observations from tuesday at aronomink

[arogolf]

hello all- i always try to catch a tuesday practice round when there is a tour event in the area, great day to see the professionals up close.  Most guys out there are polite and engaging with most fans so its kinda cool to see them up close.

Started out the day by following a four ball of furyk, villegas, romero and vegas for about 6 holes.  furyk, suprisingly, was keeping it out there with them, vegas being abit longer.  Two things really stood out immmediately.  First, their four styles were different, but their tempo is so consistent.  Really slow and fluid during the backswing, full turn behind the ball, then explosion through impact.  Second is how well they flight their short irons, really coming in low to mid-height with little wayward/turning movement.

Next I watched Vijay for a few holes, on one notable occassion, coming up number 9, he hit his drive 3 feet off the fairway into rough that was at least 8 inches thick and super dense.   Looked more challenging than what they had at congressional.  Vijay took a mid iron first and was only able to chop it about 140 yards ahead, then tried a hybrid and only hit it about 20 yards.  Not often you see that!  He just shrugged it off and said something to make the gallery laugh.  He got up to his next shot sitting in the light rough and just smoked it to about 10 feet.

I spent some time at the secondary putting green and chatted with Notah Begay for a bit. He was very cool and he actually demoed an iON putter I brought along, unofficially he gave my rave reviews and said he thought I had developed a very solid flatstick.  I then watched him practice for abit putting both righty and lefty with his bullseye, draining putts from both sides with great effectiveness.

Overall the course itself was incredible - hope they get a major here at some point.

[senorchipotle]

awesome, man! similar to my experience at the tuesday practice at colonial. people don't realize how tall furyk actually is, so even with his relatively languid swing he can still poke the ball out there a good ways. he's a super nice guy as well. he was demoing 3 drivers when my buddy and i were following him, and this guy was talking to us as he was swinging and hitting perfect shots, asking what we thought about the trajectory with each driver. it was impressive.

i'd really like to see vegas do  well this week, i've been following him since last year on the nationwide tour. they were hyping him up even then.

vijay is a nice guy as well, although just looking at him and hearing him talk makes you want to go to sleep.

glad you enjoyed your day.

[arogolf]

Vegas is impressive up close.  He was towering over the other three in stature, but he has a pretty efficient swing for a bigger guy.  If he figures out how to put it all together he could be a force.

[BallStriker]

You mention that the rough is up -- is that pretty consistent throughout the course?  In other words, would you say that there is a premium on driving accuracy this week?

Finally, how are the conditions for roll-out in the fairway -- is the course playing short or long?  By my review of the hole-by-hole, it doesn't look like too long of a golf course.  Can the short hitters (B. Gay) compte on this kind of track?

Thanks

[arogolf]

Rained a lot yesterday, rough was lush, but suppossed to be hot and sunny here this week. I think the premium will be fairways, the green complexes are quite undulating. A medium hitter with good gir could get er done.

[MrElculver2424]

Great!

Yes, I live about a half hour north of Newtown Square. My uncle lives right near Aronimink and says it's a really nice course. I think it will host a major someday. Not within the next few years, but eventually.

[Deryck Griffith]

Great insight!  Thanks for sharing...

[senorchipotle]

looks like jhonny's doing pretty good so far. hope he can keep it up.

[darkhunter139]

Originally Posted by MrElculver2424

Great!

Yes, I live about a half hour north of Newtown Square. My uncle lives right near Aronimink and says it's a really nice course. I think it will host a major someday. Not within the next few years, but eventually.

I just went today! Great time, and damn those guys can hit the ball.  Their drives are towering!

The course was beautiful but I don't know if I can see it ever hosting a major.  My favorite hole was probably #1.

[Lefty-Golfer]

Originally Posted by darkhunter139

I just went today! Great time, and damn those guys can hit the ball.  Their drives are towering!

The course was beautiful but I don't know if I can see it ever hosting a major.  My favorite hole was probably #1.

if you ever play the course i promise you that your favorite hole will not be #1...for those of us that don't hit 300 yards off the T from the member T you will have a 2nd shot of roughly 165 to 180 up hill to tiered green...good times. give me a 5 and move on!!

i love the stretch of 6 7 and 8...anytime they give you a 220 yard par 4...what you say 8 is not a par 4...oh jeez back to hating 8!!! LOL that is tough freakin par 3, long down hill and even if you hit the green there are not many straight putts on it. come to think about it 17 isn't much better.

[darkhunter139]

Originally Posted by Lefty-Golfer

if you ever play the course i promise you that your favorite hole will not be #1...for those of us that don't hit 300 yards off the T from the member T you will have a 2nd shot of roughly 165 to 180 up hill to tiered green...good times. give me a 5 and move on!!

i love the stretch of 6 7 and 8...anytime they give you a 220 yard par 4...what you say 8 is not a par 4...oh jeez back to hating 8!!! LOL that is tough freakin par 3, long down hill and even if you hit the green there are not many straight putts on it. come to think about it 17 isn't much better.

Those greens looked extremely hard to putt on! I saw Jim Furyk miss a 3 footer on #1 and a few other players miss some short ones as well.

I would love to get a chance to play there some day though, amazing looking course.