Thoughts from the 17th Green

[faldo]

So my wife and myself decided to sit and left the golfers come to us today (after 3 days of wandering the course).
We settled beside the 17th green (165 par-3) in our own chairs about 12 ft from the putting surface on the high side. A perfect view of the tee box, the ball flight & the entire green. The pin was tucked in a little depression so we expected many birdie chances/makes due to the balls feeding over there.
Plus nobody blocking our views by standing up.

As mentioned, almost everybody hits a draw. Ideal for us as the primary target was middle of the green & not our chairs.

We saw all 82 golfers. Only 9 missed the green, 7 one-putt birds, 1 chip-in bird, one near-ace as Suz. Pettersen lipped out before settling 3ft behind the hole. Three hit the deep short-side bunker and produced Sandies with great up & downs. Very deep spot, all we could was the flash of the clubhead at the top of their swings.
The putt of the day was produced by the German, Sandra Gal, who birdied from at least 60'. She was in last at the time!

Some weak efforts surprisingly from the better players.
1) Anika leaving her 40' birdie at least 15' short (stopped on top of the ridge).
2) Michelle stuffed her tee-shot to 4', then didn't hit the hole at all.

Every last one had a solid pre-putting routine that they followed every time, no matter how short the putt was.

Bottom Line: These Girls Can Play!

[byerxa]

The one thing I learned from watching the girls is they have the same pre-shot routine no matter what the shot is, be it a 4' putt or driving the ball. I have always read and heard about the importance of a set routine but to see it in action really makes an impression.

These girls are good and even the worst out there would kick my butt 10 times over on their most off day. However, here are my observations:
- They hit the ball STRAIGHT, in that maybe small draws or cuts, but all of their shots are uncanny straight. I remember the men commenting on this in amazement of Annika at Colonial.
- The girls' short game is not as "tight" as the mens'. Again I remember Annika saying this is one thing she learned from Colonial in that the men play on tougher green side set ups and are better around the greens.
- I know the greens are tough but the putting seems to be one of the biggest differentiators betweem the women and the men. A lot of the good women players seem to have problems dropping putts which seemed odd for this level.
- The course looks tough. The rough is not super-duper nasty but the Hunt has a lot of old style elevated and well protected greens with modern speeds. To watch these girls get to double digit negative numbers when they hit the ball roughly the same length as me (but infinitely straighter and more consistent) I find amazing.

[Fallys0820]

I agree that the most incredible thing about their games is their straightness. I couldn't believe that of all the shots I saw on Saturday and Sunday, 95% of them were piped and dead solid perfect. I saw a couple of double crosses on the 13th tee deck, but ultimately things were straight.

I was blown away by how far Ochoa and Wie hit the ball. They strike their drivers like most of the better men I have played with. Simply breathtaking in comparison to some of their counterparts. On the 13th, I'd say Wie was a good 70 yrds ahead of where Morgan Pressel's ball was.

Their iron games are truly incredible. I can't believe how crisp they hit the ball. I don't remember seeing many divots in the fairways after a shot. This was the most impressive thing for me to watch was the balls dancing around the holes.

But I agree, I was really quite disappointed to see the putting. Don't get me wrong, I understand how fast those greens were, and with my buddy speaking to his buddies that worked the grounds crew, they were told not to make them as hard (fast) as they could have today. The measured reading on the stimp was 12.6 I believe he said and they could have easily gotten them to 13.5 or so.

I'm glad that I didn't stay home and watch the tourney on Sportsnet because they wouldn't have done this event any justice.

Fally
aka Scott

[byerxa]

Ochoa does indeed strike the ball well - and she takes half decent divots . Creamer's up and down on Sunday on 15 was amazing. She was in some real cabbage on the steep bank between the green and bunker on the right side. She showed some real strength getting the ball out like she did.

[Strangebrew]

Loved it, loved it, loved it!! Big hats off to all those working and volunteering. I've never been to a golf tournament before, but been to enough concerts, sporting events, etc... to recognize a well run show when I see it. All involved were extremely courteous, answered my questions and kept everything moving well. Both my wife and I were very impressed and had a great time.

Couldn't believe how the ladies were hitting. I was honestly getting bored watching them tee-off, so many with beautiful effortless swings, dead straight ball flight and right down the middle. Spent most of my time around the 10th, 14th and 16th greens. My short game needs the most work so I wanted to watch how the Pro's handle it and worst thing is they all make it look too easy, lol. I noticed many of the women hit about the same distances I do; very cool to see them grabbing the same clubs and making the same choices, mind you their execution was 1000 times better (and they hit fairways and ball dancing on the greens much more often). Their iron play blew me away, though like others, I didn't notice many hot putters out there.

Thanks to all involved with the event, was an incredible experience.

[byerxa]

It was indeed a very well run tournament - world class. I would hope this past week would go a long way to re-establishing the Canadian Open as the fourth Womens' major.

[quinner]

I would agree with the comments made in this post. I have been to a few PGA events now including 2 Canadian Opens and the President's Cup. I would say that this was by far the funnest event I have been to. The atmosphere was awesome and seemed very laid back. I would go to another LPGA event in a heart beat. I sincerest congratulations to everyone participating in the event.