With the exception of Friday, the

[Patrick_Mucci]

weather at Augusta is forecast to be warm, sunny and dry this week.

Is it possible to make the course too fast and firm?

What would be the specific adverse consequences if the course was too F & F ?

[Bill_McBride]

weather at Augusta is forecast to be warm, sunny and dry this week.

Is it possible to make the course too fast and firm?

What would be the specific adverse consequences if the course was too F & F ?

Lots of drives in the trees (through the doglegs).

Higher scores I suspect.  Has this happened in the past?

[David_Tepper]

It all depends on the wind.

[Adam Clayman]

Turn on the system?

[Alex Miller]

I'm excited. Looking forward to seeing -6 win.

[Patrick_Mucci]

David,

I don't believe that wind is a major factor on all 18 holes at ANGC, unlike courses like Shinnecock.

[jeffwarne]

David,

I don't believe that wind is a major factor on all 18 holes at ANGC, unlike courses like Shinnecock.

I believe David is referring to the wind's effect on drying out the course.
Might want to check that Wed forecast. I'm seeing 70% chance of rain(possible severe thunderstorms)

[Patrick_Mucci]

Jeff,

Yes that would be a factor, but again, it's not a very windy site.

I was thinking that F&F might result in lower scores due to increased driving distance.

As to the dogleg par 4's with the exception of # 11 and 18, I would think that F&F would help with little fear of adverse consequences.

And that it would help on all the par 5's with the possible exception of # 13

It seems that ANGC wants to minimize the influence of rain and soft conditions, but could they possible go too far with F&F or with their budget and equipment do they have it dialed in to perfection or close to it ?

[Jud_T]

weather at Augusta is forecast to be warm, sunny and dry this week.

Is it possible to make the course too fast and firm?

What would be the specific adverse consequences if the course was too F & F ?

The specific adverse consequences would be that Shivas would have to significantly increase his alcohol intake to wash down the crow that would be served up as Tiger won easily.  I think it's pretty unlikely that they'll take it over the edge however.  Say what you like about the pros and cons of the National spending so much time and money on conditioning, the one thing they usually do is get it pretty damned near perfect for the Toonament.

[Jason Thurman]

I can't imagine there are many courses anywhere with a better greenskeeping staff than Augusta. I'm sure they'll be just fine.

Hypothetically though, my guess is that a "too fast and firm" Augusta would lead to greater disparity in scoring. The guys having hot weeks striking the ball would get some major turbo-boosts down several of the fairways and would have a big advantage over the guys who are running through into the trees and getting stuck with poor angles of approach. I think we'd still see several guys go low, but much higher scores than normal for the median players in the field.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Jason,

If the course plays much shorter, why would scores go higher ?

[Paul Gray]

Jason,

If the course plays much shorter, why would scores go higher ?

Sorry to jump in, but you surprise me Mr Mucci.

Running fairways, and thus the diminishing ability of the very best to effectively play nothing but target golf with every club in the bag,  will always concern those guys more than having to fly the thing everywhere. If you turn one over but it's only going to run 10 yards those slopes are effectively, well, ineffective.

I know a website you might like Pat where people have quite strong views on these things. It's called Golf Club Atlas. 

[David_Tepper]

10-day forecast for Augusta, GA:

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/Augusta+GA+USGA0032:1:

5-day forecast for Augusta, GA

http://www.weather.com/weather/5-day/Augusta+GA+USGA0032:1:US

[Matt Albanese]

According to Phil, this won't be a problem: http://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2013/4/9/phil-on-augustas-greens-nothing-scary-like-they-used-to-be.html

[Patrick_Mucci]

Jason,

If the course plays much shorter, why would scores go higher ?

Sorry to jump in, but you surprise me Mr Mucci.

Running fairways, and thus the diminishing ability of the very best to effectively play nothing but target golf with every club in the bag,  will always concern those guys more than having to fly the thing everywhere.

Paul,

You must not be familiar with ANGC.
It's a very wide golf course despite recent efforts to narrow the playing corridors.
Other than # 11 and # 18, a draw gains even more distance.

There isn't much risk of hitting the ball through the fairway at ANGC so length is an asset.

Shirley, you recall Tiger never hitting more than a 7-iron into any par 4 and mid to short irons into par 5's when he won by a large margin.[/size]

If you turn one over but it's only going to run 10 yards those slopes are effectively, well, ineffective.

What slopes ?
What holes are you talking about ?

Trevino always maintained that the course favored a draw and I'm not aware of many courses where additional distance is a negative, including ANGC.

I know a website you might like Pat where people have quite strong views on these things. It's called Golf Club Atlas. 

I've heard of it, who do you have to know to get on it ?

[David_Tepper]

Phil Mickelson on the state of the greens:

http://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2013/4/9/phil-on-augustas-greens-nothing-scary-like-they-used-to-be.html

[Patrick_Mucci]

Rain is now forecast for Thursday and Friday

[Terry Lavin]

Rain is now forecast for Thursday and Friday

How is the weather this week at Merion?

[Joe Bausch]

Rain is now forecast for Thursday and Friday

Weather Conditions at 08:53 AM EDT on 10 Apr 2013 for Augusta Bush, GA.
Temp(F)    Humidity(%)    Wind(mph)    Pressure(in)    Weather
========================================================================
  61          97%         NORTH at 0       30.15      Clear

Forecast for Augusta, GA
901 am EDT Wed Apr 10 2013

.Today...Sunny. Areas of fog. Highs in the mid 80s. South winds
5 to 10 mph.
.Tonight...Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 60s. South winds 5 to
10 mph.
.Thursday...Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 80s. South winds 5 to 10 mph.
.Thursday night...A 80 percent chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 60s. South winds 10 to 15 mph.
.Friday...Partly sunny with a 40 percent chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70s. Southwest winds 10 to
15 mph.
.Friday night...Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 40s.
.Saturday and Saturday night...Partly cloudy. Highs in the mid
70s. Lows in the upper 40s.
.Sunday...Partly sunny. Highs in the upper 70s.

[David_Tepper]

Well, today (Thursday) the course was a little soft and the players said the greens were slow. Sounds like Friday will be more of the same and maybe even softer & slower.

[Matthew Essig]

Well, today (Thursday) the course was a little soft and the players said the greens were slow. Sounds like Friday will be more of the same and maybe even softer & slower.

Yeah, thunderstorms are supposed to bring rain over night and make the course even softer and slower...

[V. Kmetz]

Within an hour or so, Augusta is about to be blitzed with a 1.5-2 hour storm...

The forecast calls for follow-up system rain lasting until around 10 am...then cloudy, then clearing for TV time.

The wind, which I previously saw forecast near 20 mph, is now predicted to be around 10-12 mph

If the rain itself doesn't hinder the players, I see another batch of good scoring across the day.

I'm thinking that, combined with today's results, the cut is going to be around +2

cheers

vk

[David_Tepper]

Looks like the wind is up today, and it was a major factor on a number of holes.

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