The 87th PGA Championship / Baltusrol

[Matt_Ward]

A couple of early impressions from this year's championship.

The course is playing very lush and long -- and will be even longer should thunderstorms pop up on any frequent basis between now and the end of the week.

Had the pleasure in watching Tiger play the back nine (he only played 9 this morning) and clearly the world's #1 player quickly was introduced to the tenacious rough that Baltusrol Lower provides.

The rough -- strips of Kentucky Bluegrass that were completely installed on both sides of the fairway to provide for a more consistent feature -- are extremely dense and demanding. In years past -- the rough at Baltusrol was a mixture of different grasses and their overall uniformity posed no more than a 50/50 proposition. This time around -- the rough will be a factor and with that driving the ball straight will be a necessity.

In regards to the 17th -- no one will reach the green in two today unless two things coincide -- the hole plays severely downwind and the fairway dry out noticeably. Players were also facing numerous issues with the Sahara bunker if they drive into the rough off the tee.

The 18th, on the other hand, is quite another story and players are able to reach it -- again -- provided they hit the fairway. Tiger had no more than a 5-iron second shot after nuclearing the tee ball.

The greens are holding and they have not been cut to their final heights for the start of the event -- that will happen Wednesday. The PGA is rightly determined in making sure the brown putting surfaces one saw at Shinnecock in last year's US Open do not emerge. The course might feature a number of low rounds but that will be determined by the driving skill of the leaders. Little appreciable wind is expected this week.

Tiger did mention that the course has a US Open feel and that the layout is what others told him -- a very fair and very much upfront layout where everything you need to do as a player is right in front of you.

[Tony_Chapman]

Matt - I was just on the PGA website and was looking at the second hole. Can guys just drive it over the cross bunkers now and chip it on?

It appears it may be like a 270 yard carry over the bunkers? Am I close?

[Matt_Ward]

Tony:

Good question -- I know a few people who are marshalling on the hole and will ask them tomorrow to verify the yardage claim you made.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Tony Chapman,

I believe two fellows did it in 1993, and I'm sure some will try in 2005, but, it's not the best of options.

The hole is considerably uphill, which means it plays longer, and the area beyond the cross bunkers is blind.  Out of bounds looms immediately left, and, with the green pitching severely high right to low left, hitting to the right or worse, into the right rough beyond the cross bunkers, isn't good.

[Jonathan Cummings]

Matt/Pat - correct me if I'm wrong but I believe Daly became the first person to hit 17 in two shots in the last PGA at Baltusrol.  Over the past few years have others begun hitting it in two (local pros, visiting pros, young guns, etc)?  Adding 50 yards seems strange as Curtis to me.  The average PGA field will probably get to 550 yards in two (300 yd drive, 250 approach).  What is the big deal making their third shot a 100 vice 50 yarder?  Is their goal simply to deny the 2 shot option?  If so why is this so important?

I'll probably eat crow on this but as I posted earlier, Tiger will be closer to the caboose then the engine on this leaderboard.  I'll bet some steady eddie wins it.  Funk??

JC

[CharlestonBuckeye]

Daly reached it in '93 with driver & driving iron.

Frickin' Tiger is 2:1 to win.  No thanks, that's not worth betting.

I think I'll dabble on the following:

Goosen 16:1
Tim Clark 60:1
Ben Crane 110:1
Peter Lonard 200:1

[Mark_Fine]

Up until yesterday, the greens were rolling at about 9 and 1/2 which is amazingly slow for Baltusrol.  This is because of the extreme threat of disease in the Northeast.  Mark Kuhns is doing all he can to save the greens for the four rounds, however, this will play all kinds of fits for the players as they try to adjust from the practice rounds.  He is starting to bring up the speeds but the weather forcast is poor (hot and humid).  They may have a lot of dead grass out there by the weekend.  Ask the super at Aronomick, Merion, Lancaster,.....
I'm anxious to see what the course looks like by Friday which is when I'm back out there.

[wsmorrison]

Mark,

I don't think it is fair to characterize the conditions at Merion with that of Aronimink or other courses that have lost a significant number of greens and fairways.  

As regards Aronimink, they were maintaining tournament conditions through the very worst of the weather for two important events and the course could not stay on the correct side of the razor's edge they forced it to tread.

Tom and I walked around Merion and Philadelphia Country Club late last week.  Though there was some lost green space on 1 and 2 at Merion (admittedly we didn't see 2 but spoke to the man in charge of the greens while on 1 green), there was only a small loss of about 5 percent on 1 green and the remediation work was going well.  

A few fairways at PCC and MGC had some brown areas, not nearly to the extent of other courses, but they were already coming back very well.  Mike McNulty showed us how to tell if the grass is alive and reacting to the stress or dead.  If you look down into the brown turf and see some green as you peel back the top blades of brown, the turf is naturally reacting to the stress.  If it is all brown and you take a small tuft out and there are small white bulbs, the grass is alive but really in survival mode.  I hope I am describing this accurately as what Mike showed us at PCC made perfect sense.  

