Golf Club Atlas
GolfClubAtlas.com => Golf Course Architecture => Topic started by: Jim Hoak on August 25, 2019, 03:12:12 PM
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Following up on the “defenseless Medinah” topic—especially the last post today by Terry Lavin—why is East Lake apparently playing so much more difficult this week than Medinah last week? Historically, I always think of Medinah being the more difficult course. Although I’ve played both, it’s been a while for Medinah. Could it be weather—I don’t think so, although Medinah was maybe wetter? Pressure of the last tournament—maybe, but I tend to discount that with these guys? Grass? Bermuda—especially rough—at East Lake. Maybe so? But I don’t have a great answer.
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Number 1 is firm/fast bermuda greens. First bounce at East Lake is always a pretty big hop for these guys unless they have a wedge and/or the green is significantly pitched front/back. Medinah was just throwing darts. Plus a little bit of grain that leads to some putts taking quick lefts/rights at the hole as the ball slows down.
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From what I've seen and heard in last two days, seems the rough is the big differentiator...
Even with wedge in hand, finding the green, much less hitting it close seems to be a bit dicey...
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Two par-fives vs. four?
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Firmer greens. Nastier rough. Water hazards might be more punitive because of placement. 8 shot difference over the four rounds because of the par 70 is also a factor.
Those are my guesses
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Bermuda rough at that length is so much harder than bluegrass/rye. It's random knuckleballs on approaches and who-knows-what around the greens. I think the guys would rather play 5 inches of bluegrass/rye than 2 inches of bermuda. Even when the lies are bad, bluegrass/rye is predictable and bermuda is not.
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I'm not sure Medinah really played much easier. Over twice as many players took part there. That gives a lot more opportunities to go low. e.g. Hideki shot two 63s at Medinah, but entered the event ranked 33. He wouldn't even have played, had the starting field been limited to 30.
At both courses, the median finishing score was around 280. 40% of all players shot under 280 at Medinah, and 40% of all players shot under 280 at East Lake.
At Medinah 3 players finished under 270. At EL, two did. But then Medinah had way more players. That suggests Medinah, in a way, played harder: fewer ultra-low scores compared to the number of players.
btw, according to ESPN the slope at East Lake is 137 from the tips. No matter what the course rating, that's real hard for me to imagine. Holes like 8 and 15 would take a horrible toll on bogey golfers. 9, 11 and 14 might too.
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Bermuda rough at that length is so much harder than bluegrass/rye. It's random knuckleballs on approaches and who-knows-what around the greens. I think the guys would rather play 5 inches of bluegrass/rye than 2 inches of bermuda. Even when the lies are bad, bluegrass/rye is predictable and bermuda is not.
Having more par 5's and this reason of rough in Bermuda would be my guesses as well. I struggle out of deep rough always, however deep Bermuda did cause alot of club faces to turn.
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Bermuda rough at that length is so much harder than bluegrass/rye. It's random knuckleballs on approaches and who-knows-what around the greens. I think the guys would rather play 5 inches of bluegrass/rye than 2 inches of bermuda. Even when the lies are bad, bluegrass/rye is predictable and bermuda is not.
This. The ball settles all the way down to the root level of the bermuda rough. You have to be standing almost on top of the ball to even see it. There's almost no way to control the shot coming out of it.
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darts vs. shuffleboard