"This is a phenomenal golf course. I think this is good enough for a major."

Liberty National has fans!

Granted, one of the guys wears pink pants with pride and the other looks to Howard Hughes for life inspiration, but at least two guys won't get fined this week.

Steve Elling reports. Padraig first:

Harrington was asked whether a monkey wrench had been thrown in the FedEx Cup series' week because a course picked mainly because of its panoramic views and proximity to Manhattan had been pelted by bad weather that grounded the aerial blimp. Yet Harrington unexpectedly sprang to the defense of the three-year-old track.

"This is a phenomenal golf course," Harrington said, unprompted. "I think this is good enough for a major. This is a major golf course we are playing here, this is a superb test, really puts us right on the limit.

"This is exactly what we should be playing. This is an excellent golf course. It may look good, but the actual layout of the golf course, it's a real test out there. And you know, at all stages, you've got to pay attention. Absolutely."

And...

Maybe his membership certificate -- initiation dues here are $500,000 -- is in the mail or something. Then Ian Poulter, another Ryder Cup player who is known for expressing the unvarnished truth, didn't exactly pooh-pooh the notion.

"Yeah, a few of the greens might be a tiny bit severe," Poulter said. "But with a couple of little tweaks, which I'm sure they will do in time, it's a hell of a golf course."

Comments

[Al]

Fill in the holes and make it a wildlife sanctuary.

[Hawkeye]

Kemper Lakes also hosted a major.

[Vince Spence]

It's funny. On Paddy's & Ian's side of the Atlantic, they don't complain too much about golf courses and grooves. They show up, shoe up and play the game. Unique concept.

[thusgone]

it's been my experience that the more money a guy has, the more he knows about everything.

[Nathan]

Well said Vince.

[Preview]

On the other hand, it is just a little scary that notable pro golfers exhibit little understanding of key architectural concepts. Maybe Doak's "Anatomy of a Golf Course" or Hanse's "Grounds for Golf" should be required reading. Not to mention some of the classics.

Preview

[David Mihm]

Correct me if I am wrong but I think Geoff was the main author on 'Grounds' and Hanse provided the drawings?

Geoff, are you planning to write a full review of the course somewhere?

[Morg]

More random thoughts:

The first hole is baffling, sort of a live display out of a horticulture convention, with ducks.

The second and third holes are obviously links-inspired with hay-covered dunes-y mounds and wild fairway undulations.

Then there is an abrupt transition to late 20c Midwest cum Florida at 5, full blown on the 10-12, with a mix of all of it on the finishing holes.

I do like the par 3s as stand-alone holes.

[Chuck]

"'It's just like the K Club!', Harrington explained, giving credence to the idea that the European team would actually select Liberty National as one of its home venues in a future Ryder Cup. 'Our wives like the part about shopping on Fifth Avenue; they said it beats hell out of Wales..."

[Robert]

http://www.plainfieldcc.com/
2 0 1 0 ?

[Papa Bing]

Robert - Plainfield 2011. Ridgewood 2010.

[Patchy]

Those of us who have played at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale were enthused to see a familiar sight - netting stretched between pylons - square in the middle of a camera shot on that par 3.