Quail Hollow To Feature Two One-Week-Old Resodded Greens

Even with the greens slated for conversion after the tournament, Quail Hollow has made the almost unheard of move to resod less than a week before Wells Fargo Championship play.

Ron Green Jr. with new details of the drastic efforts to make two of the worst greens at Quail Hollow playable.

“I’ve been doing this for 30 years and I’ve never done this,” said Cal Roth, senior vice president for agronomy for the PGA Tour. “We’ve had to patch parts of greens a lot of times but this is the first time we’ve done entire greens.”

On a course that is in spectacular condition otherwise, the eighth and 10th greens failed to respond to efforts to generate suitable grass cover. Several weeks ago, both greens were tented in an effort to generate growth. When it didn’t help the 10th green, it was resodded.

When the first resodding failed at No. 10, the decision was made to redo it, this time using a different cultivation approach.

Gentle Reminder: Drive, Pitch & Putt Entry Deadline Looms

In case your little one is thinking of entering the Drive, Chip And Putt--with the chance for a free trip to Augusta the Sunday before the Masters--remember the deadline sneaks up this Tuesday, April 30th.

Registration is here.

Video: Guan Picks Up The Pace, Almost Makes An Ace

Ryan Lavner on 14-year-old amateur Tianlang Guan's opening 72 which included a hybrid on 17 that finished a foot from the hole.

There was also noticeably faster pace of play.

And clearly, Guan has made a concerted effort to pick up the pace, perhaps stung by the criticism.

On Thursday, he was almost always the first to walk off the tee box or approach the green.

When he used the restroom between Nos. 5 and 6, he jogged back to the tee so as not to give the appearance that he was lagging behind. Never mind that the group ahead was still in the fairway. His threesome played in 5 hours, 10 minutes.

“He’s not fast, but it was not an issue at all,” said Henrik Norlander, the third player in Guan’s group. “We couldn’t go anywhere. We waited most of the day. I’m sure he learned something at the Masters to speed up a little bit. But it’s tough for him too, because he’s hitting first into every green.”

His round highlights on YouTube.

Turns Out Al Geiberger's 59 Was Caught On Tape

In case there were any 59 Truthers out there, it seems In Play with Jimmy Roberts located unseen footage of the last few holes of Al Geiberger's historic 59 in Memphis and showed it to him for the first time in this week's episode.

Adam Schupak with the details:

“A 22-year-old rookie announcer – I’m sorry, but I don’t remember his name now – was sent to the tournament with a cameraman. He was ready to leave the course. He got Gary Player and whoever was there. It was hotter than hell. Well the guy had moved 12 times since then. The last time his wife said, ‘Get rid of those boxes in the attic.’ So he went through them and found one that said ‘Geiberger’ on it. Well, he was a real golf enthusiast. He said, ‘Oh, my goodness. It’s the tape.’ He thought it could be dust by now. He took it to the studio and had it put on a disc.”

The In Play trailer followed by the footage...

And the footage, including the putt for 59.

John Strege reports that Geiberger is auctioning the clubs from his 59 via Green Jacket Auctions.

AJGA Taking A Stand At 4:19

Great stuff from the AJGA magazine on their quest to make time par 4:19 this year and quotes from some of their players and official Benny Kuroshima explaining how it'll be done and what the kids will do with the extra hour should time par be met.

There is also this YouTube video of AJGA grads like Jordan Spieth talking about how slow things got after they left the junior tour.

Trevino After Switching To Belly Putter: “Now I see why they want to make this one illegal”

Adam Schupak, with several interesting notes related to the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, talked to Lee Trevino about getting the yips and switching to a belly putter for round two with partner Mike Hill:

“I had the yips so badly with that little putter yesterday that I thought I had bleeding ulcers,” he said. “My belly was burning up so much that I thought I had eaten some jalapeno peppers.”

Still feeling the competitive tug of golf, Trevino put a TaylorMade Ghost belly putter in the bag for the final round and afterwards stressed that his putting was vastly improved.

“Now I see why they want to make this one illegal,” Trevino said. “It’s like cheating. I swear to God. This is the easiest thing I’ve ever seen to putt with, is that belly putter.”

And this about leading Champions Tour player Bernhard Langer:

“There’s no question he wouldn’t be playing like he is if it wasn’t for the long putter,” Trevino said. “It takes all the pressure out.”