Tour Finally Puts Quail Hollow Fazio Tee To Rest
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Players have long hated a back tee added by the course renovator-to-the-stars and like so many of his modifications to tournament courses over the last decade, the back tee on Quail Hollow's par-3 17th will be retired to the delight of players.
"I think it's a great decision just because of the way the green is designed," said Phil Mickelson, who was one of those who pushed for the modification.
"It's designed to receive the shot from over there," he added. "When the green gets firm like it will be this week it's a much better hole from over there. There is more decision-making and more risk-reward as opposed to 100 percent defense. I think it's a great hole from over there."
**Ron Green Jr. has the full story behind the tee change including a priceless quote from Tiger and some insight into the thinking of architect Fazio and Johnny Harris, Mr. Quail Hollow.
First, Tiger on seeing the left tees in use.
Pleased with what he saw, Woods told a hole marshal, “We used to play this as a short par-4.”
And...
“Clearly Tom Fazio and I didn’t get the message like everyone else did,” Quail Hollow president Johnny Harris said.
“We finally decided to listen to the pros. We can make the course unplayable if we wanted to but that’s not our intention. We have nine years of data from the right side. Now we can get it from the left side.”
