Trial Balloon

Watching players struggle with 6-8 inch rough at TPC Sawgrass that Tiger Woods took issue with because it compromised Pete Dye's design concept, I couldn't help but wonder what will happen when a player is injured by such a setup tactic.

Imagine an injured wrist, elbow or shoulder caused by rough that was harvested to take driver out of the players hands. And why? Because players might make a few too many birdies and hit 350-yard drives, causing people to notice that the game is out of balance.

Readers of The Future of Golf know that I wrote about the possibility of a player someday suing a governing body over a Meeks-like setup boondoggle, but I think injury is going to come first.

If a player is injured trying to hit out of ankle high, over-fertilized rough watered differently than fairways, will this be shrugged off as a "rub of the green," "that's the risk they take" situation? 

With the USGA's David Fay suggesting at last year's SI Roundtable that he would like to see 8 inch rough heights for shorter holes like Winged Foot's 6th, it seems that the anti-birdie, anti-distance rough is going to be coming to major championship golf. Inevitably someone will get hurt.

How absurd is that?

Tiger On Sawgrass Setup

More from Tiger Woods after Sunday's final The Players Championship, before it becomes THE PLAYERS:

TIGER WOODS: Since I've played here, I've never liked the way they've set it up with the rough high because the golf course wasn't meant to be played that way. I've talked to Pete Dye, and it wasn't meant to be played that way. It's supposed to be hard and fast and all the palmetto bushes are supposed to be coming into play. When we played the Amateur here in '94 that's the way it was, but they've cleaned it up and changed the golf course and changed, I think, how Pete wanted it initially to be played.

Hopefully when we come back here in May, it will be playing like that. Hard and fast is great, but six, eight inch rough, I don't think that's the right combo.

A Blueprint For...?

Steve Elling talks to Arnold Palmer about possible changes to Bay Hill in response to modern day driving distances, something that first came up in his Sunday NBC interview.

Also on Palmer's might-do list is an overhaul of the sixth hole, a par-5 that curls like a semicircle around a large lake. After watching a couple of players blow 300-yard drives across the pond and hit short-iron approaches into the 558-yard hole, he wants to move the green back a few yards. "I think he'll mess that hole up if he does," Retief Goosen said. "I don't think he should mess with 6 -- it's a great hole as it is. It's all about excitement and going for that green [in two] and you'd see more guys laying up."

And this...

His two-year experiment with longer rough seems to have been a mixed bag. By forcing long hitters to play from the fairway, he placed a bigger value on shotmaking. But he also widened the number of potential winners.

Sunday, Palmer wasn't necessarily buying the argument that he had opened the door for pack of middle-tier players at the expense of the big boys like Woods, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els -- all long hitters with lengthy pedigrees at the course. Nor did he necessarily agree that he had retreated to a setup that could produce more winners such as Paul Goydos and Andrew Magee, journeymen who each claimed their lone and biggest tour titles, respectively, at Bay Hill.

If Palmer reins in the bashers, on balance, he likely will have to accept a few middle-tier players as winners.

"You are saying that, I'm not saying that," Palmer said when the notion was posed. "I can't answer that. I don't know. I honestly thought that Tiger would do well [he finished 20th], that this would be a good week for him."

Life In The Fast Lane Not What It Seems

Now posted is my February Golfdom column on green speeds, their impact on scoring and comments about putting made in a recent Nick Seitz story.

Hard Equals ?

Ernie Els at Bay Hill, talking about The Masters:

 "If we have tough weather conditions, it's going to be a very tough week," the world number five said. "It's becoming one of the toughest of the majors now.

"Where it used to be the most fun of all the majors, it's becoming the hardest one now."

I know a lot of people take pleasure in seeing the pros struggle because it makes them feel better about their own feeble golf games.  And I have no problem with that once a year at the U.S. Open.

But I keep wondering if it ever occurs to the folks running the game that when a course is set up just tough enough and still vulnerable to attacks by the best players, it translates to fun for the players, and most likely fun for the fans.  

The point here is rather simple and not a new one, but as you can see, I feel it's worth repeating:  the folks at way too many golf courses make setup about them, and not about the players. It's about producing a certain score, and producing a post-event reaction that has 20 handicappers patting each other on the back for putting those spoiled Tour boys in their place.

Nothing new here, just kind of sad when you realize how intensely selfish it is. 

Tiger On Augusta: Interesting, Very Interesting

Translation: yuck, very yucky.

Amazingly (or is frighteningly), I read all of Tiger's press conferences and continue to marvel at his ability to answer the same questions over and over again. He's also become quite good at acting like he's enjoying some lame question about a player he's played with twice. And he can be so positive when talking about a course he probably thinks is mediocre at best.

