The Playoffs

I've had an obvious layoff for a while, but I haha entered the PGA FedEx Cup playoff scenario yesterday with a round at Plainfield CC - site of this year's Barclay's Championship. Poor Plainfield suffered form about 6X "Normal" rainfall due to human-induced climate change (yeah, right) and was not her usual self. PCC was however universally loved as opposed to this weeks Cog Hill Tempest of architectural discontent. The professionals didn't get the opportunity to play one of Ross's very best sets of greens when they were firm. The greens were not yesterday completely recovered to their usual firmness but were at speeds around 11 and generally firm. One of the ironies of the course is the relatively-maligned holes 13 & 14 of the so-called tunnel (added in 1928)were by far the firmest of the greens on the course. (14 yielded a birdie to my 4-iron to 7 feet, a first for me ever on that hole). The tunnel holes were added when the 17th and 18th were eliminated to create a driving range. The original 12th & 13th were combined to create the gorgeous par 5 12th - which coupled with the 16th pair perhaps the best two par 5's in 9 holes anywhere in North America.

With the recent press given to Phil M's "Hatchet-job" on Rees Jones (see Geoff Shackelford's site) it bears mentioning that the 2011 Fed Ex Cup courses have been re-modeled by either Rees Jones or Gil Hanse. Sure I'm a bit biased towards Gil as he is my personal Most Preferred Architect (MFA) of the modern era. He takes chances while Rees uses a very formulaic approach to design. When one has as I have been privileged enough to play over 900 courses (so far) one notices trends unless they are just plain dense. There is a whole lot more fun playing Gil Hanse's courses than there are playing Rees'. I have to side with Phil (as well as Stricker &others) on this one. I've logged maybe even a couple hundred rounds at the Cog Hill courses. #1 &3 are rather simple affairs but always well cared for. #2 is more difficult and shares some land with Dubsdread aka #4.

#4 started life as a grand Dick Wilson affair with very deep sand in relatively simple shapes thereby enhancing their difficulty. In its youth it was rather long and difficult and then technology changed that all by itself. Irony abounds in the most-hated part of the re-do: the bunkers. When the PGA Tour moved in to Cog Hill, truckloads of sand were removed and the sand was changed to the player's liking. The course became more forgiving and lost some of its "Dread".

The bunkers that Rees company builds are the same hideous affair everywhere. LedgeRock near Reading, PA has exactly the same bunkers as Cog #4 has now and they are not alone. Among aficionados they have earned the moniker "Rees Pieces" becasue of their puzzle-like shapes. I personally don't like them for several reasons: They're just plain ugly and unnatural. Balls don't stay on the faces anywhere. They are broken up into goofy little areas purely unplayable for anyone not a skilled player (due to their depth and contour) making them little fun for most players. (Hanse on the other hand has never built two bunkers the same.) At LedgeRock they are exceptionally egregious as the property is rather hilly and probably would have been passed upon by most architects. It is a rather joyless place to play unless you are part of the S&M club.

Dubsdread also relied very little on the rough as the trees provided challenge and allowed recoveries. Back to Plainfield, there are long vistas over beautiful rolling land that can only be called voluptuous. It is perhaps Ross's most intimate BIG course. What most of the public got to see at The Barclays on TV was a toothless version of PCC due to the monsoons. The widened fairways did not allow balls to bounce deeper into trouble nor did the ball near the greens react to the lovely contours that Ross put in place.

Plainfield remains THE poster child for what Classic Course Memberships should strive for in their restorations. The recovery of the bunker field on the exquisite par 5 16th is nothing short of breath-taking. It is real work to get over in two shots as my 3 wood failed to do so catching the very last very furthest part on the right (a very aggressive play I might add) yet allowing a recovery shot that had a change to be pin high had I not pulled it. That was the beauty of Ross and the sensitivity of Hanse in the work that each respectively did. Some of the scaffolding for the fans is still coming down at PCC but seemingly the entire course is visible from several spots on the course.

Greens have been expanded greatly from their post WWII disc shapes creating pin positions that had been under 3+ inches of bluegrass 12 years ago in some places. One stands on spots such as the back of hte first green, the 11th tee and the back of the 3rd green and nearly 360* views are available with up to 12 holes visible over rolling landscape. THIS is what Ross saw when he built PCC. At 7,125 yards all the way back, it is a bit short by Tour standards but yesterday in the Club Championship Qualifier a 79 was the lowest score from a membership of talented club golfers. That emphasizes the implicit if not specified bifurcation of golfers at clubs vs. Tour level.

