GCA at the Walker Cup

[Thomas Dai]

For those who have access, Sky TV in GB are showing it at 5:00pm today.
Atb

[ward peyronnin]

I am soooo impressed with the course as it shows on TV. Very good coverage.

I am not impressed with the gallerie size LA is offering up. Maybe the course is so generous that they are in a large dispersal pattern but from my past 7 WC experiences this looks like Chicago did in 2005   It is the best spectator venue in golf and this one is exceptional.
What say ye Richard

[Eric LeFante]

Anyone surprised that the US players were going down the second fairway from the 17th tee?


Is this a problem? The 17th fairway is the tightest on the course. Is it too tight?

[Matthew Petersen]

Anyone surprised that the US players were going down the second fairway from the 17th tee?


Is this a problem? The 17th fairway is the tightest on the course. Is it too tight?

I watched guys do this in the practice round and it seemed odd, because the strategy of the hole says that you get a better angle of approach the further you stay right (toward the barranca). So going down the second fairway is definitely a safer drive but it makes a 520 yard hole even longer and the angle is bad.


But that was without the context of how far these guys were hitting it. Thornberry still had just over 200 yards in, which is a long way, but given how far he drive it, I'm guessing he was hitting 7 iron into that green. Not easy to hold, sure, but all in all probably a better percentage play than trying to hit in in the narrow 17th fairway (his opponent tried and hit it in--actually right of--the barranca, and made a real mess of the hole).

[Kalen Braley]

It seems to me its a very straight forward strategy.


Play safe to the 2nd fairway and you can still get the approach on or near the green.  Play for the narrow 17th fairway and if you miss right, its pretty much going to be impossible to get on or near the green in 2. And even if you hit the fairway, you still have a long approach to a smallish target.


 I think its a good strategy that fits perfect for match play.

[Dave August]

Anyone surprised that the US players were going down the second fairway from the 17th tee?


Is this a problem? The 17th fairway is the tightest on the course. Is it too tight?

When I saw this hole on TV Saturday, I thought that I would play it down the second fairway, as well. No point taking on the death on the right of the 17th fairway if I don't have to.

[Thomas Dai]

Lon Hinkle time (sic)?
Atb


PS - great looking course generally.

[Eric LeFante]

I wonder if they need to take down a couple trees on the left and right of 17 fairway to entice all players to hit down the correct fairway. It seems like the reward of going down the correct fairway isn't worth the risk of hitting in the hazard or lost ball.

[Matthew Rose]

It kinda looks like an Aussie sandbelt course, with the eucalypts and the brown edges to the green fairways. Obviously different bunkers. Still cool looking.

[Ross Harmon]

I wonder if they need to take down a couple trees on the left and right of 17 fairway to entice all players to hit down the correct fairway. It seems like the reward of going down the correct fairway isn't worth the risk of hitting in the hazard or lost ball.

There's some smaller, new-ish trees between the 2 and 17 fairway. They're pretty ugly and goofy looking, and clearly not effective in getting players to play the holes as intended.

[Matthew Petersen]

I wonder if they need to take down a couple trees on the left and right of 17 fairway to entice all players to hit down the correct fairway. It seems like the reward of going down the correct fairway isn't worth the risk of hitting in the hazard or lost ball.

I could see this working. You could also essentially just cut all of 2 and 17 as one fairway (as they do with 1/18 and 10/16, plus bits in a few other places). But taking a few trees down on the right side could make it a more appealing option and cutting everything as fairway could bring the bunkers left more into play for anyone wanting to play that direction.

[Jeremy Rudock]

I plan on attending all day, every day.  I hope to meet some of you.  I will be the tall old guy with beige Walker Cup/LACC hat.  I will watch a variety of matches, spending only a little time with the USC love fest going on in the Stewart Hagestad group.

LOL - Bruin to the core!


LACC looked amazingly well setup on TV.  Looks like a massive property that should be great for the US Open.

[Terry Lavin]

LACC North is in my personal top ten.  I just love the golf course and its amazing location, just blocks from the intersection of Sunset and Wilshire.  I've never received better service at a private club.  In each of my six or so visits, all of the employees made me feel like I was a member.  The members were very welcoming as well.  As for the Walker Cup, the course looked absolutely perfect on television this weekend.  Great match play site, but I fear that the pros are going to just murder it at the US Open.

