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PGA Championships on the West Coast


Broke100Once
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The PGA of America would dearly love to get more PGA Championships onto the west coast, but most of the top venues (Pebble Beach, Olympic Club, Torrey Pines, now apparently LA Country Club and Chambers Bay) are all being claimed by the USGA for Opens, or the courses will simply hold out for Opens before 'settling' for a PGA as a second choice.  This leaves the PGA with consolation prizes like Harding Park in 2020.

There's obviously no shortage of great courses on the west coast, but which ones are the most practical to fit the PGA's desire for a big course that can accommodate their corporate setups?  For instance, Bandon Dunes (middle of nowhere) or Riviera (not enough space for sponsor tents) don't seem to fit unless the PGA is willing to take a financial hit.

Personally, I'd love to see the PGA return to Riviera in 2026 to celebrate the course's 100th anniversary.  I'd also be interested in seeing the PGA adopt Chambers Bay if the USGA had too many issues with the 2015 US Open.  Since the PGA's course setups aren't as scorched-earth as the USGA, it might allow Chambers Bay' natural challenges to really capture players' imaginations.

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I am not in love with Chambers Bay.  As I recall, Chambers Bay had two different types of grass on the greens that grew at different rates.  Thus the later in the day, the more prominent the inconsistencies were on the greens.  Also, it created unfair play with the inconsistencies on the greens.  One putt could be unaffected by the greens while a player on almost the same line on the same green would have two types of grass to putt over.  I was not a fan of this course and hope that it host no future major tournaments.  

I will also add that the USGA usually screws up a course trying to protect par.  

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8 hours ago, Broke100Once said:

The PGA of America would dearly love to get more PGA Championships onto the west coast

Source?

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

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Would the PGA West Stadium course work?  It's certainly tough enough for a major.

 Or even one of the other PGA West courses in La Quinta?

The drawback is the heat that time of the year (unless they were to reschedule the date).

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4 hours ago, Lastpick said:

I am not in love with Chambers Bay.  As I recall, Chambers Bay had two different types of grass on the greens that grew at different rates.  Thus the later in the day, the more prominent the inconsistencies were on the greens.  Also, it created unfair play with the inconsistencies on the greens.  One putt could be unaffected by the greens while a player on almost the same line on the same green would have two types of grass to putt over.  I was not a fan of this course and hope that it host no future major tournaments.  

I will also add that the USGA usually screws up a course trying to protect par.  

I actually recently talked with one of their pros because I was playing with him in a tournament.  I asked about their greens and what they are planning to do.  He said that they are letting the poa take over.  It is at 50% coverage right now.  He mentioned it will still take a few years for full coverage.  I didn't ask how they plan to stop it from moving everywhere, so maybe they are just letting the whole course go.  It's actually a bit disappointing to me that they are going away from an all fescue course, but I also understand that they have to have a ton of man power to keep a course like that.  It'll be interesting to see how it plays once the conversion is complete.  But I do believe it will play like a true championship course.

Philip Kohnken, PGA
Director of Instruction, Lake Padden GC, Bellingham, WA

Srixon/Cleveland Club Fitter; PGA Modern Coach; Certified in Dr Kwon’s Golf Biomechanics Levels 1 & 2; Certified in SAM Putting; Certified in TPI
 
Team :srixon:!

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2 hours ago, No Mulligans said:

Would the PGA West Stadium course work?  It's certainly tough enough for a major.

 Or even one of the other PGA West courses in La Quinta?

The drawback is the heat that time of the year (unless they were to reschedule the date).

You say drawback I say perk.  Let them wear shorts for the event or something.  That's a great course and I'd love to see a PGA Championship there some August. 

-- Michael | My swing! 

"You think you're Jim Furyk. That's why your phone is never charged." - message from my mother

Driver:  Titleist 915D2.  4-wood:  Titleist 917F2.  Titleist TS2 19 degree hybrid.  Another hybrid in here too.  Irons 5-U, Ping G400.  Wedges negotiable (currently 54 degree Cleveland, 58 degree Titleist) Edel putter. 

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The PGA was held at Sahalee CC in 1998 and it recently held a LPGA major. This could be used again for a PGA Championship. I see you talking about Chambers Bay's greens but what happened in 1997 was far worse for Riviera. It certainly could use another chance at a major. TPC Stonebrae which hosts a web.com event, or Pumpkin Ridge which has hosted a US Amateur and also a web.com event. So there are options.

Harding Park is not a favorite for me. I have played it a dozen times and other than the 18th hole I could not tell you much about the course. It is pretty boring. 

Michael

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15 minutes ago, mchepp said:

The PGA was held at Sahalee CC in 1998 and it recently held a LPGA major. This could be used again for a PGA Championship. I see you talking about Chambers Bay's greens but what happened in 1997 was far worse for Riviera. It certainly could use another chance at a major. TPC Stonebrae which hosts a web.com event, or Pumpkin Ridge which has hosted a US Amateur and also a web.com event. So there are options.

Harding Park is not a favorite for me. I have played it a dozen times and other than the 18th hole I could not tell you much about the course. It is pretty boring. 

