2023 Memorial Tournament

[CBJScott]

Greetings, all!

 

Just found TST today by accident, and it encouraged me to sign up, as I intend to play much more this year than recent years...anyhoo:

Having relocated to the Columbus, OH area a few years ago (from the far SW Chicago suburbs), I have been wanting to check out The Memorial. I had never realized that the "official Tickets" are actually week-long passes that this year start at $240. That is a bit steep unless you have the time to hit Muirfield on more than a day or two. Although I have Thursday and Friday off (as well as the weekend), I am not sure if I can hit more than a day or two.

Does anyone have any tips on possible discounts? Also, any tips for navigating the course, or some favorite vantage points? 

[iacas]

I can't help much on the ticket prices. You could find someone to share a ticket with if you're going on different days. But it also sounds like you're off four all four tournament rounds, so…?

• Behind the 12th is a good vantage point. Good hole, exciting, and you'll see some train wrecks.
• The hill behind the 18th is okay, too.
• The area around the 17th is underrated. It's not a big area, but I like it.
• Perhaps my favorite spot is the grandstand behind the 15th. You can see the approach shots on the 14th, and the tee shots on the 15th.
• The 5th green is exciting, too.

It's a hilly course, and usually rains (pours) once a week at least during the Memorial.

@georgep can share a bit more info, too, I think.

[georgep]

Wear comfortable shoes with good traction (especially if it rains); the hillsides get slick.

The free shuttle from the zoo is a great way to avoid parking headaches/fees.

Never seen discounts on tickets that I recall, but they are often available thru business contacts or you could split the week with a friend.

Lots of good holes to watch, but here are a few favorites:

12 (similar to Augusta #12) & 14 (drivable par 4) are arguably the biggest party holes and are packed, but they are also offer very entertaining golf. I like sitting behind 11 green… you can watch approaches to the par 5 and tee shots on 12.

Behind 10 is another good vantage point and is a very tough par 4. 

The front nine is a longer walk (fewer holes are adjacent) but also typically is less crowded (6 and 7 are good spots… I love watching on 5 but it’s about as far from the main entrance as you can get).

[dennyjones]

@CBJScott we're glad you've joined.   What prompted your move to the Columbus area?

[snapfade]

Birdies for the Brave offers free passes for the Pro-Am on Wednesday if you are a veteran or active, etc. Other than that I don't know of any deals. They offer deals for all the tour events. I used to go to the Tour Championship for a really good discount through them.  

[CBJScott]

5 hours ago, dennyjones said:

@CBJScott we're glad you've joined.   What prompted your move to the Columbus area?

Job opportunity, plus wanting to get out of Illinois for many reasons. 

Appreciate the responses, and thanks for the welcome - as well as the viewing and parking tips 👍.

The last event I have attended in person was a Western Open 😮 many years ago (of course…), so I guess I’m out of the loop on pricing somewhat. I also checked other events coming up in the Midwest, and daily tickets are about the same if you extrapolate the cost over two/three days.

I think I will just go ahead and jump on a badge, and pop in at least twice, as I don’t know if I will have the same opportunity next year.

[klineka]

I'm going on Thursday this year, it'll be my 4th time going I believe.

Another spot that's worth watching for a bit IMO is the driving range and chipping area. It's somewhat tucked away on the backside of the clubhouse opposite of the course but not a far walk at all to get to. There are sets of bleachers behind the range and it gives a great elevated view to watch the players hit balls. It's quite impressive to watch.

Watching Rahm hit like 10 straight 3 woods onto a green down range and watching Rory nip some bunker shots were two of my main highlights last year.

Also if you do want any merch, get it on the first day you go as they typically sell out, they had pretty much nothing left by Saturday last year.

@CBJScott Another option for parking is a free lot at 10569 Dublin Rd, Dublin, OH 43017. It brings you in right at the 6th tee. I enjoy coming in there and then working my way back over the first few holes to the clubhouse then figuring out where I want to go from there.

@iacas @georgep (Or anyone really) have either of you played the course before? If so, thoughts? Even from the proper tees I feel like it would be a difficult test for amateurs as there is quite a bit of trouble on most holes.

