Yep watched it. I rooted for her because I'm a pig and she was the best looking woman in contention. Has to be some reason to pick a favorite when you don't know any of the contenders.
I watched because it was Pebble and the winner got 2 million. Not the choke factor I was looking for though. These days Pebble is better suited to Women anyway. They can play it how it was designed
There have been hot women over the years. There are hot Koreans but they weren't in contention. Rose Zahng needs to show more skin
I hit record when the leaders teed off then watched most of in the late afternoon. Even the men's game has ebbs and flows of interest depending on who is on top
Americans love a winner and they won't tolerate a loser - Patton
I agree that Pebble isn't great for the men anymore. It's sad that we have it every 5 years on a go forward basis. Pebble desperately needs a renovation (green expansion mainly), but it'll probably never get one because it would cost them way too many retail rounds and why would they when they've got US Open's on the books out through 2050.
Why does Pebble need green expansion? If anything that’s one of its primary defenses against the men
It’s a course that gets torn up by the pros when it’s soft in February and played as a resort course
It’s a course that is still plenty difficult when they narrow the fairways, grow the rough, and make the greens play super firm and fast. When you add wind into that setup then par becomes a very good score
The greens have gotten smaller and smaller over the years. Expand them and you could have some more pinnable areas which would put a premium on actually driving it to the correct side of the fairway. There's basically no strategy to playing Pebble anymore.
That’s a fair point and one that can be leveraged if the greens are built for it - it’s one of the parts that makes playing Spyglass so difficult
To me Pebble is in the same category as a lot of the links courses on the Open rotation … if the weather kicks up then you get a big challenge and if it doesn’t then it’s pretty much gettable for those on the top of their game
Yep watched it. I rooted for her because I'm a pig and she was the best looking woman in contention. Has to be some reason to pick a favorite when you don't know any of the contenders.
I watched because it was Pebble and the winner got 2 million. Not the choke factor I was looking for though. These days Pebble is better suited to Women anyway. They can play it how it was designed
There have been hot women over the years. There are hot Koreans but they weren't in contention. Rose Zahng needs to show more skin
I hit record when the leaders teed off then watched most of in the late afternoon. Even the men's game has ebbs and flows of interest depending on who is on top
Americans love a winner and they won't tolerate a loser - Patton
I agree that Pebble isn't great for the men anymore. It's sad that we have it every 5 years on a go forward basis. Pebble desperately needs a renovation (green expansion mainly), but it'll probably never get one because it would cost them way too many retail rounds and why would they when they've got US Open's on the books out through 2050.
Why does Pebble need green expansion? If anything that’s one of its primary defenses against the men
It’s a course that gets torn up by the pros when it’s soft in February and played as a resort course
It’s a course that is still plenty difficult when they narrow the fairways, grow the rough, and make the greens play super firm and fast. When you add wind into that setup then par becomes a very good score
The greens have gotten smaller and smaller over the years. Expand them and you could have some more pinnable areas which would put a premium on actually driving it to the correct side of the fairway. There's basically no strategy to playing Pebble anymore.
That’s a fair point and one that can be leveraged if the greens are built for it - it’s one of the parts that makes playing Spyglass so difficult
To me Pebble is in the same category as a lot of the links courses on the Open rotation … if the weather kicks up then you get a big challenge and if it doesn’t then it’s pretty much gettable for those on the top of their game
Spyglass is definitely harder than Pebble. It could hold a U.S. Open and hold up nicely.
Really late getting to this, but a summary of a recent golf trip that I made up through eastern BC and into Alberta
Day 1 - Idaho Club (Sandpoint, ID)
A course that I had been wanting to play for a while but it's location makes it difficult to get to unless you're in the area. It's a semi-private Nicklaus course with tee times in the AM and public play in the afternoon. Had the course basically to myself as it was the Thursday before the 4th weekend and I had beat the rush into the area. The course was your typical Nicklaus course, more playable than you'd think off of the tee but required precise shots into the greens and knowing where to miss was critically important. A theme that was true here that rang true for the rest of the trip was that the longer winter in that part of the world really played into conditioning still coming in and the course/greens being a little shaggier than one would expect. It's a good course but at its price point one that I would say is overpriced for the area particularly when you consider there is no GPS in the carts and spotty enough internet coverage making GPS via your phone, etc. a challenge.