[Kalen Braley]

Terry,


I can't imagine they will leave the majority of those fairways at width as shown over the weekend.  With that Bermuda, if they pinch em in to 30 yards or so there will be plenty of scrambling for par.

[Alex Miller]

LACC North is in my personal top ten.  I just love the golf course and its amazing location, just blocks from the intersection of Sunset and Wilshire.  I've never received better service at a private club.  In each of my six or so visits, all of the employees made me feel like I was a member.  The members were very welcoming as well.  As for the Walker Cup, the course looked absolutely perfect on television this weekend.  Great match play site, but I fear that the pros are going to just murder it at the US Open.

Sunset and Santa Monica you mean? 




I was there briefly on Sunday and watched on TV saturday - it looked and played phenomenal! I think the pros will certainly have the opportunity to go lower than the AM participants, but I don't think we'll see Erin Hills type scoring for a few reasons.


1 - Added length. 5 par 4's can play over 500 yards, plus a 600 yard par 5 and 2 290 yard par 3's. The course can stretch to nearly 7,600 yards as a par 70.
2 - Los Angeles weather. Admittedly most courses around town are in fantastic shape right now, but LACC sits just far enough inland that they shouldn't have any issues with June Gloom keeping the course soft. With firm greens and tucked pins I think there are only so many birdie opportunities.
3 - Mowing lines and rough. I think for the Walker Cup this was the perfect set up. The course should still be fairly wide for the US Open, but with even some rough and some strategically narrowed landing areas it becomes that much tougher.


Specifically for 17, while going left makes sense for Match Play (stay in the hole early in case your opponent makes a mistake) I think the 17th fairway becomes more desirable for stroke play where it is a much better place to attack the green from. I can see them rearranging the bunkers between 2 and 17 to discourage the play further however, and removing the tree that separates the fairways may make 17 appear wider as well.

[David Royer]

The USGA measured and plotted every drive for mapping purposing.  This will help inform them on fairway width for the Open.  Each group out had a walking attendant tasked for this purpose.  There was some chatter about some new additional tees being built prior.  Lynn or Geoff can probably speak best to this.  This was my first and certainly not my last.  Thanks to Ward for the tip!

[Michael Whitaker]

The USGA measured and plotted every drive for mapping purposing.  This will help inform them on fairway width for the Open.  Each group out had a walking attendant tasked for this purpose.  There was some chatter about some new additional tees being built prior.  Lynn or Geoff can probably speak best to this.  This was my first and certainly not my last.  Thanks to Ward for the tip!

David - I talked with a fellow on Sunday from the So Cal Golf Association who was recording this info for the USGA. He was noting drive length, second shot distance, shot locations, results from the different locations, etc. It was very comprehensive, I thought. Everything was in preparation for US Open decision making in course setup.

[David McIntosh]

First and foremost, the course looked unbelievably good on TV. It definitely whetted my appetite to attend one of the future editions; the US venues in particular looking fantastic.

I thought the 17th was a great match play hole. The 2nd fairway was clearly the safer route but the angle of approach was very tough, which I have no problem with given it's a bail out from the tee. I can't recall seeing any player on either side making par from the 2nd fairway - they either found the front bunker or hit the green and ran into the barranca through the back right - so there definitely was a penalty for playing it safe with the drive.

The strategy was evident in the first singles match on Saturday when the US player (Thornberry) was 1 up at the time and decided to drive down the 2nd. This left the GB&I player (Ellis) with the choice of following by playing safe and probably doing no better than a half or going down the tighter 17th fairway for the better angle and the chance of a win. The US tactics made perfect sense as Thornberry didn't have to chase the match and asked Ellis to make a par to win the hole and take the game up the last. As it happened, Ellis tried to go down the 17th, went into the barranca and effectively handed the US the hole and the match.

A question - it looked like the players were frequently teeing off from the fairway/right next to the previous greens - there were no obvious-looking tee boxes on a number of the holes. Was this a by-product of the USGA flipping between par 3/4 and 4/5 on certain holes and therefore they had to put tee markers down out with the normal teeing areas to shorten/stretch the holes as required?

[Kalen Braley]

David,


I noticed the same on the tee boxes.  I think when Gil did the renovation he incorporated the free form tee box style...