 

[iacas]

I have not. I probably could have, or could soon if I wanted to, but… it's just never really worked out that way.

[jxdama]

Finally  looks  like a decent test  of  golf. Let the rough grow, and  pray it doesnt rain to soften things  up. 

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, jxdama said:

Finally  looks  like a decent test  of  golf. Let the rough grow, and  pray it doesnt rain to soften things  up. 

Back to this, eh?

[klineka]

6 minutes ago, jxdama said:

Finally  looks  like a decent test  of  golf. Let the rough grow, and  pray it doesnt rain to soften things  up. 

Strong argument could be made that growing the rough makes it less of a test of golf because it stops errant tee shots from going further offline and it stops long approach shots from going even longer. 

What about the tournament today, in your opinion, makes this a decent test of golf? (While implying that there hasn't been one recently on tour)

Also doesn't look like rain will be an issue

[jxdama]

10 hours ago, klineka said:

Strong argument could be made that growing the rough makes it less of a test of golf because it stops errant tee shots from going further offline and it stops long approach shots from going even longer. 

What about the tournament today, in your opinion, makes this a decent test of golf? (While implying that there hasn't been one recently on tour)

Also doesn't look like rain will be an issue

Mainly because when i turned  on the golf channel the  leader wasnt  -10 after the  first round. The  problem with errant tee shots  on most  courses  now is that with the  lack of trees and rough means  an errant tee shot  is  often not  penalized.

10 hours ago, iacas said:

Back to this, eh?

These are the  best  in the world. They should  be tested every week. Also, a  difficult  course tends to weed out  fluke winners.

[iacas]

1 hour ago, jxdama said:

These are the  best  in the world. They should  be tested every week. Also, a  difficult  course tends to weed out  fluke winners.

The opposite is actually true. Which you’ve never seemed to get.

[ChetlovesMer]

On 5/29/2023 at 5:21 PM, CBJScott said:

Job opportunity, plus wanting to get out of Illinois for many reasons. 

Appreciate the responses, and thanks for the welcome - as well as the viewing and parking tips 👍.

The last event I have attended in person was a Western Open 😮 many years ago (of course…), so I guess I’m out of the loop on pricing somewhat. I also checked other events coming up in the Midwest, and daily tickets are about the same if you extrapolate the cost over two/three days.

I think I will just go ahead and jump on a badge, and pop in at least twice, as I don’t know if I will have the same opportunity next year.

Hello, I just wanted to welcome you to the TST.
I too, used to live in Chicago-land. I still have family back there. 
I too, have been to the Western Open several times... back when it was at Cog Hill in Lemont. 

I've been to the Memorial once a few years back. 

Anyhow, as a fellow former Chicago-ian now living in the Columbus area, I just thought I'd welcome you to TST. 👍

1 minute ago, iacas said:

The opposite is actually true. Which you’ve never seemed to get.

This shouldn't be that hard to get.
There's piles and piles of sports-research out there showing the more you add "randomness" into any sporting event the more likely upsets will occur. 

 

[klineka]

4 hours ago, jxdama said:

Mainly because when i turned  on the golf channel the  leader wasnt  -10 after the  first round. 

So if someone came out today and went really low then suddenly this tournament (which you said yesterday was a decent test of golf) is no longer a decent test? That's nonsense.

4 hours ago, jxdama said:

Mainly because when i turned  on the golf channel the  leader wasnt  -10 after the  first round. The  problem with errant tee shots  on most  courses  now is that with the  lack of trees and rough means  an errant tee shot  is  often not  penalized.

Lack of rough penalizes players more than a ton of rough everywhere. I'm not sure why this is that hard for you to understand.

A ball that airmails the green doesn't bounce too far from where it landed because the rough is so thick. I saw that exact scenario firsthand yesterday. But had that rough been shaved down short grass that ball would have kicked so much further away. Meanwhile someone else landed his ball on the green about 10 or 15 feet from the back edge and his ball took a really firm bounce and ended up in the rough in nearly an identical spot as the guy who airmailed the green. Two completely different quality of shots yet because of the thick rough they both got penalized the exact same. 