The big problem at PCC and other courses with a lot of cart traffic (PCC has 75 carts!) is carts going over wet areas with the grass under extreme stress--you can see the cart marks days later and that takes weeks to fix.  Merion has only 10 carts and they are rarely used--only for golfers with medical leave.  The fairways are far better off for not having cart traffic.

The fairways we looked at at Merion were coming back very strong.  Merion has a large and talented crew.  The green chairman has been preparing and stockpiling all the materials he needs for just about any eventuality.  They have a plan and if Mother Nature doesn't throw more knuckleballs at us it should be fine for the Am.  The course is doing very well compared to just about everyone in the area.  Not surprisingly favorable compared to the other two courses in the area with the the hardiest turf, Philadelphia Country Club and Huntingdon Valley.  Merion, PCC and HVCC seem to be able, for a variety of reasons, to keep things moving in greased grooves.

[Cliff Hamm]

Going Saturday and Sunday.  Hoping to park in Summit for the shuttle.  If not one of the train stations - Chatham, Convent, Morristown.  Any suggestions?

[Jerry Kluger]

I played Trump National last week which is not too far from Baltusrol and the course was in excellent condition and I spoke with the greens superintendent and he said while he had to slow them a bit, he felt the greens still had good pace and I was very impressed with how well they were rolling.  He was going to be working at Baltusrol during the PGA week and had been helping out before hand as much as possible and he was quite confident that the greens would do well despite the tough conditions.  

[Mark_Fine]

The main point I was trying to make is that if Mark Kuhns has been keeping his greens at 9 1/2 on the stimp for practice rounds of The PGA Championship, you know he is very concerned about losing them.  Baltusrol has been almost completely re-grassed as far as I understand which gives them a big edge over other courses with a mix of bent and poa and despite that, they are still struggling to keep them alive.  

Furthermore, I didn't mean to imply Merion has lost their greens.  I meant to imply that Matt wouldn't have closed the course if he felt everything was fine.  He is doing all he can to keep everything alive and growing.  The course is under very heavy stress and threat of disease even with no play on it.  

Sad to say, the list of courses seeing such impact is piling up like a train wreck.

My guess is that Baltusrol will look like a war zone when the PGA is finally over.  The weather forecast is not good.  
Mark

[Scott_Burroughs]

This is because of the extreme threat of disease in the Northeast.  They may have a lot of dead grass out there by the weekend.  Ask the super at Aronomick, Merion, Lancaster,.....

Mark,

I've heard that the same has happened at Quaker Ridge...don't know about their next-door neighbors....

[Matt_Ward]

Jonathan:

The 17th was made into a definite three shotter with the new tee (650 yards), the denser rough on the sides of the fairway and the sheer amounts of rough grass before one gets to the actual green.

I wish the PGA / Baltusrol would have gone in another direction with the hole set-up.

The overreaction is akin to what Cherry Hills did in the '78 Open to keep people from driving the 1st hole when the claim to fame for the club came from what AP did there in the final round in the '60 event.

The 17th is much too long, too moist and too penal for people to simply "wing it" try for the target. The more prudent play is to certainly find the fairway and go from there.

Couple of other points -- Mark Fine is painting a "worst case" scenario for Baltusrol. I don't think it's appropriate to think the world will fail theories just sooooo fast.

I've been at Baltsurol each day and the course is lush and slow. The greens are not being cut to the lowest of heights just yet and I think that's a prudent play given what August weather has been.

Regarding the weather forecast the threat of T-storms is present for Saturday and Sunday -- but the dry weather has allowed the course to slowly begin to firm up and that's a good sign. The density and placement of the Kentucky Bluegrass rough will have a major impact on plenty of players.

The course is in fine shape and I don't see the dirt like greens quality one saw at the end of the US Open at Shinnecock.

Before the doom and gloom scenarios take root I'd say it's a bit more sensible to take it one day at a time before any broad and sweeping comments are made.

[Don Herdrich]

Golf World has a great article on the past greens' issue at Baltusrol......they go through the story of how they lost their greens a year before the US Am........Mark is right that the greens were all re-grassed and the Poa supposedly is about 10-15% of the surface now

I know I have heard rumblings in CT on this humid weather causing major problems at several courses (including Yale and Hartford)

[James Bennett]

Sorry if this is a really dumb question, but...

It sounds like the weather is often like this in late July/early August in the NE of the USA, according to many posts on this site.  If so, why is the PGA being played at this time of the year? (because it always is?)

I understand that the Masters is played at a time of year when the flowers are in bloom, irrespective of when Easter falls.  And that a summer scheduling would be difficult (impossible?) because of the heat.  

There were other threads discussed earlier this year (when Tour events week after week were affected by rain) suggesting that the tour diary is reorganised.

