[David_Tepper]

On the Golf Channel.

http://www.womensausopen.com/

http://www.royaladelaidegolf.com.au/cms/

[RJ_Daley]

I'm all over it.  James Bennett, show your face!   

[Josh Stevens]

Clayts makes a good point in his article - Australia doesn't have that many great golf courses, its just that the ones we do have are still used for pro tournaments.

[Terry Thornton]

I'm all over it.  James Bennett, show your face!   

James and I will be there on the weekend. You may sight him if someone hits a shot into a Corporate tent 

[James Bennett]

I'm there tomorrow - corporate ticket..... and Saturday - members ticket.

Course will look fantastic on TV - a little greener than normal.
Enjoy the red sands!

The ladies are generally playing from the members tees - about 6000 metres plus (6600 yards plus)

James B

[David_Tepper]

Mike Clayton's article on the course:

http://www.womensausopen.com/news-display/clayton-the-allure-of-royal-adelaide/95954

[RJ_Daley]

Going into the midnight hour here on the 'frozen tundra' and it is a very enjoyable golf broadcast.  Good flyover and graphics to appreciate the design, wind to add interest, great international leaderboard, good commentators, and even nice broadcast bumpers showing Adelaide. 

Are you wearing an orange rain jacket, James?

The broadcast is so enjoyable that it causes me to believe that if I ever get back to OZ, I'm heading straight away for Adelaide. 

I'm liking Salas's chances....
 

[Craig Sweet]

Is it me, or are the fairway bunkers totally out of play for the women?  The coverage has been pretty much the same six or eight players each day, but none seem capable of reaching the fairway bunkers on this course from the tee's they are using.

[Buck Wolter]

Mike Clayton's article on the course:

http://www.womensausopen.com/news-display/clayton-the-allure-of-royal-adelaide/95954

I really liked the looks of the short par 4 8th - cool run up to the right. Looked like they could have moved the tees up yesterday though.

[James Bennett]

Round 4 is a Scottish summer's day today in Adelaide - mid-teens temperature, passing showers and wind from the cool quarter (south to south-west) ie the prevailing wind..  A few mm of showers last night.

10 days ago, the temperatures had been over 40 degrees for three days.

Wind will be in a similar direction to the last few days - unfortunately, we haven't had a warmer day in the tournament when the wind would be coming from a different direction.

James B

[David_Tepper]

Is that Mike Clayton on Su Oh's bag?

[James Bennett]

No, not this year.

[RJ_Daley]

Does Salas have a slight deformity on her right hand?  Back 9 is going to be good viewing, as it is shaping up.  Salas didn't look so confident as I thought she was last night.  But, she seems to have the bit in her mouth leaving 6.  Looks almost like a British open, with the great golf weather.  A good player should earn the victory today in the challenging conditions.

[James Bennett]

Dick

lots of putts will break 2 or 3 inches - it is just hard to tell whether they will break left or right.
The wind will probably have more effect on putts over the back nine - greens running at 11 feet, but generally exposed to the prevailing wind.

I'm seeing lots of shots I relate to around the green - putts that are too short and others that run surprisingly past.

The prevailing wind from the south-west can be relentless, and any short-sided approach is penalised.  At least there is enough water in the greens to enable a good shot to hold.

David

Su Oh's cassdy is Sean Kruse, who caddied for E Wan Han (sp?) on the LPGA.

James B

[RJ_Daley]

Crafter gave her caddy a nice shout-out for being one of the best greens readers.  I knew at first glance he wasn't Clayts.  To young and rugged. 

[RJ_Daley]

Jang approach on 18 is a game set match, me thinks.  Salas got too tentative and lost authority on her putts. 

All the ladies gave a good show on a great course in stiff conditions. 

[James Bennett]

5 under the last six holes is outstanding - we have a railway comp (last 5 holes after you cross the railway line between 13 and 14) - she would have romped that in as well     

From an architecture perspective, I didn't see anyone take the lhs fairway on 17, and Ha Na Jang showed you can make three with a well played second and an outstanding putt.

edit - murphy's law applies - the last group (Liz Salas and Su Oh) both went left side.  I suspect Su has studied the hole's architecture.

James B

[Terry Thornton]

Is it me, or are the fairway bunkers totally out of play for the women?  The coverage has been pretty much the same six or eight players each day, but none seem capable of reaching the fairway bunkers on this course from the tee's they are using.

Craig,
Plenty in play from the tee.
I saw players in these bunkers at 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17 and 18

[Mike_Clayton]

James,


Shaun Clews caddies for Su now - he was with Sandra Gal the last 4 years.
Su and I went to RA in December and thought a lot about 17 and where best to drive. She went left every day (or tried to but hit a big block on Friday) and opened up the flag. Mindlessly going right made the 2nd shot way harder - harder than it was to drive left.


It'll be the best course the LPGA go to all year - by some way from my limited experience of their courses.

[James Bennett]

Mike

thanks for correcting my note about Shaun Clews - I was going off TV commentary there, hence the misspelling of his name.

I didn't see hole #5 played, and would be interested to know the preferred line of play there down-wind by the ladies - left of the centre-line bunker or right?  The centre hazard on #5 is only about a year old (one of Tom Doak's tweaks - it was previously a wider bunker that stretched to the right-edge of fairway).

The fairway bunkers on #14 were carried by most players with the strong wind assisting from the right quarter - Lydia Ko went straight over the more distant second large bunker on Friday, which initially surprised me.  The wind took a number of fairway bunkers out of play (not all of them) but also created alternative challenges of holding the green downwind, or controlling ball flight into/cross wind.  Well hit shots could hold a green, but any slightly thinned or slightly heavy iron shot would roll off the green.

[Mike_Clayton]

James


5 is much more interesting than it was. Most went left from what I saw - there isn't anywhere near the advantage going right there as there is going left at 17.
The shot into 14 found a lot out.It needs to be properly hit and accurate.

[James Bennett]

Mike

Re #5 - I agree with your point about the advantage of going left vs right, especially as the inside approach to the green is bunkered only on the rhs.

RAGC's doglegs generally reward long play to the outside of the dogleg, the shorter precise shot to the inside of a dogleg rarely gets much reward.   

[Mike_Clayton]

James,


That's certainly true at 1,4,8 and 13. It's odd given on the whole of the sand belt you'd be hard pressed to find four holes where the outside of a dogleg was an advantage. Probably 3 West is one for certain pins.

[James Bennett]

Mike

and 5.

17 is similar to 8 but longer.  if you drive away from the pin on these two relatively straight holes you get an advantage.  Probably an example of that Max Behr line of charm design.
These two are different to 1, 4 and 13 where a stronger dogleg requires length and precision combined to be rewarded.

For the lesser player, the back tees really change the line of play to the greens, with the increased length always making the line of play to the green as difficult or more difficult than from the front tees.

[Mike_Clayton]

James,


17 was interesting - Su Oh was the only player I saw to go left every day - but it was clearly a significant advantage with the shot to the pin from the left. I wonder how strategically aware the majority of LPGA players are given the quality of courses they play week to week.
At the start of the week I'd have guessed at least it would have been 70/30 right v left.

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