The impact of openings at the green.

[mike_malone]

Rory just hit from the right side of the fairway on hole number 14 at the Open. He ran the ball on the green from 276 in the opening. Cam Smith was 259 but in the first cut on the left and ended up in the bunker short and left.


I love how openings exist at the green and have varied slopes as the ball rolls onto the green.


Flynn uses angles so well in conjunction with his openings to allow the average golfer to enjoy golf.

[Thomas Dai]

Can be a pain at some courses though, those courses where the approaches are so watered and so manicured that a ball deliberately landed short so as to run onto the green won’t run out but instead grabs and stops short. Damn frustrating and an even bigger pain when the greens are particularly firm and the flag is near the front edge.
Atb

[MCirba]

Can be a pain at some courses though, those courses where the approaches are so watered and so manicured that a ball deliberately landed short so as to run onto the green won’t run out but instead grabs and stops short. Damn frustrating and an even bigger pain when the greens are particularly firm and the flag is near the front edge.
Atb

+1

[Kalen Braley]

Can be a pain at some courses though, those courses where the approaches are so watered and so manicured that a ball deliberately landed short so as to run onto the green won’t run out but instead grabs and stops short. Damn frustrating and an even bigger pain when the greens are particularly firm and the flag is near the front edge.
Atb

Yes,

But given the governing bodies are so resistant to doing anything about reigning in distance, I've always thought this particular setup feature is good for pro events if the goal is to resist things becoming a birdie-fest.  That is... to do this instead of having super tight fairways, punishing rough, tucked pins, etc.

[Thomas Dai]

Can be a pain at some courses though, those courses where the approaches are so watered and so manicured that a ball deliberately landed short so as to run onto the green won’t run out but instead grabs and stops short. Damn frustrating and an even bigger pain when the greens are particularly firm and the flag is near the front edge.
Atb

Yes,
But given the governing bodies are so resistant to doing anything about reigning in distance, I've always thought this particular setup feature is good for pro events if the goal is to resist things becoming a birdie-fest.  That is... to do this instead of having super tight fairways, punishing rough, tucked pins, etc.

Okay but on firm approach area turf balls can bounce off-line too and end up in worse locations for the next shot. And judging exactly where to land a ball on firm approach turf and anticipating how the ball will react when landing on firm turf is a skill as is getting up-n-down from awkward positions.
Atb

[Kalen Braley]

Can be a pain at some courses though, those courses where the approaches are so watered and so manicured that a ball deliberately landed short so as to run onto the green won’t run out but instead grabs and stops short. Damn frustrating and an even bigger pain when the greens are particularly firm and the flag is near the front edge.
Atb

Yes,
But given the governing bodies are so resistant to doing anything about reigning in distance, I've always thought this particular setup feature is good for pro events if the goal is to resist things becoming a birdie-fest.  That is... to do this instead of having super tight fairways, punishing rough, tucked pins, etc.

Okay but on firm approach area turf balls can bounce off-line too and end up in worse locations for the next shot. And judging exactly where to land a ball on firm approach turf and anticipating how the ball will react when landing on firm turf is a skill as is getting up-n-down from awkward positions.
Atb

Thomas,

While that is certainly a very valid point, I think there is a secondary issue this setup feature could achieve and that is to ask the best players in the world for at least some accuracy off the tee again.

Consider the decision making it would prompt:

Player A may decide to bomb away with impunity from the tee, (as most PGA Tour players currently do), and if the ball ends up in the fairway great.  But if it doesn't....now they're faced with a difficult recovery because they know they can't just run on one the front of the green.  And they also know flying it to the green is gonna be tough as they can't put proper spin from even modest rough.

So maybe they dial it back with more controlled swings, or maybe they hit 3 wood, or maybe they even decide to go full Bryson and just knock it near/on the green...but it does ask them to at least execute a strategy instead of a "Strokes Gained off the Tee" stat that says hit it as far as you can every. single. time.

Its basic MTSRA!  (Make Tee Shots Relevant Again!)

P.S.  Before everyone loses thier lunch and starts chucking tomatoes, to make clear, I'm only advocating this on top notch Tours...

[Thomas Dai]

One of the best events in a long time, much complimented herein, was the last Presidents Cup from Royal Melbourne and the best player the World has maybe ever seen showed how it, in firm and bouncy conditions, could be played if thought and guile were used. Others tried a different approach and, well, didn't do so well with many shots finishing well off-line with no chance to run one onto the front of the green. I doubt the events format made much difference.
atb

[Sean_A]

It's difficult to argue that fairway area around greens should intentionally be kept much softer than greens. Matching the two as closely as is reasonable is surely the better approach to maintenance.

Ciao

[mike_malone]

The 7th hole had the opening on the left and JT just ran it up for eagle.

