Torrey Pines 14th Driveable?

A Golfweek staff report says that the USGA will make Torrey Pines' 14th hole a driveable par-4 during the final round.

Golfweek learned that the fairway toward the green of the par-4 14th hole (which normally plays 435 yards) recently was narrowed. The reason? It’s going to be played as a 277-yard par 4 on Open Sunday, with play proceeding from the forward tee and the hole cut front left on the green. The narrowed fairway approach makes sense for players opting to go for the putting surface. In all likelihood, they won’t even need a driver, and if they do hit it long, they’ll have to deal with a shaved-down rear bank that feeds into the irrecoverable canyon.

Comments

[Hawkeye]

That's as much sense as moving up the tee on Oakmont's 14th last year - who in his right frame of mind will go for a green with a totally unaccesible pin and litte margin for error otherwise? It'll play as a yawner 6 iron-sand wedge-two putts from 25 feet hole, and will only serve as a breather for whoever has a two-stroke lead coming in. It it were the 17th, then maybe. But this will just be boooring.

[Ronald Montesano]

You mean they're losing the canyon? They've lost the canyon? It cannot be recovered?

[Traveler]

Hawkeye--I know nothing about the 14 at Torrey Pines other than the yardage figure of 277, so maybe I'm wrong. But with many players capable of hitting a 3 wood 275+,and hybrids and long irons 250 and up, it would seem to me that there would be a reasonable chance to hold the green. In contrast to Oakmont, which I thought was over 300, where for most everyone the only possible way to reach was with a driver.

Am I making any sense?

[Brad Monet]

The 14th at Oakmont was 358 yds. Could you mean the 17th (313 yds)?

[jneu]

Geoff, your thoughts on the feasibility of setting up a hole to play 430+ three days and 280 on the fourth? Will the narrowing of the fairway force players to gear down on the days when it's playing long? Or will the narrowed area be out of play from the deeper tee?

[Hawkeye]

I don't. The tee was moved up som 40 yards on 14 and was well within reach, but since the pin was cut short and there was a narrow entrance to the green, both Cabrera and Woods both hit 6 irons off the tee and eventually two-putted from 35 feet for par. Breather.

Traveler, Torrey's 14th has a raised green that is placed near the edge of a Canyon. There is no way that a 3-wood shot will hit and hold that green under US Open conditions, the ball will zoom into the canyon faster than Road Runner. Maybe a Mickelson will try to put the ball in the right greenside bunker and go for an up and down birdie, but anyone potentially opting for an eagle putt is so dumb that he will have shot himself out of the tournament long before.

[Smolmania]

Hawk, what if you're 4 down with five holes to play? Do you give it a go? I say it's worth the effort to try. . . not something that Tom Meeks ever would have done, so therefore it's probably a good thing.

[Hawkeye]

If you're four down with five to play and go for it there, you will likely be five down with four to play.
Honestly, I love that Mike Davis is thinking outside the box, but creating a Par 4 that's 20 yards shorter than a Par 3 last year but can't be hit 'n' held is a little too...how should I put it? "Sought?"
Anyway, the final group will play it around 2am over here, so I won't be up to watch it anyway. Sour grapes, you know...

[Geoff]

jneu,
The narrowing will only impact the 280 tee.

I have written a piece for Golf World's preview on this and some of Davis's other ideas. Naturally, I'm totally fascinated and I will be blogging from the site all week for GolfDigest.com, with an emphasis on the setup and course. So I'm thrilled that he is trying to inject life into an otherwise uninspired design, and I think it's going to go over wonderfully.

There are so many elements to this decision and others he has made and I'll be writing more come tournament week.

[iacas]

Hawkeye, I think you'll be shown to be wrong. Golfers will hold the green, or get it somewhere that they can chip to tap-in range. Among other things, I think you're under-estimating the skill level of the pros.

[Hawkeye]

iacas, I will never ever under-estimate the skill level of the pros. In early August 1992 I walked alongside Nick Faldo every step of the way during a round that he would later describe in a Golf Digest interview as "the ultimate in control" (I was a 16-year-old TV spotter at the Scandinavian Masters with fairway access). That was as close as I will ever come to a religous experience. I know the skill these players possess.

You may, however, underestimate the firmness of a USGA green baked under a So Cal sun in June. Sure, players will go for it. It will be fun to watch. It's just that my idea of a driveable Par 4 looks like the Belfry's 10th, where Seve and Ollie carve 3-woods that leave pitch-marks on an eight-yard wide green and drain 12-foot eagle puuts and beat the butts of Americanos. Sorry, I've rewound 20 years again. But I just don't see that kind of drama unfolding at Torrey's 14th, especially if they choose a front-left pin. Chip 'n' putt birdies don't make me tick, and neither do 6-iron lay-ups off the tee.