Jump to content
Subscribe to the Spin Axis Podcast! ×
IGNORED

Do You Think The Quality of The Course Affects the Quality of Competition on The PGA Tour?


Note: This thread is 4698 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

Recommended Posts

B.-Devlin-Quail-Hollow-Golf-Club-USA.jpg This week's Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte.

I think that better golf courses means better fields and better fields make for more interesting tournaments. Take a look at San Antonio and New Orleans. Both are good cities with great food, but the fields certainly lacked buzz. I believe that there are a lot of great players on tour — more than just the ones that receive all the hype — but the general public doesn’t agree.

The top players aren’t going to play every week and I don’t think it is a coincidence that many skip the bad courses. Earlier this week, Zach Johnson tweeted about his upcoming schedule. He said he was playing this week in Charlotte and would play The Players, Colonial and the Memorial.

Which event is he skipping? The Byron Nelson. I can’t imagine he will be alone. The TPC Four Seasons Resort at Las Colinas (try saying that fast five times) was ranked No. 49 by the players and Golf World.

... READ MORE from Jeff...

WHAT DO YOU THINK?


I think the main reason top pros choose a tournament is the prestige of the tournament and not the course. Otherwise, sponsorship is a factor as is quality of the course. The ATT attracts a good field as it's the first prestige event of the season. It doesn't hurt that the courses are great and that the Monterey Peninsula is spectacular. Of course the WCG tournaments attract good fields as do Colonial, the Byron Nelson Bay Hill, The Memorial the Players Championship, the Barclay's, the Deutsche Bank and the BMW Championship. It's surprising that the Canadian Open is a run of the mill tournament these days. It seems that the tournaments that follow majors do not have strong fields. If I was a tour pro I'd love to play the Heritage (despite the horrible sport coat :-)).

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I'm not sure the course quality enters the decision as much as the type of course, OWGR points and timing of the event.  A number of the top golfers like to take the week before and/or after a Major off so those events might suffer no matter how good the course was.

Joe Paradiso

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I'm not sure the course quality enters the decision as much as the type of course, OWGR points and timing of the event.  A number of the top golfers like to take the week before and/or after a Major off so those events might suffer no matter how good the course was.

That makes sense, but you have to work hard to explain Tiger playing this week, if it's not the quality of the course. Quail Hollow is one of the toughest driving events of the year, gets no bonus WGR points (it's strong for a regular event, but well below the majors, Players, WGCs, and FedEx Playoff events), and it's held the week before the Players. All that argues against Tiger playing it, but he plays it whenever he can.


Timing is huge. Some guys like to play the week before a major (or something like the players) but don't want to play 3 weeks in a row. Others want to play 2 weeks before and then take one off. Others want to play 3 weeks (before and after) in a row and then jet back to their house in the UK. I am sure there are some guys pick events based on their chances to make money. I am sure some guy avoid courses if they don't think they will do well since it doesn't suit their game but I doubt many focus on the looks too much.

Originally Posted by newtogolf

I'm not sure the course quality enters the decision as much as the type of course, OWGR points and timing of the event.  A number of the top golfers like to take the week before and/or after a Major off so those events might suffer no matter how good the course was.


Originally Posted by brocks

That makes sense, but you have to work hard to explain Tiger playing this week, if it's not the quality of the course.

Quail Hollow is one of the toughest driving events of the year, gets no bonus WGR points (it's strong for a regular event, but well below the majors, Players, WGCs, and FedEx Playoff events), and it's held the week before the Players. All that argues against Tiger playing it, but he plays it whenever he can.

That's true.  Many big players are in Tiger's same position regarding this situation.  Interesting point.


Tigers may have some endorsement obligations that must be met so he picks from the courses he likes most or thinks he can do best at.  It could be he likes to use it as a tune up for the Players.   As x129 stated each player has their own preference to how many weeks before a Major they play in another tournament.

Originally Posted by brocks

That makes sense, but you have to work hard to explain Tiger playing this week, if it's not the quality of the course.

Quail Hollow is one of the toughest driving events of the year, gets no bonus WGR points (it's strong for a regular event, but well below the majors, Players, WGCs, and FedEx Playoff events), and it's held the week before the Players. All that argues against Tiger playing it, but he plays it whenever he can.

Joe Paradiso

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Tigers may have some endorsement obligations that must be met so he picks from the courses he likes most or thinks he can do best at.  It could be he likes to use it as a tune up for the Players.   As x129 stated each player has their own preference to how many weeks before a Major they play in another tournament.

That is absolutely true, but it's still hard to correlate it to Tiger playing Quail Hollow. Phil likes to play the week before majors. Tiger doesn't. And AFAIK he has never had any endorsement connection to Wells Fargo or Wachovia. In fact, he had an endorsement contract for several years with American Express, which competed with them (though not intensely) in the financial services area.


Note: This thread is 4698 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Want to join this community?

    We'd love to have you!

    Sign Up
  • TST Partners

    PlayBetter
    TourStriker PlaneMate
    Golfer's Journal
    ShotScope
    The Stack System
    FitForGolf
    FlightScope Mevo
    Direct: Mevo, Mevo+, and Pro Package.

    Coupon Codes (save 10-20%): "IACAS" for Mevo/Stack/FitForGolf, "IACASPLUS" for Mevo+/Pro Package, and "THESANDTRAP" for ShotScope. 15% off TourStriker (no code).
  • Posts

    • 70° today and sunny!  Use your imagination! Leslie Park #8 or #17!   
    • Yeap, tried a couple times but always ended with back pain after a month so I abandoned that route and focused on improving my swing to be more efficient in order to gain speed.  Yes, this is what I can't figure out. When I go after it with irons I can increase club speed (more ball speed), but with driver I cannot drive it faster than my normal on tournament speed.    In fact, changed from 716 AP1 to Callaway APEX pro 2023. The new ones are slightly softer in loft and a little heavier in shaft.  
    • Totally, but keeping the ball in line i will keep you a LOT more out of trouble.    I agree! but still, in average greens are more depth than wide so what you are showing are less normal in golf courses. Take the time and you will see that even on your own home course you have a lot more greens that have more depth than width.  So having less dispersion sideways is better than in depth just because of how greens are made in general.  Also average greens generally have more danger sideways than directionally so makes it even more important to keep it straight. Perception of reality is on thing, numbers that backup your ideas is another. 
    • I'm in a bit of a transition, at my home course I play the Blue tees most of the time, the regular men's tees.  But many weekdays I play with a group of retired players, and play the "senior" tees, close to 600 yards shorter.  I've set up two lines in the "home" compilation page, one for the regular tees, and one for the senior tees.
    • Stuck in Texas without my clubs. 😕
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Welcome to TST! Signing up is free, and you'll see fewer ads and can talk with fellow golf enthusiasts! By using TST, you agree to our Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy, and our Guidelines.

The popup will be closed in 10 seconds...