Hard course vs easy course

[Chillmoon91]

Which do you prefer watching the pros play? all shooting mid 60s for fun or struggling to get round in par? Personally I hate watching them play courses that dont test them at all, an example of this is the john deere classic at the moment I mean its just stupid and boring watching everyone shoot in the 60s.

Goydos is at 17 under now with his second round still in progress, I really dont think thats good enough for the PGA tour. I love watching the us open and the open when the wind kicks up, then we see these unbelievably talented players pushed to their limit, and when they make a birdie and shoot in the 60s it actually means something like I think it should.

I think they should make all regular tour events as challenging as quail hollow for example, so when people shoot in the low 60s its incredible. Now I know all courses arent as good as quail hollow but they should grow the ruff and quicken the greens when possible.

I dunno maybe Im the only one who hates see players hitting wedges on all par 4s instead of a 6 iron, or it the holes arent long enough make sure the players are punished for missing the fairway with high ruff and quick greens. Well thats my opinion the john deere is just to boring for me to watch at the moment, what do you think?

[Paradox]

"play the course as it lies".....there comes a point when the game of golf gets bastardized to make it "a challenge". I think 500+ yd par 4's are silly, and I think that the only reason the general public wants guys to shoot closer to par is so they can say "well they aren't that much better than me" There is a reason these guys don't struggle and I don't see why its necessary to try and hinder there game when they work hard to do what they can do.

[Chillmoon91]

I accept people might not like courses being changed dramatically but for the comment on the general public wanting them to shoot par so they can compare themselves to the pros is just ridiculous haha, no-one on the planet thinks that way! I just think if your good enough to be on the pga tour the courses should test your ability and you should lose ground on the field if you make bogeys not pars. Thats the way golf should be played I think.

[Paradox]

I accept people might not like courses being changed dramatically but for the comment on the general public wanting them to shoot par so they can compare themselves to the pros is just ridiculous haha, no-one on the planet thinks that way! I just think if your good enough to be on the pga tour the courses should test your ability and you should lose ground on the field if you make bogeys not pars. Thats the way golf should be played I think.

Thats my point..the courses DO test their abilities..they are just that good. For anyone to think these courses aren't "hard"..well they are part of the general public who doesn't understand the talent differential.

Careful though, I didn't say that people were comparing themselves to the pro's..I said they were feeling better about their own games because they see pro's shooting par on ridiculous courses and inflating their own ego's(not thinking about the pro's doing so on hard courses). No one likes to feel like they suck...so when someone really good struggles it makes the lesser person feel a little better about themselves.

[6iron]

I like to see the pros make bogey and double bogey. It make me feel better about my bad holes even though I know they play by "different rules" than most of us.

[Chillmoon91]

I like to see the pros make bogey and double bogey. It make me feel better about my bad holes even though I know they play by "different rules" than most of us.

Paradox I apologise.....haha

[lblee08]

I like watching the US Open the most of any of the majors unless the greens are shaved to the point that the are unplayable. Narrow fairways, high rough, and deep bunkers are part of golf. What I don't agree with is some of the little "hills" in the middle of the fairways at some of the British Open courses that just shoot the ball off the fairway after a player has split the middle with his drive.

[alomar123]

I hate when I am watching the pros play huge greens. I think they are pretty big, so they will be more aggressive from far distances.

Hard courses are fun and make you think.

[vmsea]

i enjoyed watching Dustin Johnson get a quad bogey.. it tells me even someone who does it for a living can have those holes.. (which i do on a consistent basis)

[msd3075]

To me it's not so much about being easy/hard but more about the course being fair to the players. You should be rewarded for a good shot and penalized for a bad shot. In golf there are too many variables (changing wind, grass differences, etc.) to force a player to have to hit an absolutely perfect shot just to be "safe". In my opinion, the US Open is too far over the top when it comes to difficulty. I agree that you need to test the players, but to me their set-ups don't reward the best player and instead reward the lucky player in too many instances. How many times did you see balls hit on #14 exactly like McDowell (final round) and Johnson (3rd round) did and instead of stopping they rolled back down 40 yards in front of the green? Is it "fair" for one player to be penalized because his shot was 6 inches off of a mark in the middle of the green? Some say yes, I say no. I agree with the rough that the US Open typically has since it does penalize you for a bad tee shot, but the speed of the greens is just out of hand. It's just far too severe to truely show who is playing their best in the tournament. In the end, isn't the player that's playing the best supposed to be the one that wins?

[Chillmoon91]

Well it kind of depends on how how you define best, both hitting the ball well and course managment, alot of these courses players grab the driver hit it anyway and are able to get up and down for birdie, where as on more difficult courses, the players have to think and we see intelligence and experience as well as hitting it well. As for being penalized for good shots, luck has alway been apart of the game, all players say you need luck to win a golf tournament, its just the way it is, although it can be overdone

[plugged]

I like to see the pros play on challenging courses because it really differentiates between the good players and the really great players. However, at some point the super hard greens, ridiculously hard pin placements, and 12" rough just become gimmicky and begin to favor luck, not skill.

[The Recreational Golfer]

I like to see the pros play courses where they pay the same penalties for a poor shot that I do. That way it's the same game, just at a higher level.

In any sport you played as a kid, you played with other kids whose skills were not that far removed from yours, one way or the other. As the better players moved on to tougher competition, they were still in an environment where the competition was close and tight. Even for the few who become professionals, it doesn't change. A .400 hitter in Little League isn't going to be a .500 in the major leagues. Actually, its gets worse. It's the .400+ high school players who turn pro and their BA goes down by 100-150 points.

But if a golfer who shoots 75 on the local muni in high school gets good enough to turn pro, he'll be shooting 65s even on more difficult courses, and in the 50s if he went back to the muni.

I like on occasion to see the pros who were 75 shooters in high school struggle to shoot 75 in a professional tournament--which is why the U.S. Open is my favorite. I like to see them work as hard for their score as I do for mine.

[saevel25]

Hard course, nothing that would be unfair, but challenging. Thats why i like the US open.