So I think it's safe to say--lacking much in the way of complimentary talk--that this is a not-so-flattering assessment of Augusta:

Tiger at Bay Hill:

Q. Speaking of The Masters, now that you've had a chance to play the course firsthand, what do you think of the changes?

TIGER WOODS: Interesting, very interesting.

 Hey, at least he didn't say it was the best of its kind! Sorry, continue...

I didn't hit enough club to No. 4. I needed wood to get to 4. 7 is certainly changed. It's a totally different hole now. 1 is 300 yards just to get to the bunker now. If we get any kind of cool north wind like we have today, you won't be able to see the flag. You won't be able to see the green. Some of the changes are pretty dramatic and certainly going to be very interesting if the wind ever blows.

Q. Do you think they accomplished (inaudible)?

TIGER WOODS: I've talked to some of the older guys who played there back in the '50s, '60s and '70s and they never had to hit wood into 4 before, but you'll see a lot of guys hitting wood in 4 this year.

Q. What do you think will happen if there's rain?

TIGER WOODS: It will be brutal because now you're hitting some really long clubs into the holes. Again, we haven't seen the greens hard and fast either. With the rain, with or without rain last year, we were thinking in the practice rounds that over par is going to win the tournament. If you can keep it around even par, you're going to win it easily.

So, you know this, year, if it stays dry, probably the same thing.

Q. Did anyone ask you about Jack's comments, and do you agree that there's only ten or a dozen or so guys that are capable of winning because of the changes, because of the length?

TIGER WOODS: It eliminates a lot of guys, yeah. If you hit it low and rely on your game that way to get the ball out there and hit your irons not so high, if you have a flatter ball flight, you're going to be struggling there.

Q. If even par were to win there, is it a shame in a sense that you guys already have a U.S. Open?

TIGER WOODS: It's just different. I think it they should get rid of that second cut and get rid of and bring the pine needles and the pine trees back into play. But they see it differently than a lot of us do as players.

I remember pulling that ball off the first tee and it's going straight through the pine trees. Now you have a chance of it stopping in that second cut. They think it's harder to play out of that than it is out of the trees.

Q. Ernie was saying how The Masters used to be most fun major and now it's become the toughest, do you think it has gotten up to that?

TIGER WOODS: Without a doubt, it's gotten so much more difficult now. With the added length, with those greens being the way they are, it just makes it so hard out there. You're hitting clubs that, granted, they are trying to get you to hit clubs like the older guys used to hit, and yeah, but the greens were not running at 13 on the Stimpmeter either. So it just makes that much more difficult now.

With the speed of these greens now, each and every year, it all depends if they are firm. I mean, if they are firm, that golf course is probably the most difficult golf course you'll ever play.

Q. Could you have imagine them dialing some of those changes back a little bit, get rid of the rough or move the tees forward a little bit?

TIGER WOODS: They may move tees around. I think that's what they did with some of the tee boxes. Like on 4 and 7, they are really long tee boxes, so they have the ability to move it around and play with the tee markers a little bit. Because if you get soft, yeah, you can go ahead and move the tees up a little bit and give the guys a chance. So I think that's one of the smart things they have done. 

More Setup Flexibility...

In his latest Golfonline column reviewing the West Coast Swing, Peter Kostis makes this comment:

Speaking of course setups, the PGA Tour needs to give more leeway to the field staff at each tournament to respond to competitive realities and alter the way a course plays. Right now the 54-hole lead is critical! At Pebble Beach, Luke Donald was six shots behind co-leaders Aaron Oberholser and Mike Weir after 54 holes. But the way Pebble was set up that Sunday, with super-difficult pin positions and tees pushed back, there was no way someone was going to shoot a 64 or 65 to make a late charge. That wouldn’t be the case if the PGA Tour field staff had more flexibility. That’s why I love the setup on Sunday at the Masters. If you are playing well, the course can be had and even a six-shot lead isn’t safe.

So what does this mean about the PGA Tour field staff needing more flexibility?

Just typing out loud here, but it sure sounds like Kostis has talked to some of the field staff and that the directive for the Sunday anti-birdie setups is coming from above (that narrows it down to about 400 overpaid VP's!).

Why would those running an entertainment vehicle like the PGA Tour think that a full security lockdown of the hole would make final rounds more fun to watch?

Do they just not get it?

Or is there something else at play here with scoring averages and the technology debate?

Hawkins Blog

John Hawkins' new Golf Digest blog is evolving nicely. After several fine but pre-packaged feeling posts from La Costa, his latest dispatch from Doral is the best yet. It's just the kind of on-site, insider look that could make blogging from events a huge hit for the online golf sites.

In it, he looks at the mysterious drenching of Doral before the first round.

