[David_Tepper]

The Aussie Women's Open is being played right now at Royal Adelaide, a course Clayton & Co. renovated several years ago.

http://www.golf.org.au/newsdisplay/clayton-the-lure-of-short-grass/92252

[Benjamin Litman]

It's being played at the Grange, not Royal Adelaide.

[David_Tepper]

My mistake! Thanks for the catch.

I think the course the ladies are playing (the Grange) is the course Clayton & Co. worked on.

[Benjamin Litman]

I think that's right, and I'm glad you shared Mike's article with the board. I remember fondly his dispatches from the Women's Open at Royal Melbourne last year, and look forward to more throughout this week's tournament.


(Fair mistake, by the way: The Grange is in, or near, Adelaide, after all.)

[Mike_Clayton]

It's the West Course at The Grange - which is right around the corner from Royal Adelaide - where they are playing next year.

[James Bennett]

Mike did a full (and fantastic) renovation at Grange West.

Greens and bunkers rebuilt, vegetation managed, some minor routing tweaks. A very good job.

James B

[Mike_Clayton]

James,


It's interesting to caddy this week and think 'our' way around the course. It seems really interesting to me and you have to hit well shaped and flighted irons into the greens.


It seems the members thought we made it 'too easy' and I can see why the unaware would think that.It is quite wide from the tee but it's a much harder course if you drive poorly.
It's also a pity Norman moved the bunker at 13.It looks nothing like what we would have done and it was perfectly fine where it was. Of course Su Oh (my boss this week) didn't help by plugging her drive right under the face and cementing my dislike for it.

[Thomas Dai]

Nice article and nice line as well ".....space from the tee is something used to lure the unaware into playing to places from where a winning score is unattainable." Short grass and firm ground. A very nice combination.
Atb

[David_Tepper]

More Mike Clayton as guest on the current Lawrence Donegan/John Huggan podcast:

http://bythemingolf.libsyn.com/draft-1

[Josh Stevens]

I'm guessing the Perth International didn't make it on the TV screens in the US, if you wanted to see the horror of short grass.

[Ronald Montesano]

I'm guessing the Perth International didn't make it on the TV screens in the US, if you wanted to see the horror of short grass.

Watching it right now on The Golf Channel. Great course and setup.


The marvelous 11th...that fairway bunker just eats up drives that try for too much in an attempt to reach the par five green in two.

[jeffwarne]

Nice article and nice line as well ".....space from the tee is something used to lure the unaware into playing to places from where a winning score is unattainable." Short grass and firm ground. A very nice combination.
Atb

Exactly the reason why I always felt the US Open had so many flukish winners from 1969-mid 80's.
Or the reason TPC has had no repeat winners.
There's ALWAYS someone having a hot driving week hitting all the fairways, gaining a disproportionate advantage from the (that week) skill of driving in the fairway.
A well designed course with width and choices tests mental skill, tactical skill, AND physical skill. 2 of the three are repeatable consistently and therefore produce the better player more often.
Augusta being a seemingly obvious example but the smallness of the field skews that a bit.
Certainly experience helps at Augusta-a repeatable skill.

[Ronald Montesano]

Jeff,


Would Hale Irwin have won three Opens in this modern era? He seems to fit the bill of the drive it in the fairway, hit it on the green kind of guy.

[jeffwarne]

Ron
Id say he would've used his grit and driving skills to hit the right place and score best.so yes.
Modern era success assumes he would play the modern game and hit it 50 yards farther.Hard to compare eras because so much changed so fast.
His record on the regular and senior indicate to me he was no fluke.

[Mike_Clayton]

Josh,


We redid Karrinyup just after we did Grange and the critics said both were too easy because the fairways were 'too wide' On another site someone was bemoaning the 130 yard downhill 12th with one bunker as being dull and easy.It's surrounded by run-offs and short grass and Peter Uihlein made 6 and 4 there on the weekend - and finished 3 behind.
Interestingly he called it his favourite course of the year. Now if only his father would fix the ball it might play even better for those guys.

[BHoover]

I watched the Perth Invitational. Mike, you and your team have done a superb job with Karrinyup.

[Josh Stevens]

Young Pete missed that green 4 days in a row with no more than a 3/4 wedge in his hand and it cost him the tournament.