Plainfield remains one of America's best Clubs and memberships. The new nearly driveable 18th hole (289 from the "Barclay" tee) yielded no balls on the green yesterday but within 25 paces of the front with 2 decent efforts from the group, recalling the impressive Sergio 3-wood landing just a few feet from the cup and holding the green during the first round. The new bunkering on #18, elimination of the wetlands there and a small waterless "Burn" taking its place constitute the last real changes to the course. In total, the restoration removed over 1,200 trees, green areas were increased at least 20% total, many fairways were restored to proper location and widths, multiple bunkers were restored and most re-built or re-shaped. A little more length in a few spots is possibly to be added when the Barclays returns in 4 years.

The club also assures us that tree removal and occasional replacement will continue.

More Plainfield, less Reese's Pieces, please.

Plainfield on redanman.com. CLICK HERE Note: Most recent photos not completely up to date.

Bandon Summer

In August a return to Bandon Resort yielded a fresh look. I had only been to Bandon with a group previously and this time it was a small family group, just 3 and for one night with a 4th non-golfer. My regular readers know how picky I am. Bandon Dunes is America's Best Resort. Nothing comes close. After the monumental disappointment that was Kohler earlier this year and with time to reflect, there is no doubt in my mind that Bandon Has the most quality golf to offer, the right amount of service, good hearty generous food and drink and even a better shower than Kohler.

My wife's brothers went fishing and missed my ace at Old Macdonald #5. No matter, there were trophies for all.
Fish

Golf



We chose to play Old Macdonald first as there was a good wind up, no real threat of rain and a fairly open tee sheet at our preferred mid morning time. First time either of us has seen the other's ace out of 6 total.
Here was the shot on Biarritz (short on the direction of roll), the next Par 3, YIKES!

EIEIO
Long View back to the third
Four
"OH HELL!"
Wonder why people like Old Macdonald so much?
The Principal's Snout
A Very Good Eden

Family's Good
in progress, but that poor camera's dead, I'm afraid

After Sandwich

At least in the USA it was a non-TV event with Women's Football loss to Japan garnering much higher ratings. Ah, the all-coveted ratings and advert index.

This was an Open Championship for the true golfer, one who understands that 62*, off and on rain and 30 knot winds are golf. Darren Clarke is everyman, he won for everyone, has not actually drunk a thing from the Claret Jug as of this writing and will not change. Meanwhile we have to wonder about Rory McIlroy and wonder who he really is. Is he a petulant poorly prepared 22-year old making haste comments about foul weather and his preference for American Golf? Will he get around to understanding what is required for character and an all-round game? Will his girlfriend transfer request make any differences - that is interesting as Wozniacki was very closely linked (and neighbors with Novak Djokovic) as recently as Wimbledon's proverbial Fortnight to the same girl. From her interviews she seems as grounded as a 15 year old women's tennis star so maybe she's perfect for Rory.

Sandwich also gave us another good run from Tom Watson who had he not had the same end of the draw as McIlroy might have been even closer in the end.

We were treated to a cold sh@nk from Dustin Johnson in the heat of contention and another round of Mickleson's balky short putting. (This from the man under the tutelage of RocketScientist Dave Pelz and his make 400 putts in a circle in a row drill? I think we might have learned that too much is never enough or was it less is more? I've never been a practicer so I don't have that answer. A season's practice for me is 300 long balls, 300 chips & pitches and 300 putts, spread out over 365.25 days every year. Add to that one or two demo days and that's it.

From this Open I liked attitude. Tom Watson's "Come what may, do with what we're given". Darren Clarke's keep on plugging through thick and thin and Phil's I'm going to start over, fresh and anew!

I'll give 22-year old Rory a pass on this one. 10 years from now he'll say "Knowing what I know now - in 2011 at Royal St. George's - I would have prepared differently, but I don't regret what I did." At least I hope that's what he will have decided by this time next year, but won't say.


The US PGA is of interest to me for the first time in many years as a friend of the redanman will be caddying for his brother!

Open Championship Week

In a move to wean myself from other internet golf locations, look for me to have more to say. I've got the photos for Kohler on another computer so look back soon.

The Open Championship Week is my favorite personal week in golf. It is the world's tournament, too much of world golf is still in the USA although the news of the Women making the Evian a Major is good news this week. Even though a good friend of mine's younger brother has qualified for the US PGA (Major) I feel most strongly that it needs to be dropped from Major status and a Bermuda/Couch surface tournament needs to be added in its place with debate between the Australian Masters and Oz Open. Perhaps a brand new Australian Tournament rotating through the most revered venues is the answer.