Has the US Open Tennis always been played in September (I think its played then, hope I'm right)?  I assume the weather is more suited to play at that time of year - I may be wrong?

[Mark_Fine]

Matt,
I am not by any means suggesting gloom and doom.  I am just saying that the golf course is under a lot of stress and when Mark brings those greens up to speed they are unlikely to last beyond the weekend if the weather holds as its been.  We spoke with Mark for our August Golf Tips Magazine article on trees and his course like all of them back this way has presented a battle to keep it alive and reasonably healthy.  

Dan Pierson at Wilmington almost lost the south course greens in the end of June.  He's had to raise cutting heights and just try to hang on.  RTJ Golf Club in Manassas, VA is now resodding two dead/diseased greens in preparation for hosting the presidents cup next month.  It's one of those years that even money can't buy you healthy turf!

I am not at the tournament today but will be out there tomorrow.
Mark

[Patrick_Mucci]

James Bennett,

June, July and August are summer months.

When would you suggest holding the US Open and PGA, and where.

P.S.  Don't forget the money issue.

[mikes1160]

Mr. Mucci nailed it - there is no way the PGA would want to go up against college/pro football.....

[Matt_Ward]

Gents:

Early stats on this year's event ...

The six hardest holes in order thus far are ...

7th (4.594)
3rd (4.429)
1st
13th
6th
16th

All are par-4's with the exception of the 16th.

The key likely will be getting off to a successful start. Minus the par-4 2nd and 5th -- the opening salvo comes out of the gate with some strong demands -- particularly if you are missing fairways.

The average driving distance -- the two holes being measured are the 6th and 7th -- measure out respectively to 284.7 and 296.9 yards. Total average thus far = 290.6.

The average percentage hit for fairways is 53.5% with the long par-4 3rd being the toughest to hit at 42.9%.

The cost of hitting the rough averages out to 0.543 -- clearly its impact will be felt this week.

The average greens in regulation thus far stands at 54.1%.

Thus far -- and it is way too early for long term definitive statements but the Lower is sending a very loud and clear message. You need to be in the fairway to advance the ball and have any shot in making a fine score a reality. Anything other than that makes for a long day -- one can ask Tiger about that thus far.


James Bennett:

The PGA was played once in February of 1971 in Florida and was won by Jack Nicklaus that year.

Yes, the PGA could move to the winter months but that would preclude a whole range of tournament venues and it's something that will likely never happen.

[Mickey Boland]

Jonathan,

You're a prophet (at this moment, anyway).  Woods shoots 75 and currently leads 30 golfers.  Lot of guys still out early, though.

[Scott_Burroughs]

If anyone wants to follow along, here's the Lower course from above:

[Matt_Ward]

I have to say that of all the changes made at Baltusrol especially for this year's event I have to say the extension of the tee at #3 makes complete sense and has brought back into balance what technology stole from it -- especially in the last two majors -- the '93 and '80 Opens.

Players at that time could routinely bomb drivers and have nothing more than flip wedges -- the hole was 435 yards or thereabouts and was easy fodder. That has since changed and the players now are faced with a critical tee shot that comes early in the round.

If they should miss the fairway it is no easy task to cross a small creek that cuts across the hole about 50 yards in front of the green.

At #3 you will not win the PGA but it's quite possible you could undercut any opportunity to win at this hole.

[Cliff Hamm]

3 has always been my favorite hole at Baltusrol.  In '93 I was amazed that the pros would drive and roll down the hill not far from the creek.  Glad to hear that has changed.

[James Bennett]

James Bennett,

June, July and August are summer months.

When would you suggest holding the US Open and PGA, and where.

P.S.  Don't forget the money issue.

Patrick

I agree scheduling is difficult, especially when competing sports are involved.  My point is much narrower than all of Summer.  If there is a really difficult month of summer to deal with agronomically, why schedule events at that time in that area then.  I gather that venues from Arizona through to Florida are unlikely to host these events because of the extreme summer weather effect on the players/crowds.

I recognise that this is probably a pipe dream, and that TV time slots are the critical issue.  The Masters is a one course major, so they can pick their April time of year that suits them (and their blooming flowers), whereas the US Open and US PGA could be played nearly anywhere in the US in July and in August, so I assume the window for TV is selected based on the shorter golf season of the NE.

I accept that the money issue and TV timeslots are more important than the impact of presenting a course at its highest level in difficult weather.

[Chris Munoz]

Guys, just got out of work and caught some last minutes of the golf.  My first impressions, is that the golf course looks to manicured and too lush.  I have asked several people who have visited the course in the weeks leading up to the PGA, and they say its long and green.  Everyone has said that.  I didn't see one grass stand that was brown.  A golf course should have a little brown to it, to break up the color schemes.  But we are in the United States, where we over water golf courses.  We will always be like that, because of what TV has done to the viewer of golf.  

Muni

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