Birdies...They're A Good Thing

I don't know about you, but I sensed that special buzz when watching Doral today. The buzz so often lacking these days on the PGA Tour with anti-birdie setups.

Yes, the golf was compelling in spite of the wild driving and widespread low scoring that has the leaderboard still bunched.  Yet the reaction to the low scoring was all too typical.

''I normally like golf courses where 10, 12 under wins tournaments,'' Rich Beem said, "because I think making par, being rewarded with par should not be a bad thing. It's a good thing. Obviously, when the wind is not up and the greens are soft around here, the golf course plays pretty easy, as you can see.''

Thankfully Armando Salguero in the Miami Herald put Beem's comments into perspective.

And that begs this question: So what?

What's wrong with a course that doesn't become the story, but instead allows the golfers to provide the drama? What is wrong with watching the world's great players post scores and make shots that reflect their status?

Phil Mickelson, among those holding Tiger by the tail in a first-place tie, was the one voice of dissent -- and reason -- when asked about the plunging scores.

''I love the way they have set this course up,'' Mickelson said. ``So what if we see birdies. I think that's great. I think it makes for some spectacular and exciting golf.''

Indeed, the Blue Monster would have more teeth if the greens had not been watered so often this week, or if the wind, which notoriously kicks up in early March, were not absent.

But even if the wind doesn't blow, this tournament is a breath of fresh air when compared to the merciless 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock, where golfers and their scores were left strewn on the course like so many divots.

''That's no fun to watch, either,'' Mickelson said.

Sahallee Blues

Blayne Newnham, writing about Sahallee deserving another major in the Seattle Times:

There is concern the PGA Championships have outgrown Sahalee and Seattle, that the 27 holes isn't big enough to do the corporate tent thing, that there isn't room for enough spectators, that Seattle has shown less than robust corporate support.

Concern, too, that the course isn't big enough to handle 350-yard drives.

After the PGA in 1998, Kerry Haigh, the director of tournaments, was asked about the tightness of Sahalee's fairways limiting the use of the driver among players.

"It was their choice and it made for long iron shots to the greens," he said. "Some players hit more drivers than others, and none of them, as far as I know, complained."

The PGA of America wanted to expand its horizons, it wanted to bring the tournament to the Northwest.

It found a different and spectacular course, one that could quiet technology with nature.

Or, someone could quiet technology by actually regulating it? Nah, that makes too much sense!

Tall Rough Holes at Winged Foot

In analyzing Steve Elling's story on the plans for longer anti-birdie rough at Winged Foot, I promised photos.

No. 6 at Winged Foot (click image to enlarge)I'm not sure what exactly to say when looking at these shots of the wonderful par-4 6th and the equally neat par-4 11th. Both have already been stripped of their original strategic charm due to the super-narrow setup leftover from the U.S. Amateur. And this is before the extra tall rough is harvested this spring.

But here's what I'd ask you to consider when looking at these wonderful Tillinghast holes, two of which will not see the new "tiered" rough, but instead, tall stuff designed to reduce red scoring.

Looking at the photos, think of yourself being able to carry the ball 310-340 off the tee in warm weather. Would you try to lay up within these narrow fairways or simply try to drive it as close as possible to the green? 

Drives of that distance will bring you within flip wedge range of the green, if not on the green or in surrounding bunkers.
No. 11 at Winged Foot (click on image to enlarge)

In the photo of No. 6, note all of the rough leading up to the leftside fairway bunker. I'm not positive, but I suspect this was meant as a handy little lay-up area to access hole locations tucked behind the front right bunker. I know, that strategy stuff...back when people were allowed to use their brains in the game.

And the narrow fairway on No. 11 is ironic since some width would expose the wonderful rolls and tilt that would take misfires away from the centerline, and toward areas where approach shots would be blocked out by trees. (Hint USGA, that means likely leading to bogies!)

"They've Cashed Our Check"

Len Ziehm reports the news I know you've all been anxious to hear, Cog Hill has retained the Open Doctor. This may just be the cure for my acid reflux.

Cog Hill owner Frank Jemsek had been in negotiations with Jones and his staff for nearly a year in Jemsek's efforts to make the Western Open site a suitable U.S. Open venue. Jones associate Greg Muirhead visited Cog Hill last July before Jones toured the course with Jemsek on Oct. 11. Jemsek revealed during last weekend's Chicago Golf Show that negotiations were successful.

"They've cashed our check,'' said Jemsek, who said work will begin on a limited basis after this year's Western, which ends July 9.

Jones was traveling and unavailable for comment Tuesday, but he noted after his original tour of the course that bunkers will get primary attention during the renovation. Many will be moved and some deepened.

