Tom Watson is a great wind player but he's still a senior and well past his prime. I have to believe that the British Open field would've produced a winner with a lower score.
Especially if they were to play it from 6800 yards. The seniors have benefitted from technology too, but I'd say the average regular tour player hits it 20 yards further than the average senior tour player. That's a pretty healthy advantage.
Edit: Actually, the advantage is probably steeper than that. I just checked PGATour.com and Gil Morgan leads the senior tour in driving distance at 285.6. Only 10 guys on the senior tour average 280+ off the tee.
The regular tour has 153 out of 184 guys averaging 280+ off the tee. I'd say the average difference is probably more like 30 yards off the tee. Average senior tour player hits it 270ish and average regular tour player hits it 290ish.
Removing trees has become the norm at high-profile golf courses lately, for the exact reason you mention. Augusta National is perhaps the only prominent major course that has made a habit of adding trees lately...Medinah and Oakmont, site of next year's US Open, are great examples of those who've taken trees out.
I am sure Augusta removes its share of trees. Good turf grass management programs closely monitor the impact of trees on soil quality and turf. I am guessing that Augusta removes a number of trees every year (though the t.v. viewers wouldn't notice it unless they removed a lot of trees.
Both old and young trees can have a tremendous impact on turf root systems and should be removed from time to time. One of things that is truly amazing about Augusta and most high end courses is the ability to keep trees from having a major impact on the turf. How many times have you seen big bare spots in the rough when watching a TOUR event? Generally those are the result of poor soil quality as the tree consumes a large percentage of the soils nutrients.
Lenght is not the answer. Make the greens like augusta and narrow fairways..... there is no need for longer fairways......the second shot and putting is everyting.
The thing that is lost in all this is that these courses only host the pros for one week. The remainder of the time the members have to play the course. Completely changing the course to suit 150 players for one week isn't the answer.
Give a major championship field 2 days to practice at Royal County Down and turn them loose. At 6800 yards you'd have to reduce the size of the hole by half to keep that caliber of player from shooting mid 60's. I'm not knocking the course. These guys are just that good.
That is the thing, they wouldn't necessarily. I picked Royal County Down because it is a favourite course for Tiger on his open championship warmup. My info is that he doesnt happily shoot in the mid 60's all the time. And the wind is a factor, it is there more often than not. If you were to put a 230 yard par 3 into the mix, there would be days that even the pros could have trouble getting there with driver.
In some respects I am giving you an GB and I example of how we can protect a course. It it is hard to argue against. To suggest that US courses can only protect themselves by being made longer tends to imply that this is the only defence available. I tend to give US courses more credit than that, I think with a bit of thought, designers could defend the courses just as well without always having to resort to length.
That's unfortunate, League. Royal County Down is one of the sternest tests in all of golf. It is an absolutely wonderful place. Check this out:http://www.golfclubatlas.com/rcd1.html
Quote:
Originally Posted by buns
To suggest that US courses can only protect themselves by being made longer tends to imply that this is the only defence available.
And buns, I do not believe that anyone has suggested that adding length is the "only" way for U.S. courses to be fortified. The recent trend toward adding length to certain holes has merely been an attempt to restore old and lost shot values without completely changing the nature of the original design.
It's all about great architecture, folks. A course either has it...or it doesn't. The 315-yard par 4 10th at famed and fabled Riviera is an excellent example. No matter what changes technology brings, the 10th at Riviera will never be altered. There is no need to.
Now if a course was designed to allow a player to use driver off the tee; and then it requires a long-iron approach from the fairway, we must allow for modern-day distances and add length. It is a simple proposition and a simple and effective way to restore shot characteristics and original difficulty factors.
It's all about great architecture, folks. A course either has it...or it doesn't. The 315-yard par 4 10th at famed and fabled Riviera is an excellent example. No matter what changes technology brings, the 10th at Riviera will never be altered. There is no need to.
I would not say never. It may be lengthened a few yards in about 15-20 years.
Last edited by ForgedRbest : April 15th, 2006 at 09:47 AM.
Reason: fixing a quote
Augusta's greens are some of the most undulated putting sufaces the tour pros play. Are you suggesting that other tour courses replace their flatter greens? Adding length to major tournament courses must be the answer because they've all done it. If there was a another way to keep the pros from playing Driver/Wedge on every hole without completely changing the playability of the course I think at least one of the major venues would've come up with it by now.
The thing that is lost in all this is that these courses only host the pros for one week. The remainder of the time the members have to play the course. Completely changing the course to suit 150 players for one week isn't the answer.
Adding length is by far the cheapest option - to build new tees (provided there is space) costs very little compared to rebuilding greens and there is virtually no disruption for the members - no temporary greens etc., .
In SA where we have bent grass greens they generally have fairly short lives (8 to 12 years) before they have to be reseeded and most clubs take advantage to add undulations, slopes and so on at that time.
The whole process takes months during which rounds played reduce and revenue is lost - a double whammy. However in almost every case the result is increased difficulty which in turn leads to rounds taking between 15 - 30 minutes longer as the average player battles his way round.
In areas where bent grass doesn't grow the greens have remained the same for years and the easy, cheaper option of adding yards has been taken.
April 13th, 2006, 02:03 PM
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