If it were surrounded by long grass, he would have just flopped it back onto the green.

If one must be critical however, is there such a thing as grass being too short?  Some very tight lies out there and chipping into the grain was at time horrendously difficult.  But then I guess that's where the option of putting comes in

[jeffwarne]

If one must be critical however, is there such a thing as grass being too short?  Some very tight lies out there and chipping into the grain was at time horrendously difficult.  But then I guess that's where the option of putting comes in

Of course there is.
Not saying it was in this instance (I'm unfamiliar with the course in question)


What a thrill it was to play some of the unirrigated off the beaten path courses in New Zealand. The grass was dry and the turf firm, but they lacked the funds to constantly aerify, scarify, topdress, dethatch, and scalp their turf and one could get the club on the ball, yet run, bounce ,or loft the ball onto the green due to the lack of overwatering,and reasonable(perhaps infrequent) height of cut.

[Thomas Dai]

Josh,
We redid Karrinyup just after we did Grange and the critics said both were too easy because the fairways were 'too wide' On another site someone was bemoaning the 130 yard downhill 12th with one bunker as being dull and easy.It's surrounded by run-offs and short grass and Peter Uihlein made 6 and 4 there on the weekend - and finished 3 behind.
Interestingly he called it his favourite course of the year. Now if only his father would fix the ball it might play even better for those guys.

Nicely put Mike.


Out of interest as I don't know much about the terrain around Perth, but what kind of soil is Karrinyup on?


As an aside this week an Aussie ex-long putter user wins with a short putter in Florida and two Aussie ex-long putter users, one a senior (sic!) finish in the top-10 in Perth using short putters.


Atb

[Mike_Clayton]

Donald,


Karrinyup is all on sand. The whole city is on sand and has the best urban land for golf in Australia. If MacKenzie had gone to Perth instead of Melbourne and had the same influence there is no telling how great golf would have been in Perth.


Senior's performance was amazing - he used the long putter for 27 years then reverts back and finishes in the top 10 in a European Tour event with a short putter.


When he was asked about the ban he always said ' I can't wait for them to ban it - have you seen the way I've been putting!'

[Thomas Dai]

Thanks Mike. I didn't know that Perth was such a sandy area. I wonder how many folk lived there when Dr MacK' visited the other side of the country. Can't have been many?


Age has caught up with me as I can recall Peter Senior in his pre long-putter days. In fact I have a hazy memory of I think it was him chipping cross-handed.


Atb

[Jon Wiggett]

Thanks Mike. I didn't know that Perth was such a sandy area. I wonder how many folk lived there when Dr MacK' visited the other side of the country. Can't have been many?


Age has caught up with me as I can recall Peter Senior in his pre long-putter days. In fact I have a hazy memory of I think it was him chipping cross-handed.


Atb

That's right Thomas,

at one point he played anything from about 100 yards and closer cross handed.

Jon

[Mike_Clayton]

Jon


Peter really only chipped the ball cross handed.I played with him when he had the chipping yips and it was horrific - but he was always great from outside 20 or 30 yards. It was the tiny chips from close to the greens which gave him fits. He went cross handed and fixed it in no time.

[Jon Wiggett]

Mike,

I have a vague recollection of Peter playing in a competition at TOC where he was hitting everything with the wedge cross handed but this could be wrong and I will bow to your greater knowledge in this matter.

Jon

[Josh Stevens]

Thanks Mike. I didn't know that Perth was such a sandy area. I wonder how many folk lived there when Dr MacK' visited the other side of the country. Can't have been many?


Age has caught up with me as I can recall Peter Senior in his pre long-putter days. In fact I have a hazy memory of I think it was him chipping cross-handed.


Atb

Perth would only have been a small town at the time, but no smaller than Adelaide which he managed to go to.  The annoying part is that he would have actually sailed past Perth on his way to the eastern states.

There is perhaps a problem of too much sand.  The other cities had only patches of sandy soil and so there were groupings of fine courses in close proximity that helped them get established and to survive - The Melbourne Sandbelt is well known, but Sydney has a little sandbelt in the Eastern Suburbs, and of course Adelaide's sandbelt west of the city.

Perth on the other hand is sand sand sand as far as the eye can see in any direction, and so courses were just plonked down all over the shop with little thought or care as the land was not seen as being special.

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