watching high definition, but even that could not help the PGATour at Congressional for me.

[Garland Bayley]

The golf course that usually has the most WIND gets my vote.

Is that because you are windy yourself?
 

[Phil Benedict]

The best opinions are always found on GeoffShackelford.com...His site should be checked every morning so we do not waste time with dublicitious threads.

http://tinyurl.com/ystc2z

Shackleford thinks that the Tour players praise of Congressional proves they have no business being in the golf architecture business.  Compares Congressional to Medinah, a favorite GCA whipping boy.  

[Matt Kardash]

If anyone would rather watch congressional instead of WS they should have their head examined!  

The more I see the 17th hole at WS the more I beleive it is one of the great par 3's of the world. I could literally watch golfers try to play that hole all day.

[Glenn Spencer]

Was I watching a different tournament than Shackleford? The only ground shots that I saw were the ones to the 10th hole at Whistling Straits when the pin was up on Sat. I saw just as much hacking out of the rough at WS.  Do I miss 18? Yeah, but Congressional is getting a bad rap here. I would be honored to play out there. Will they be using the Gold course in 2009 at the US AM as the other course? Is it capable? I don't know a thing about it.

[Dan_Callahan]

It was interesting to see Ben Crenshaw being interviewed by Jennifer Mills (I think it was Mills) after his final round. He was clearly impressed with the architecture and strategy of the course. He didn't talk much about the way he played but instead commented on the way some of the holes played. He was very thoughtful . . . unfortunately that thoughtfulness translated into slow responses which clearly weren't what the producers wanted so they cut him off to get back to the action. I would have loved to have heard him respond to a question about what impact, if any, his four days at WS would have on the way he lays out his future projects. Is he tempted to take on a manufactured course on the scale of WS? Reading into his facial expression, it looked like he was intrigued by the possibilities that working with a completely blank slate would offer.

[Jerry Kluger]

I looked at Shackelford's site and it appears that Crenshaw said "created" over and over which is interesting as the course does appear very natural - similar to the way the Ocean Course feels which could also be viewed as created.  

Congressional has its detractors but I think that most anyone who has the opportunity to play the Blue course is very impressed. As I previously noted, the course is not flat and there are some very demanding shots because of it.  The new 10th makes for a very awkward routing and from what I could see, the tour players went to the left off of 18 which I don't think the members could do as my recollection is that is #1 of the Gold course.

[CHrisB]

I looked at Shackelford's site and it appears that Crenshaw said "created" over and over which is interesting as the course does appear very natural - similar to the way the Ocean Course feels which could also be viewed as created.

Having taken a walk around Whistling Straits last month (didn't play it), I strongly disagree with anyone who says it looks natural in any way. I thought it was one of the most un-natural courses I have ever seen, and definitely one of the most bizarre-looking courses I've ever seen. But it still made for good TV viewing, as nearly any Pete Dye course would.

[Matt_Cohn]

WS was much more interesting to watch. Congressional doesn't look bad - it just looks like the kind of course that Rees Jones could design ten times in a row and they'd all come out exactly the same.

If Phil was collapsing at Congressional the way Watson was at WS, it might have been tougher to turn away. Watson's collapse had to be among the worst in senior golf history, anyway.

Luckily if you tuned into Congressional right after the Senior Open finished you were just in time to watch KJ hole out from the sand.

Couldn't those tournaments have been timed to finish an hour apart, at least?

[Phil Benedict]

Whistling Straights is what it is.  It could never be "natural" and hold any interest given the nature of the site.  The only question is what was the best unnatural course to build on that site?

It does look great on TV.

[Wayne_Kozun]

Folks are talking about Watson's collapse but what about Appleby?  He shot a solid 40 on the front nine.  Just as bad a collapse but 9 holes earlier than Watson.  Aussie's aren't doing well after a 54 hole lead over the last month -  Appleby played just as badly as Aaron (Dresses) Baddeley at the US Open.

[Jim Johnson]

Darren,

I would normally watch the PGA 9 times out of 10 over the Champions Tour. However, this week I was far more interested in seeing WS. What an amazingly cool course.

Totally agree.

JJ

[Phil McDade]

I was finally able to settle in front of the TV to watch the final round of the Sr. Open at Whistling Straights on Sunday.  I was busy most of the day Saturday and the Golf Channel gave it so little coverage so I was happy to get to see this very interesting golf course.

I was more interested to see WS because it is a public access facility that I hope to someday travel to and play and because it presents a real contrast to the typical PGA parkland style courses.

I noted from some of the aerial shots, one could see four fairways wide, where the WS course is out and back (two fairways wide) - Would those other holes be on the Irish course?

Tom

Tom:

Yes it is; the Irish Course is laid out on the same grounds on WS, but Dye used all of the lakefront property for WS. Most of the Irish Course runs just west of the "upper" back nine of WS (the part of the back nine that doesn't front the lake) -- essentially 10, 11, 14 and 15. Some of the Irish is squeezed into the area between the corporate tent area used for majors at WS and holes 1 and 2 of WS. The Irish is a more compact course than WS, and a good friend of mine who's played each several times insists the Irish is tougher. It has a Dell hole that's a more legitimate version of, say, the one you'd find at Lahinch than the Dell hole at the newly opened Erin Hills.

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