Same thing with tee shots. The rough keeps tee shots from going even further offline. You mean to tell me that having 5 inch thick rough 2 paces off the fairway which stops balls from rolling into creeks, hazards, etc is a better test of golf than having it mown a bit shorter so that balls that are heading offline continue to go in the direction they're headed and don't automatically stop as soon as they hit rough?

 

4 hours ago, jxdama said:

These are the  best  in the world. They should  be tested every week. Also, a  difficult  course tends to weed out  fluke winners.

But it's not the PGA Tour's job to test the best players every single week, it's to put forth the most entertaining product and attract the highest number of viewers. Eagles and birdies are far more exciting for average fans to watch vs watching Rahm and Scheffler shooting 75 each round and be tied for the lead. Now sure there should be some balance, -30 as the winning score every week isn't ideal either. 

Fluke winners don't happen nearly as often as you think. Here are recent winners: Emiliano Grillo (5 top 10s including his win this season), Koepka (technically not a PGA Tour event I know), Jason Day, Wyndham Clark (6 top 10s including his win this season), Tony Finau, Matt Fitzpatrick, Jon Rahm, etc. I wouldn't consider any of those to be fluke winners and those were at a variety of scores ranging from -8 through -24. 

[jxdama]

12 minutes ago, klineka said:

Same thing with tee shots. The rough keeps tee shots from going even further offline. You mean to tell me that having 5 inch thick rough 2 paces off the fairway which stops balls from rolling into creeks, hazards, etc is a better test of golf than having it mown a bit shorter so that balls that are heading offline continue to go in the direction they're headed and don't automatically stop as soon as they hit rough?

 

It  doesnt  matter how far  offline  a shot  goes  if there  is  no penalty  for  it. Here are several things  i would do to adjust  courses to the explosion in equipment technology. No more  535 yard  par  5's. Any par 5 has to be  600+ yards, any other gets  converted to a  long  par 4. Reduce  chicken sticking. If you  have a  410 yard  par  4 make the layup landing area extremely  narrow with the very  narrow  fairway lined with deep rough and deep bunkers. Make  hitting driver the  best  option. Eliminate  lift  clean and  cheat and  in any drop never allow  a  player to place the  ball. If  the  ball happens to land  slightly  closer to the  pin, so be  it. I  have other  ideas, especially  for  improving the  playoff.

[GolfLug]

17 minutes ago, klineka said:

Lack of rough penalizes players more than a ton of rough everywhere. 

Ah dude, this is so true. The worst round I played in the last two years was almost no rough but tight fairways and greens transitioning to deep woods left and right with no stops or slow downs. Unless they were struck just.... right...., the balls just ran off in to the woods and water all day - fairways or greens. It is target golf everywhere and really frustrating. Granted I am not exactly good gage to tour players but I am sure it is the same relative difference. 

[jxdama]

24 minutes ago, klineka said:

But it's not the PGA Tour's job to test the best players every single week, it's to put forth the most entertaining product and attract the highest number of viewers. Eagles and birdies are far more exciting for average fans to watch vs watching Rahm and Scheffler shooting 75 each round and be tied for the lead. Now sure there should be some balance, -30 as the winning score every week isn't ideal either. 

I want the  best  players to have to figure  out how to make a  par. That  to me  is far  more exciting than to have every  hole  a  birdie  hole. Also, its  incredibly  boring when its  coming  down to the  last  few  holes  but  you  know none  of them are difficult and  its  unlikely the  leader will stumble.

1 minute ago, GolfLug said:

Ah dude, this is so true. The worst round I played in the last two years was almost no rough but tight fairways and greens transitioning to deep woods left and right with no stops or slow downs. Unless they were struck just.... right...., the balls just ran off in to the woods and water all day - fairways or greens. It is target golf everywhere and really frustrating. Granted I am not exactly good gage to tour players but I am sure it is the same relative difference. 

Thats fine  if an offline shot  is  penalized severely  but far too often hitting  it  60 yards offline finds  nothing  but  a  good  place to play from.