Notes from the Web.com Tour stop in Utah

[markb]

So I paid a visit to the Utah Championship this weekend to see how the young guys hit it.   It's been about ten years since I attended a pro tour event live and the last time it was the ladies.   So I thought I'd share a few impressions that struck me regarding the differences of watching the boys live vs. following a tourney on TV.   Here they are, in no particular order:

 

Who needs driver? -  I followed one group for the front 9 yesterday and I saw NO ONE in it, or the two groups around them hit driver once.   It's all 3 woods and irons to find fairways.   But it doesn't matter, they hit driving irons 285 and 3 woods 310.

 

Form & Equipment vs. Strength and Conditioning?  I read about this debate on another thread and I'd have to say that I favor the former.   I saw one little pixie of a guy named Bhavik Patel.  He looked no more than 5'4" and 140 lbs (although his stat sheet said differently).  He was banging out 340 yard drives with his SLDR no problem.  He was fit, but no fitter than Gary Player in his prime.   Yet he hit stuff that Player could only dream of.

 

Crappy short shots, Phenomenal Irons -  I was surprised at how many mediocre chips, putts and sand shots I saw.  But my eyeballs were peeled by the number of impossibly high and long 3 - 7 irons I saw.  This seems to be a game that requires incredible iron work and good wood length just to compete, but then the short games lag.  Those guys who step up and master the short game are the ones that win and graduate.

 

Never bite off more than you can chew -   If there was any doubt or risk involved with the outcome, these guys play smart.  They lay up, and when they lay up the find a spot 90-100 and hit to that.   This is not to say that they don't go for fives in two.  They always do, but it's always within their wheelhouse when they do.   It there is any risk on a narrow 4, it's 2 iron every time.

 

How far do they hit it?   Tour stats and TV don't give you an accurate impression.  They are all massive.  Like I said I saw NO drivers on the front 9, but on ten they finally took the big dog out.   Everybody I saw hit it 330 or better.  Tony Finau hit one 372 by my gps.  His first drive of the day, hit the fairway with a tiny fade. It was on a par five that measured 591.  He hit 7 iron to the green on his second shot.   There is not a par 5 in the state that would require him to hit a wood on his second shot.

 

Equipment -  Their stuff has nothing in common with our stuff, our concerns about face forgiveness and stock shafts are just silly to them.  I was surprised at the number of orange Graphite Design AD-DI shafts I still saw in use.

[Jondagcl]

That was a great read, thanks for sharing your feedback Mark. I was surprised to hear how conservatively they played. I guess that goes in line with that line of thought that I personally block out - when I should grab my 3 wood and hit driver instead. Then I walk of the tee and go, wow I knew that would be in play if I hit my driver, and sure enough, my ball is exactly where I didn't want it to go.

 

Can you go into a little more detail about equipment. Seems like they are not as interested in playing the latest and greatest? I can't speak for everyone else, but I do a lot of new club purchasing to compensate for my own lack of skill. Perhaps they don't have to do that.

[markb]

That was a great read, thanks for sharing your feedback Mark. I was surprised to hear how conservatively they played. I guess that goes in line with that line of thought that I personally block out - when I should grab my 3 wood and hit driver instead. Then I walk of the tee and go, wow I knew that would be in play if I hit my driver, and sure enough, my ball is exactly where I didn't want it to go.

 

Can you go into a little more detail about equipment. Seems like they are not as interested in playing the latest and greatest? I can't speak for everyone else, but I do a lot of new club purchasing to compensate for my own lack of skill. Perhaps they don't have to do that.

 

Well, they all have sponsors and I saw the latest irons and woods for the most part.  I did not see any G30's or 915's, so maybe that bit of the tour van "latest and greatest" hasn't trickled down yet.   Obviously they play a lot of blade style irons and thus they probably feel no compunction to upgrade to the latest releases of extremely similarly performing blade style irons.   Nor do their sponsors pressure them to do so because the visibility factor isn't as important on the web.com tour.   (Meaning Phil MUST use the latest Big Bertha, cause people will notice if he doesn't.)   VERY few shirt logos thank god.

 

I got the impression that they can do things with any club that we could never due no matter what club we tried.   Meaning, we can obsess about Big Bertha vs. SLDR, but it doesn't matter.   We'll NEVER approach a fraction of what they do no matter what we choose, where as they could switch drivers with their playing partner (who's also hitting a Tour X shaft) and get very close to the same result. 

 

Forget about driving distance, let's just talk irons.   I have NEVER HIT in my life the kinds of long to mid iron shots that they hit every time.   I can't hit those kinds of high, long shots no matter what brand I choose or what shaft I put in it.

 

On the other hand you COULD chip and put as well as these guys with a good amount of practice.   I have played with really good am chippers and putters who would have out performed what I saw out there. from 30 yards in.

 

Maybe I only noticed the presence of the old orange AD-DI shaft because it is so jarringly distinctive in its color scheme.  But when I spotted it, I saw it mated to new heads, which tells me that guys still love it and they have specifically shafted it into their newer heads.  I tried to look for this new Aldila Rogue shaft that folks are raving about, but I couldn't recognize it because it is muted in its color scheme.. 

 

I saw lots of irons and wedges that looked like they had NEW faces.   These guys care about spin because they can generate it, we can't.  They get spin on the third hops of 5 irons.   We think we have spin if we get a Lob Wedge to back up 3 feet.   For most of the guys, it was not a choice of driver/3 wood.   It was usually driver or 2 iron.   I didn't see a lot of 3 woods even.

 

After the 3rd round, when Gonzales had about a 4 shot lead, we said, "Well, we don't need to come back tomorrow, because he can't lose."  That course is simply not a course where it's possible for a pro to hemorrage strokes.   Whole front nine is just iron play, they take their two birdies on the par fives, and move on.   Hard to catch up, but hard to puke away a lead.  Actually kind of boring.

 

I really didn't pay that much attention to putters or putter grips.   Most of the time, they play so similarly that they hit approaches to the same spots on greens.  If you know that spot is a "no make" spot, you turn away and look at something else.   Something you can't do on TV.   TV is able to create drama about putts.  I don't know how they do it.  We think "Hey, this might go in."  When you're watching live, you go, "He's not gonna make it, let's watch the other group hit drives on the next hole."  

 

And then of course half the time you're watching the tour wives and wife wannabees, which you rarely get to see on screen on TV.   They're always out there and they are quite distinctive.   I can tell you that the next time I go to a pga event, you'll probably find me following Dufner around for that reason alone.  And Kay Cockerill is prettier in person than she is on TV.   I think that a Holly Sonders in person would probably seem too over-the-top stripper plasticky for belief.

 

Worst job in broadcasting?  The guy on the crane cam, no question.