Day 2 - Eagle Ranch (Invermere, BC)
This was a course that I was excited to play but it really didn't completely live up to expectations. General conditioning of the course was fine and the greens tended to roll fairly well. The bunkers on the other hand were basically unplayable. There were a few holes that were a little funky and that was on the disappointing side of things ... it's never great when you have a course with 14-15 pretty good holes and 3-4 holes that need to be scrapped and redesigned. The 18th hole was a great example of this ... the tee shot in a lot of ways requires less than driver but if you lay back too far then you have almost no chance to carry a ravine that requires about 150-180 yard carry edge to edge ... what makes that even more amusing is that there's a drop area on the other side of the ravine so there's really no benefit to do anything off the tee other than ensure that you can hit your 2nd shot at least into the ravine, take your penalty, and accept whatever from about 110 yards. Just funky on all levels. Played with some cool people (husband/wife/her dad) and ate lunch with them afterwards ... talking about the differences/similarities of the state of life in Canada and the US was fairly interesting.
Day 2 - Greywolf (Panorama, BC)
This is one of the very top public golf courses in Canada and it not only met all of the expectations, it actually exceeded them. Lots of elevation change on the course so you never really got super comfortable and even though at some decent elevation it never really felt like you got that distance pick up there. I really don't have enough nice things to say about the course and was able to get done right as the sun was setting just before 10 pm (best part of golf the further north you go). The picture below of the signature hole ... a par 3 over a ravine. It's just spectacular. Really, the whole course is spectacular ... can't recommend enough.
I'll break this up over 3 posts ... 2nd post will be the last day in Invermere/Panorama, the drive to Banff/Calgary, and then golf in Canamore ... the 3rd post will be golf on the return leg into the US
This was a course that I wasn't necessarily sure what to expect and as it turned out it was much more enjoyable than I was expecting. It's an interesting course in that the slope/rating doesn't jump out to you when looking at the card but when you play it there are definitely some holes where you can get smacked in the face quickly. While fairways in a lot of spots were relatively wide, there were a lot of holes where elevation changes made approach shots play far more difficult than you'd expect. I'd definitely put this ahead of Eagle Ranch when in the Invermere/Panorama area and highly recommend the area for anybody looking to spend a few days in an area that is a mix of beautiful and more off the grid than on it ... well that and any course that yields a couple of birdies to me (same as Greywolf) get some glowing reviews
Day 3 - Driving from Invermere to Calgary
The next leg of my golf trip was going to be up in the Banff/Canmore area and that required driving through the Kootenay National Forest. For anybody that has never driven through this part of the world, you're looking at about a 70-80 mile drive through the forest where there is no cell service, no services in general, and it's you and nature ... and what a view of nature that you get. There's some springs and whatnot at the beginning of the stretch and some spots to pull off and go exploring if so inclined (believe you need to buy a park pass or whatever if you plan on not driving straight through) but to say that it's beautiful is an understatement. That only gets more true when you get out of the forest and head east through Banff and towards Calgary. I've spent enough time in Colorado and in particular in the middle portion of the state to have a healthy appreciation for the Rocky Mountains ... the Canadian Rockies simply put are breathtaking.
My original plan was to actually head Northwest and go through Lake Louise and head up to Jasper to play Fairmont Jasper Park ... but from what I was reading the winter really hit hard there and the conditioning is still relatively rough ... I didn't want to go play a Top 2-3 public course in Canada in those type of conditions. There is no doubt that there will be plans in the future (hopefully the winter is a little better this year) and I will definitely look to head northwest on the Icefields Highway (supposedly one of the best drives in the world) and get out in that direction.
