Maintenance meld perfection...

[Ben Sims]

...is when every movement of the ground causes the ball to react and roll in accordance with slope and gravity of the hole.  No tricks, no ambiguity, no poorly mantained grass heights to artificially alter what mother nature--and an astute architect--have wrought.  I have never seen this more true than today on the southern edge of the Peconic Bay.  Short grass--even at places like Bandon and Ballyneal--has never been so scary.  Bill Salinetti is a magician.

Discuss.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Ben,

What holes didn't you play aerially ?

[jeffwarne]

Rumor has it you played the ground game the first 14 holes in your morning round...........
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,off the tee............

[Ben Sims]

Ben,

What holes didn't you play aerially ?

Pat,

If you mean from an approach perspective, 2, 3 (didn't see it but caddy said it bounced over the front bunker), 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 18.  I landed the ball well short on all these.  I putted from off the green 6-9 times.

As far as tee shots, many tee shots were extremely tentative due to knowing how much the ball would roll and skip along the ground.    

Approaching the green aerially was a sucker play on numerous holes.  #15 Narrow may be one of the most fearsome holes rarely mentioned.  I am truly inspired by the course.

[Will Lozier]

Nice Ben!  How did you play...how did the conditions suit you/confound you?  Would love to hear of specific shots that you found particularly fun/difficult?

And, if you ever find yourself back in ATL, let me know.  Would love to play sometime.

Cheers

[Patrick_Mucci]

Ben, 

# 15, when the hole is cut on the top plateau, is one of the most frightening shots you could face.

If you putted from off the green 6-9 times it seems you played too conservatively or too much ground game.

I'll be there next week.

Why would you attempt to play short of # 10 green ?
There's a deep bunker short of # 10 green

[Michael Hayes]

Bill is not a magician. He is a steward of some great ground.  Nothing more nothing less.  Grass grows in the cracks in the concrete.  As all great greenkeeper's are, Bill is a master at logistics...greenkeeping is about timing and creating your own luck.

Michael Hayes

[Patrick_Mucci]

Bill is not a magician. He is a steward of some great ground.  Nothing more nothing less.  Grass grows in the cracks in the concrete.  As all great greenkeeper's are, Bill is a master at logistics...greenkeeping is about timing and creating your own luck.

Mother Nature's co-operation doesn't hurt either