Sahalee is a fun course but its super short even if u maxed out distance on tee boxes. I cant see the pga championship going back unless it was for senior or ladies tour. Dont get me wrong, its tough with how the trees stick out everywhere making the fairways skinny. But i dont think its enough anymore for the guys. 

Philip Kohnken, PGA
Director of Instruction, Lake Padden GC, Bellingham, WA

Srixon/Cleveland Club Fitter; PGA Modern Coach; Certified in Dr Kwon’s Golf Biomechanics Levels 1 & 2; Certified in SAM Putting; Certified in TPI
 
Team :srixon:!

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On August 23, 2016 at 0:56 PM, phillyk said:

I actually recently talked with one of their pros because I was playing with him in a tournament.  I asked about their greens and what they are planning to do.  He said that they are letting the poa take over.  It is at 50% coverage right now.  He mentioned it will still take a few years for full coverage.  I didn't ask how they plan to stop it from moving everywhere, so maybe they are just letting the whole course go.  It's actually a bit disappointing to me that they are going away from an all fescue course, but I also understand that they have to have a ton of man power to keep a course like that.  It'll be interesting to see how it plays once the conversion is complete.  But I do believe it will play like a true championship course.

Thx for the input.  Good post

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On August 23, 2016 at 1:28 PM, iacas said:

Source?

So… no source @Broke100Once?

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

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Note: This thread is 2798 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!

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    • Taking your dispersion and distance in consideration I analyzed the 4 posible ways to play the hole, or at least the ones that were listed here. I took the brown grass on the left as fescue were you need to punch out sideways to the fairway and rigth of the car path to be fescue too.  Driver "going for the green"  You have to aim more rigth, to the bunker in order to center your shotzone in between the fescue.  Wood of 240 over the bunkers I already like this one more for you. More room to land between the fescue. Balls in the fescue 11% down from 30% with driver. Improve of score from 4.55 to 4.40. 4 iron 210 yards besides the bunkers.    Also a wide area and your shot zone is better than previous ones. This makes almost the fescue dissapear. You really need to hit a bad one (sometimes shit happens). Because of that and only having 120 yards in this is the best choice so far. Down to 4.32 from 4.40. Finally the 6 Iron 180 yards to avoid all trouble.    Wide area an narrow dispersion for almost been in the fairway all the time. Similar than the previous one but 25 yards farther for the hole to avoid been in the bunkers. Average remains the same, 4.33 to 4.32.  Conclusion is easy. Either your 4iron or 6 iron of the tee are equaly good for you. Glad that you made par!
    • Wish I could have spent 5 minutes in the middle of the morning round to hit some balls at the range. Just did much more of right side through with keeping the shoulders feeling level (not dipping), and I was flushing them. Lol. Maybe too much focus on hands stuff while playing.
    • Last year I made an excel that can easily measure with my own SG data the average score for each club of the tee. Even the difference in score if you aim more left or right with the same club. I like it because it can be tweaked to account for different kind of rough, trees, hazards, greens etc.     As an example, On Par 5's that you have fescue on both sides were you can count them as a water hazard (penalty or punch out sideways), unless 3 wood or hybrid lands in a wider area between the fescue you should always hit driver. With a shorter club you are going to hit a couple less balls in the fescue than driver but you are not going to offset the fact that 100% of the shots are going to be played 30 or more yards longer. Here is a 560 par 5. Driver distance 280 yards total, 3 wood 250, hybrid 220. Distance between fescue is 30 yards (pretty tight). Dispersion for Driver is 62 yards. 56 for 3 wood and 49 for hybrid. Aiming of course at the middle of the fairway (20 yards wide) with driver you are going to hit 34% of balls on the fescue (17% left/17% right). 48% to the fairway and the rest to the rough.  The average score is going to be around 5.14. Looking at the result with 3 wood and hybrid you are going to hit less balls in the fescue but because of having longer 2nd shots you are going to score slightly worst. 5.17 and 5.25 respectively.    Things changes when the fescue is taller and you are probably going to loose the ball so changing the penalty of hitting there playing a 3 wood or hybrid gives a better score in the hole.  Off course 30 yards between penalty hazards is way to small. You normally have 60 or more, in that cases the score is going to be more close to 5 and been the Driver the weapon of choice.  The point is to see that no matter how tight the hole is, depending on the hole sometimes Driver is the play and sometimes 6 irons is the play. Is easy to see that on easy holes, but holes like this:  you need to crunch the numbers to find the best strategy.     
    • Very much so. I think the intimidation factor that a lot of people feel playing against someone who's actually very good is significant. I know that Winged Foot pride themselves on the strength of the club. I think they have something like 40-50 players who are plus something. Club championships there are pretty competitive. Can't imagine Oakmont isn't similar. The more I think about this, the more likely it seems that this club is legit. Winning also breeds confidence and I'm sure the other clubs when they play this one are expecting to lose - that can easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
    • Ah ok I misunderstood. But you did bring to light an oversight on my part.
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