This week at Royal Saint George's Rory McIlroy returns to the world golf stage against Westwood, Donald and recent Major winners Kaymer, Schwartzel, Oosthuizen and the apparently renewed Sergio Garcia. My no means a comprehensive list, add all-rounder current top American and my personal favorite American these days Wisconsin's own Steve Stricker and you probably have covered the top betting favorites. This Open will be decided by the weather and who handles it best if current forecasts hold.

Dan King invited me to my first Open Championship when he was at GolfWeb.com - now defunct. In a house in the town of Carnoustie we had a true cast of characters and I had the car. It was also my first trip to play links golf and that Peugot 206 covered over 1,000 miles. It was a helluva good time.

The Open is so very special in that it is so egalitarian - walk up and pay on Sunday and you'll get in. I did that on Sunday in 1999 and stood directly behind Jean Van de Velde ready to rush down the 72nd fairway with the traditional throng of golf's most knowledgeable fans only to need to scramble around (with my friend-making umbrella) to see Aberdeen's Paul Lowrie keep the Claret jug in Scotland for the year. It remains one of my top memories in golf and fully cemented my love of The Open championship. Enjoy and see you soon.

Moving On

As bad as things are, it can always be worse.




Golf is having a bit of an identity crisis right now. When Tiger Woods came along if there was ever a doubt prior then - at that time the world of golf embraced the long ball to great exclusion. The ball has gotten out of control, at least coupled with the modern driver. At any rate Golf has become very closely equivalent to Men's Professional golf (which it definitely is not) and Men's Professional Golf sadly has become Tiger Woods - or at least tied all of its future to Mr. Woods. Orthopedically speaking Mr. Woods is nearing the end of his career as we have know it to date. He is a man and men have limitations. As Clint Eastwood in Character of Dirty Harry Callaghan once said "A man has got to know his limitations". I've often called this the Clint Eastwood school of golf instruction but it applies to a great many things.

As an Orthopaedic Consultant and former surgeon I can tell you that there is little in a 35-year old world class athlete that needs the sort of "rest" that we seem to constantly hear that he needs. And oh yes, "pain" is irrelevant to all of this. This is the man of the "broken leg", never forget that. Somehow we are to accept these two irreconcilable positions. The Golf World collectively holds its breath every time Mr. Woods is about to speak. This time we are told that he will not be competing in the Open Championship, no surprise as he had reportedly not hit a ball through last week save with a putter. There's much more afoot, but no one is asking Mr. Woods “What will happen when inevitably you do NOT reach the proverbial 100%?" His knee is indeed crocked and there is no role for a knee replacement for those of you unaware what those words actually mean. Tiger then gives us the line that Jack was competitive at 46, but Jack continuously played in nearly 40 years of Major Tournament Golf. Age is meaningless. (Had JWN just played in one major in 2006, he would have played at least one major per each of 50 years!) Herein lays a fact of life Tiger has to come to grips with, that is that no matter what sort of will we have, we have to deal with reality testing and Tiger must come to grips with the fact that he cannot and will not reach the 100% he is loftily seeking.

There was so much inconsistency in his press conference in Pennsylvania last Tuesday at Aronimink; it appears that damage control preparation may be prefacing his non-return but if that were the case then he would be reality testing. Why any further surprise today? From last week - how can one reconcile three "Intense" 60 minute works-out daily for explosiveness to return yet nothing but a putter is in use to date? WE should all reject this notion from the outset, it is just another in a long line of posturing. The mantra of continuing to make progress is a transparent lie to those who have worked with athletes. Most likely suspect is that there is not a swing that has yet to work with the limitations imposed by that knee. There has not yet been found a swing with which Tiger can go forward as he did in the past, he must adjust or go away.

No matter what, it is time for golf to wean from the teat of Tiger Woods. It's been a good run, but golf is bigger than professional golf and that part of the game that is not Professional Men's Golf is just fine. We tend to forget that and get focused on the men's pro game far too much; it is a game of the common man and woman. It has been very fine before and will go forward without him as well.
You heard it here first, If Tiger cannot find a swing that works with his knee, it's maybe completely over. It's certainly over as it was at the turn of the century. I am not a man to listen to B.S. on my own time, I listen to it for a living.

Now get out and play golf.