Day 4 - Silvertip (Canmore, BC)
I was also very excited to play this course and it definitely did not disappoint. To say that the course was spectacular is an understatement. There was a lot of work and construction going on in that area and there were a few holes impacted so I can't put it on the same level as Greywolf. But the views were just stupid spectacular. The continued theme of greens being a little inconsistent due to the rebounding of the winter held true ... in this case they were rolling a little slower than they looked (not shaggy but not rolled and fast). A good number of pictures below and I don't know if they do justice to how beautiful the area is (just look at the color of the water) ...
Day 4 - Stewart Creek (Canmore, BC)
So a bit of a confession here as I ended up only playing about 14 holes or so here as the byproduct of 6 rounds in 4 days plus a lot of driving and about a 3 hour drive ahead after the round really sucked a lot of energy out of me particularly when I got stuck behind a 4-some that was playing from the tips (probably shouldn't have been playing from the tips). The conditioning here was top notch and was probably the best greens that I had played the entire trip. The big negative to the course from my perspective is that it's a course that feels like a stuffy country club in some ways which I don't particularly love. It isn't a course that is going to wow you with the views (and that's not saying that the course isn't scenic) in the same way that Silvertip does but it's a course that is going to wow you from just having a lot of really good golf holes tied to it.
After finishing this round I did the reverse drive and drove back to Cranbrook ... the original plan was to play golf on Day 5 in Cranbrook but I made the executive decision to take a rest day instead and get in a good spot for the remainder of the trip and getting home a few days later.
Comments
To me Pebble is in the same category as a lot of the links courses on the Open rotation … if the weather kicks up then you get a big challenge and if it doesn’t then it’s pretty much gettable for those on the top of their game
The players playing the best are going to put some decent numbers up
4:36 a.m.
9:37 a.m.
Patrick Cantlay
Brooks Koepka
Hideki Matsuyama
Day 1 - Idaho Club (Sandpoint, ID)
A course that I had been wanting to play for a while but it's location makes it difficult to get to unless you're in the area. It's a semi-private Nicklaus course with tee times in the AM and public play in the afternoon. Had the course basically to myself as it was the Thursday before the 4th weekend and I had beat the rush into the area. The course was your typical Nicklaus course, more playable than you'd think off of the tee but required precise shots into the greens and knowing where to miss was critically important. A theme that was true here that rang true for the rest of the trip was that the longer winter in that part of the world really played into conditioning still coming in and the course/greens being a little shaggier than one would expect. It's a good course but at its price point one that I would say is overpriced for the area particularly when you consider there is no GPS in the carts and spotty enough internet coverage making GPS via your phone, etc. a challenge.
Day 2 - Eagle Ranch (Invermere, BC)
This was a course that I was excited to play but it really didn't completely live up to expectations. General conditioning of the course was fine and the greens tended to roll fairly well. The bunkers on the other hand were basically unplayable. There were a few holes that were a little funky and that was on the disappointing side of things ... it's never great when you have a course with 14-15 pretty good holes and 3-4 holes that need to be scrapped and redesigned. The 18th hole was a great example of this ... the tee shot in a lot of ways requires less than driver but if you lay back too far then you have almost no chance to carry a ravine that requires about 150-180 yard carry edge to edge ... what makes that even more amusing is that there's a drop area on the other side of the ravine so there's really no benefit to do anything off the tee other than ensure that you can hit your 2nd shot at least into the ravine, take your penalty, and accept whatever from about 110 yards. Just funky on all levels. Played with some cool people (husband/wife/her dad) and ate lunch with them afterwards ... talking about the differences/similarities of the state of life in Canada and the US was fairly interesting.
Day 2 - Greywolf (Panorama, BC)
This is one of the very top public golf courses in Canada and it not only met all of the expectations, it actually exceeded them. Lots of elevation change on the course so you never really got super comfortable and even though at some decent elevation it never really felt like you got that distance pick up there. I really don't have enough nice things to say about the course and was able to get done right as the sun was setting just before 10 pm (best part of golf the further north you go). The picture below of the signature hole ... a par 3 over a ravine. It's just spectacular. Really, the whole course is spectacular ... can't recommend enough.