[David McIntosh]

Kalen,

Do you know if that's how the members play the course or were we only seeing the free form tee boxes (good description by the way) because the back tees were being used in the Walker Cup? I did notice that there were often oval/more conventional shaped tee boxes in front of where the Walker Cuppers were driving from and assumed those would be used for daily play.

[Matt_Cohn]

Kalen,

Do you know if that's how the members play the course or were we only seeing the free form tee boxes (good description by the way) because the back tees were being used in the Walker Cup? I did notice that there were often oval/more conventional shaped tee boxes in front of where the Walker Cuppers were driving from and assumed those would be used for daily play.

Virtually nothing was changed from how the members play it. Slightly faster greens and tougher hole locations. And of course the members don't usually play from those tees!

[Eric LeFante]

First and foremost, the course looked unbelievably good on TV. It definitely whetted my appetite to attend one of the future editions; the US venues in particular looking fantastic.

I thought the 17th was a great match play hole. The 2nd fairway was clearly the safer route but the angle of approach was very tough, which I have no problem with given it's a bail out from the tee. I can't recall seeing any player on either side making par from the 2nd fairway - they either found the front bunker or hit the green and ran into the barranca through the back right - so there definitely was a penalty for playing it safe with the drive.

The strategy was evident in the first singles match on Saturday when the US player (Thornberry) was 1 up at the time and decided to drive down the 2nd. This left the GB&I player (Ellis) with the choice of following by playing safe and probably doing no better than a half or going down the tighter 17th fairway for the better angle and the chance of a win. The US tactics made perfect sense as Thornberry didn't have to chase the match and asked Ellis to make a par to win the hole and take the game up the last. As it happened, Ellis tried to go down the 17th, went into the barranca and effectively handed the US the hole and the match.

A question - it looked like the players were frequently teeing off from the fairway/right next to the previous greens - there were no obvious-looking tee boxes on a number of the holes. Was this a by-product of the USGA flipping between par 3/4 and 4/5 on certain holes and therefore they had to put tee markers down out with the normal teeing areas to shorten/stretch the holes as required?

Thornberry made par on 17 from the 2nd fairway on Saturday. It's a tougher angle from the 2nd fairway but I don't think it's impossible and I think it's easier to hit the green from 2nd fairway than it is to hit your drive into the 17th fairway.

[ward peyronnin]

Dave

If. as I suspect you are hooked, R Liverpool in two years and some of the best golf on the planet surrounding. Don't miss Delamere Forest! Sublime

[Eric LeFante]

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/lacc-passes-walker-cup-test-as-the-usgas-mike-davis-takes-notes-for-when-the-us-open-goes-there-in-2023


Here are Mike Davis's thoughts on how the course played and what to expect for the 2023 US Open:


Sounds like they will do something about the 17th hole. With 156 players and thousands of spectators, there is a safety and pace of play issue when players play down the 2nd fairway.


They are talking about adding 30 yards to the 3rd hole to bring the baranca back into play.


And it doesn't seem like the fairways will be quite as wide as they were this past weekend.

[Richard Fisher]

Having started this thread, I should maybe report in from the ground.

Anyway, I had (yet again at a Walker Cup) a complete blast, my one real regret being that after the first thirty holes we GB&I boys were never in the hunt. The course was stunning - very wide in some parts, very tight in others, and with lots of variety and lots of options to work out - even if in a perfect world the whole would have been running maybe a little more (it was playing so, so long). I loved the 79-yard 15th on Saturday afternoon (especially following its 600-yard predecessor) and the only thing I wasn't convinced by was the back tee at the 1st  (pretty much on the putting green, behind the roses) as used on practice Friday and on Sunday. 

To be honest though my abiding memory is of the unceasing warmth and kindness of the c250 volunteers (whether LACC members or otherwise) who helped to make the whole thing work. Universally friendly, helpful and chipper. Obviously the setting and presentation was opulent in the extreme, in ways that no Walker Cup in the UK ever will (or should) be, and Hoylake in 2019 will present a very different, but no less enticing set of challenges for both players and spectators.  Whilst at the LACC I met several GCA allies, and lots of other golfing friends, and wouldn't have missed this Walker Cup for the world. A terrific weekend in every way save the result!