I'm the Men's Golf Coach for the University of Hartford and I brought my team down to Galloway National last fall for the East Regional Preview tournament. Columbia University hosted the tournament as a way for teams to get a feel for the golf course in the event they qualify for the NCAA East Regionals in the spring.
Here is the link to the results:
http://golfstat.com/2008-2009/men/mtourfl08/M3212.htmThe tournament field had some very strong teams, some ranked in the top 30, but as you can see from the scores, the course was the winner here.
The weather was in the 60's and sunny with 15-20 mph winds, occasionally gusting higher.
The par 3's were a huge factor in the high scores.
The par 3 2nd was playing incredibly tough with gusts of wind in different directions. Players hit anywhere from 9 iron to 6 iron and very few hit this green in regulation over 3 days. 75 percent of the balls ended up in the collection area to the left.
#5 played much longer but was equally as tough and at best, I would say only a third of the players found the putting surface.
#8 was anywhere from a 6 iron to 3 iron, but played much easier than the other 2 on the front, probably because it's a much bigger target and further inland away from the wind on the water.
The par 5 11th was probably the only hole that played easy during the tournament.
#14 played to a 4 or 5 iron usually and although there weren't many birdies, it did not play too difficult.
#17 was playing incredibly tough at about 230 yards and most of the guys were hitting anywhere from 3 iron to 3 wood. Play slowed down quite a bit on this hole because there were always 1 or 2 guys looking for their ball in the right trees.
It was definitely a grind out there for the guys, but for the teams that qualify for the East Regional, they definitely got a preview of how tough it can play. That was the point of having the tournament in October and I'm sure the teams like TCU and Florida who were at that event will benefit in May.