I'll break this up over 3 posts ... 2nd post will be the last day in Invermere/Panorama, the drive to Banff/Calgary, and then golf in Canamore ... the 3rd post will be golf on the return leg into the US
Day 3 - Copper Point (Invermere, BC)
This was a course that I wasn't necessarily sure what to expect and as it turned out it was much more enjoyable than I was expecting. It's an interesting course in that the slope/rating doesn't jump out to you when looking at the card but when you play it there are definitely some holes where you can get smacked in the face quickly. While fairways in a lot of spots were relatively wide, there were a lot of holes where elevation changes made approach shots play far more difficult than you'd expect. I'd definitely put this ahead of Eagle Ranch when in the Invermere/Panorama area and highly recommend the area for anybody looking to spend a few days in an area that is a mix of beautiful and more off the grid than on it ... well that and any course that yields a couple of birdies to me (same as Greywolf) get some glowing reviews
Day 3 - Driving from Invermere to Calgary
The next leg of my golf trip was going to be up in the Banff/Canmore area and that required driving through the Kootenay National Forest. For anybody that has never driven through this part of the world, you're looking at about a 70-80 mile drive through the forest where there is no cell service, no services in general, and it's you and nature ... and what a view of nature that you get. There's some springs and whatnot at the beginning of the stretch and some spots to pull off and go exploring if so inclined (believe you need to buy a park pass or whatever if you plan on not driving straight through) but to say that it's beautiful is an understatement. That only gets more true when you get out of the forest and head east through Banff and towards Calgary. I've spent enough time in Colorado and in particular in the middle portion of the state to have a healthy appreciation for the Rocky Mountains ... the Canadian Rockies simply put are breathtaking.
My original plan was to actually head Northwest and go through Lake Louise and head up to Jasper to play Fairmont Jasper Park ... but from what I was reading the winter really hit hard there and the conditioning is still relatively rough ... I didn't want to go play a Top 2-3 public course in Canada in those type of conditions. There is no doubt that there will be plans in the future (hopefully the winter is a little better this year) and I will definitely look to head northwest on the Icefields Highway (supposedly one of the best drives in the world) and get out in that direction.
Day 4 - Silvertip (Canmore, BC)
I was also very excited to play this course and it definitely did not disappoint. To say that the course was spectacular is an understatement. There was a lot of work and construction going on in that area and there were a few holes impacted so I can't put it on the same level as Greywolf. But the views were just stupid spectacular. The continued theme of greens being a little inconsistent due to the rebounding of the winter held true ... in this case they were rolling a little slower than they looked (not shaggy but not rolled and fast). A good number of pictures below and I don't know if they do justice to how beautiful the area is (just look at the color of the water) ...
Day 4 - Stewart Creek (Canmore, BC)
So a bit of a confession here as I ended up only playing about 14 holes or so here as the byproduct of 6 rounds in 4 days plus a lot of driving and about a 3 hour drive ahead after the round really sucked a lot of energy out of me particularly when I got stuck behind a 4-some that was playing from the tips (probably shouldn't have been playing from the tips). The conditioning here was top notch and was probably the best greens that I had played the entire trip. The big negative to the course from my perspective is that it's a course that feels like a stuffy country club in some ways which I don't particularly love. It isn't a course that is going to wow you with the views (and that's not saying that the course isn't scenic) in the same way that Silvertip does but it's a course that is going to wow you from just having a lot of really good golf holes tied to it.
After finishing this round I did the reverse drive and drove back to Cranbrook ... the original plan was to play golf on Day 5 in Cranbrook but I made the executive decision to take a rest day instead and get in a good spot for the remainder of the trip and getting home a few days later.
Brian Harmon with a 5 shot lead or the field?
Brooks and Cantlay were 4 over today
Spoiler alert
https://tetherow.com/blog/tetherow-jumps-to-no-57-on-top-100-courses-list-by-golfdigest/
@Tequilla
@DerekJohnson
Maybe that would be fun ... going through the top 100 courses that I've played and rank my top 5 worst