Weir On Changes
Thanks to reader Tuco for the heads up on Mike Weir's website musings:
The changes are going to make things tough. On the first hole, the new tee is a ways back from where it used to be. Monday morning, into the wind, I hit a pretty big drive and had a rescue club in. I expect without a wind in my face, it will be driver, 3-iron where before it was driver, seven-iron. No one has really mentioned any changes to the second hole, but when I saw it Monday, it seems that the tee is back about 10 yards or so, making it tough to get home in two.
The changes on 11 are big. When I played here a few weeks ago, I hit a solid drive and still had 200 yards to the front. You have to just flat bust it down the left side here and it’s a tight drive now, with trees added to the right. It’s really a dogleg now. But even with a good drive, I think a lot of guys are going to lay up right and take their chances with a Larry Mize-like chip.
The 17th they’ve moved back 15 yards so that makes it significantly different for getting the ball up on the top tier instead of landing it into the hill in the fairway.
Tuesday, April 4, 2006 at 12:09 PM
Reader Comments (2)
Weir's comment about 11 sounds eerily like Ben Hogan's comment to the effect that "the only time you'll see me on the green on 11 in two is if i've missed the shot"
as to #2, isn't it supposed to be tough to get to in 2? Wasn't the debate on holes like this whether to pull the 3-wood?
Scott, the older golf balls spun more. A 3 iron of 1998 flew anywhere from 195 to 220 depending on who you were, and this golf ball was spinning significantly.
With todays golf balls spinning less, thats why your seeing the bombs, a 3 iron is going 220 to 270 because of the significant reduction in spin.
So wouldn't this put things into perspective for you Scott? A player would rather have a 3 iron shot of 1998 than a 3 iron shot of 2006.
To return the shot value, would be to return to a ball that spins more. Hootie and the boys have fliped their lids on trying to put the same clubs in players hands when its not the same golf ball. LoL's.
You see players bemoaning the changes and people like you want to compare apples to oranges. A 3 iron today is not going to "BITE" like a 3 iron of 1998. LoL's Jack knows this, Arnie, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Mike Weir, Chris DiMarco, Stuart Cink, and any other professional golfer that has ever been inside the ropes.
The real problem is people like you Scott, who wield a pen, and yet somehow end up writing about the things that are meaningless with regard to golf. The second problem, is professional golfers having novices such as yourself making all the rules for the sport at the highest level.