[jeffwarne]

Can be a pain at some courses though, those courses where the approaches are so watered and so manicured that a ball deliberately landed short so as to run onto the green won’t run out but instead grabs and stops short. Damn frustrating and an even bigger pain when the greens are particularly firm and the flag is near the front edge.
Atb

Yes,
But given the governing bodies are so resistant to doing anything about reigning in distance, I've always thought this particular setup feature is good for pro events if the goal is to resist things becoming a birdie-fest.  That is... to do this instead of having super tight fairways, punishing rough, tucked pins, etc.

Okay but on firm approach area turf balls can bounce off-line too and end up in worse locations for the next shot. And judging exactly where to land a ball on firm approach turf and anticipating how the ball will react when landing on firm turf is a skill as is getting up-n-down from awkward positions.
Atb

Thomas,

While that is certainly a very valid point, I think there is a secondary issue this setup feature could achieve and that is to ask the best players in the world for at least some accuracy off the tee again.

Consider the decision making it would prompt:

Player A may decide to bomb away with impunity from the tee, (as most PGA Tour players currently do), and if the ball ends up in the fairway great.  But if it doesn't....now they're faced with a difficult recovery because they know they can't just run on one the front of the green.  And they also know flying it to the green is gonna be tough as they can't put proper spin from even modest rough.

So maybe they dial it back with more controlled swings, or maybe they hit 3 wood, or maybe they even decide to go full Bryson and just knock it near/on the green...but it does ask them to at least execute a strategy instead of a "Strokes Gained off the Tee" stat that says hit it as far as you can every. single. time.

Its basic MTSRA!  (Make Tee Shots Relevant Again!)

P.S.  Before everyone loses thier lunch and starts chucking tomatoes, to make clear, I'm only advocating this on top notch Tours...

While I see your point.


No pro golfer EVER shied away from driver for fear...
...of a soft approach.

[A.G._Crockett]

Two things have to be true for openings at the green to "work":

1. The mowing pattern of the opening has to match the angle of the approach. 


2. The greens have to be hand-watered rather than just overhead so that the opening is as firm as the rest of the fairway.  If the opening is as soft as the green, the ball reacts more or less the same way; it stops.

[Kalen Braley]

Can be a pain at some courses though, those courses where the approaches are so watered and so manicured that a ball deliberately landed short so as to run onto the green won’t run out but instead grabs and stops short. Damn frustrating and an even bigger pain when the greens are particularly firm and the flag is near the front edge.
Atb

Yes,
But given the governing bodies are so resistant to doing anything about reigning in distance, I've always thought this particular setup feature is good for pro events if the goal is to resist things becoming a birdie-fest.  That is... to do this instead of having super tight fairways, punishing rough, tucked pins, etc.

Okay but on firm approach area turf balls can bounce off-line too and end up in worse locations for the next shot. And judging exactly where to land a ball on firm approach turf and anticipating how the ball will react when landing on firm turf is a skill as is getting up-n-down from awkward positions.
Atb

Thomas,

While that is certainly a very valid point, I think there is a secondary issue this setup feature could achieve and that is to ask the best players in the world for at least some accuracy off the tee again.

Consider the decision making it would prompt:

Player A may decide to bomb away with impunity from the tee, (as most PGA Tour players currently do), and if the ball ends up in the fairway great.  But if it doesn't....now they're faced with a difficult recovery because they know they can't just run on one the front of the green.  And they also know flying it to the green is gonna be tough as they can't put proper spin from even modest rough.

So maybe they dial it back with more controlled swings, or maybe they hit 3 wood, or maybe they even decide to go full Bryson and just knock it near/on the green...but it does ask them to at least execute a strategy instead of a "Strokes Gained off the Tee" stat that says hit it as far as you can every. single. time.

Its basic MTSRA!  (Make Tee Shots Relevant Again!)

P.S.  Before everyone loses thier lunch and starts chucking tomatoes, to make clear, I'm only advocating this on top notch Tours...

While I see your point.

No pro golfer EVER shied away from driver for fear...
...of a soft approach.

True Jeff, but I think a lot of that is based in Pros not regularly being presented with scenarios to think twice about.

Case in point, BDC at the first day of The Open.  On average he only hits half of his fairways per round, or 7/14.  Yes, yesterday he was 3 worse at 4/14, but he was beyond exasperated after just one round having to deal with nasty recoveries from very long and very punishing rough that he normally doesn't deal with stateside.

Now imagine typical PGA Tour rough (3-4 inches), but with soft approaches and firm greens.   I suspect he would be just as frustrated at not being able to convert those short wedge shots into birdies after just a handful of rounds, and perhaps re-think his strategy...if he was consistently presented with such.