Adam Scott - comments on ANGC

[Lou_Duran]

Mr. Clutterbuck,

Back in the friendlier days of Hord Hardin, a friend of mine was invited for two-day outings by a vendor, two or three years in a row.  He was a very good player, our club champion a couple of times, with a sound long game, but just an average putter.  He reported the same, a very playable course tee to green, but extremely difficult on and around the greens.  He noted that because of the slope, the greens were always fast or slow; he could not get the pace, and that they were probably in the 10' range on the very few flat spots on them.  In the 8+ rounds he played there, he broke 80 a couple of times, and was probably on the greens 13+ times each round.

BTW, is your a pseudonym?

[MClutterbuck]

Mr. Clutterbuck,

Back in the friendlier days of Hord Hardin, a friend of mine was invited for two-day outings by a vendor, two or three years in a row.  He was a very good player, our club champion a couple of times, with a sound long game, but just an average putter.  He reported the same, a very playable course tee to green, but extremely difficult on and around the greens.  He noted that because of the slope, the greens were always fast or slow; he could not get the pace, and that they were probably in the 10' range on the very few flat spots on them.  In the 8+ rounds he played there, he broke 80 a couple of times, and was probably on the greens 13+ times each round.

BTW, is your a pseudonym?

I think that is going to be the experience for most people. The members of course have local knowledge and do better on the greens. The greens were rolled in the morning when i played, so i believe they were more in the 11' to 12' range but slower than Masters week for sure. Also, they were reasonably soft and could stop approaches on them well. I dont think the course is more difficult today for the Members than 20-30 years ago, considering technology changes. If I had to guess, it is probably easier today.

[Jim Nugent]

A few questions:

How do the greens and green complexes at ANGC compare to those at Pine Valley?

What would course rating and bogey rating likely be at ANGC, both from members' tees and Masters tees?  Probably need two sets for each: one for tournament week, and the other for the rest of the year. 

[Mike Hendren]

Wait a minute:  If Scott is indeed a premier driver of the ball and he believes angles are desirable, how would width not benefit him since he could place the ball in the fairway for the best approach angle while the wayward bombers would just be happy to hit the fairway?

Having trod the "second cut" seven or eight times since 1989 it is laughable to think it brakes a poorly hit tee ball headed toward the pine straw.  It closely resembles the greens I grew up playing when it wasn't two of the days a week that they were mowed.

Blame Hootie.  Blame Tiger. Blame Roberts.  Blame Canada.  The fact of the matter is that course tinkering is in Augusta National Golf Club's DNA from day two - much of it, and arguably the most dramatic changes under the watchful eye of Bob Jones. 

Finally, if the perennial number one golf course in the U S of A plays much wider than it looks, Augusta National Golf Club is ridiculously wide as is. 

Excuse me but I have a plane to catch to Australia.  If in fact Augusta can't carry Royal Melbourne's architectural/maintenance jock strap, I simply must see it immediately. 

Hey, we're just chatting, so please consider this sentence a winking emoticon.

Cheers, 

Bogey

[Mike Hendren]

Thank goodness I looked at Royal Melbourne's website before boarding my flight this afternoon.  There actually is "rough" there too.

Dang it.

[Bill Brightly]

Bogey,

One of the things I will watch for this year is if the rough actually saves balls from reaching the pine straw and trees.

[Mike Hendren]

Me to, Bill.  I've already been wrong twice at work today.  I should also disclose that I don't really know anything about Royal Melbourne.

Kindest regards,

Mike

[DMoriarty]

Mike,  if the rough second cut is of settle consequence, why do you suppose they added it?

[Mike Hendren]

Mike,  if the rough second cut is of settle consequence, why do you suppose they added it?

Use your brain, David.  The obvious answer is to save on maintenance expense.

[Jason Thurman]

Mike,  if the rough second cut is of settle consequence, why do you suppose they added it?

Use your brain, David.  The obvious answer is to save on maintenance expense.

Obviously. Yet another classic course whose playing principles are being destroyed by modern maintenance budgets and resource constraints that combine to make short grass too expensive to maintain. If only something could be done about all the pressure put on courses like Augusta to present lush green playing surfaces and yardages of well over 7000 to attract new members, perhaps the bastardization of such great classic courses could be stopped.

[DMoriarty]

Use your brain, David.  The obvious answer is to save on maintenance expense.

Well then at least they are setting a good example by focusing on economical maintenance practices.

[Garland Bayley]

I've already been wrong twice at work today. 

Kindest regards,

Mike

While not a particularly religious man, I did just offer up a prayer that you are not, in fact, a Neurosurgeon....or bomb detonator

Do you remember the Monopoly game "Bank error in your favor".

[Bill_McBride]

I've already been wrong twice at work today. 

Kindest regards,

Mike

While not a particularly religious man, I did just offer up a prayer that you are not, in fact, a Neurosurgeon....or bomb detonator

Do you remember the Monopoly game "Bank error in your favor".

Ha ha, that is not likely.  "Bank error in OUR favor" is much more likely, trust me. 

[Garland Bayley]

In order to buy an airline ticket, I once handed a bank $1100 for a cashiers check. I received a cashiers check for $11000. So bank error in your favor is possible.