The heart of the renovation will be on Dubsdread's last four holes. No. 15, which plays as a short par-5 now, will become a long par-4 with new tees shortening the hole.

You know, I think we should just eliminate par-5s until we get all birdies out of the game! Oh, sorry...

Nos. 16 and 18, both par-4s, will be lengthened with green-side hazards accentuated. And the par-4 17th, deemed much too easy by Jones, will be completely rebuilt with the green reduced and bunkers added.

Longer Rough For Shorter Holes

Steve Elling writes about the USGA's new "rough" policy that will debut at Winged Foot this June.

Under the new plan, the length of the grass will increase in inverse proportion to the misfire. Sort of like serving detention, the punishment for bursts of wildness will indeed fit the crime.

Moreover, the rough heights will be adjusted depending upon the length of the hole, which means missing a fairway by a few yards on a 495-yard par-4 won't be as bad as hitting it sideways on a shorter two-shot hole.

And an early candidate for line of the year followed by the details:

Heck, the USGA will be cultivating more gradients of grass than all the hippies in Humboldt County, using everything from tweezers to a scythe to trim the various stages of rough:

1. The fairway cut will be trimmed to the usual firm-and-fast length of a quarter-inch or thereabouts. It will look like indoor-outdoor carpet by comparison to what's framing it.

2. The light, 6-foot-wide swath of transitional rough between the fairway and the heavy stuff will measure about 1 1/3 inches in height, the usual standard.

3. Here's the real change. The grass for the next 10-12 feet will be cut to a height of 3-4 inches. Players hitting a ball into this area have a fair shot at reaching the green.

4. This is the heavy stuff, the type of rough where a guy can't see his socks, much less his shoes. It will measure six inches in depth and cover the remainder of the area to the gallery rope.

Fairness is at the grassroots of the decision. Those who barely miss the fairway won't be penalized as harshly as those who miss by a mile. Meanwhile, it lessens the chances that players who hit the wildest shots will land in sparse areas, as was formerly the case at times.

Big improvement, right? This should end the madness of players missing a fairway by 4 yards and having no shot.

But, as Elling writes, there are "a couple of important caveats."

There will be no intermediate rough, only the long 6-inch type, on short holes such as the par-5 fifth (515 yards) and the par-4 sixth (321 yards) and 11th (396 yards). So it could be argued that the biggest hitters will nonetheless enjoy an advantage, since they'll face the graded rough on the longest holes. They can belt away with a driver as long as the misses are moderate.

Ah, yes. Flogging may actually be rewarded with the tiered concept. But that's not Mike Davis's fault, that's the fault of past committees who ignored the equipment issue.

So we will see the tiered concept on most the holes, except on the ones where birdie is more likely to be made.

If the USGA owned Fenway Park, would they automate the Green Monster to move up when the bombers come to the plate? 

It would be like Notre Dame Stadium harvesting rough to slow down Reggie Bush? (Wait, that happened, bad example.)

Mike Davis's concept of tiered rough is introducing more equity into a setup situation that has long been awkward, if not downright goofy. But then, it's as if somene higher-up is suggesting a way to eliminate red numbers on holes where they are most likely to occur, therefore completely contradicting the concept of more equity introduced with the tiered rough.

Here's the funny part and where the USGA shows that it has not fully grasped why flogging occurs. If the rough is the same throughout on these three shortish holes--a nasty 6 inches let's say--and the fairway is a silly 21-yards wide (sad, but true), then why not take your chances and drive as far down the hole as possible?

If you are going to wedge out, you might as well do it as close to the green as you can?  How many players have said this...Tiger, Phil, J.B., etc...

I'll post some photos later and you can be the judge whether a lay-up or launched tee shot would be the wiser option. I know you can't wait. 

Rough Justice?

Adam Barr at TheGolfChannel.com questions the use of rough in golf. He kindly mentions Lines of Charm as the inspiration for his column.

Final Round Hole Locations

Another week, another bordering-on-silly final round setup. Reviewing the tape after hearing Gary McCord's raised-eyebrow comment about some of the hole locations, I went looking for any player comments on the setup.

Rory Sabbatini: 

"Obviously, the greens were a lot firmer today, they had some pretty amazing pin positions out there," Sabbatini added. "A couple of them I'm still bewildered at, but, you know, they made the course definitely tougher for us today." 

Now, not to take away from Arron Oberholser's win, because it was well deserved and he is a huge talent (not to mention the kind of character the Tour needs more of).

But I noticed while listening to the audio and staring at the dolphins going by that there were very few cheers, and seemingly fewer opportunities for anyone to post a few birdies in a row.

I know this has been asked here many times, but why can't we let the U.S. Open be its own thing. Why is the PGA Tour turning Sunday's into train wreck days instead of letting the players create a little more to cheer about?