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The Masters - a Dissapointment?


westy

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First and foremost congratulations to Jordan spieth, best player over 4 days won the masters. Please don't view my next comments as anything negative about Jordan.

 

 

I'm dissapointed, at least I think I am, by this years Masters. I may just be getting old and cranky.

 

Something was missing for me this year from day 1 onwards, I think it's to do with the drama we normally get from the speed and difficulty of the course. I know the weather didn't help, but the course was to receptive, the fringes too long and the greens way to slow (ok not for me - I'd have 5 putted all of them).

 

I never once felt that one of the players in contention was going to make a treble; balls didn't roll 25 yards off the green, balls held up on banks and down hill putts just didn't seem scary enough.

 

I reckon Spieth still wins at a canter but the spectacle would have been so much greater.

 

With the Open at St. Andrews this year we'll see low scoring (barring 40mph winds) so I hope the USGA are going to make the U.S. Open brutal.

Rest in peace long sticks - I'll remember you

 

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Yea I'm kinda with you Westy. What Jordan did was impressive but the course was way too easy compared to normal. I thought they should have at least tried out the greens. O well, it's over now.

Driver- Tmag 2017 M2 tour issue 8.5* actual loft 7.8* w/ HZRDS Green PVD 70TX"
Fairway Metal- Taylormade SLDR Mini Driver 12* w/ Fujikura Rombax TP95-X"

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In the end weather plays a huge role in these things - you can't control it and it's hard to get firm and fast from wet and cool.  I do agree that the back nine on Sunday lacked the usual drama although I'm guessing that if you asked Spieth I'm guessing that he would say he didn't feel comfortable until after he hit his tee shot on 18.

 

I've also seen the course go the other way BTW - the first couple of Tiger proof years the course played like a US Open - but that was because it was very cold and windy to the point that much of the field couldn't even reach 15 in two.  It is what it is.  If you like brutal you might get it at the US Open or if the weather were right Whistling could act up - you can have weather in the 50's with tons of wind that time of year along lake Michigan in Wisconsin.

 

I like it that the weather goes into things - oddly it's what I've always appreciate about your Open Westy, the weather is a huge part of the story.

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I was a little disappointed.  I expect rock hard hard greens rolling at about a 15.  Guys were sticking it from the rough and pine straw all week.......there was little punishment for missing a fairway.  I started looking at scores from the past and there have been quite a few guys in the -12 to -18 range, but for the most part, they won by a bunch, they didn't have a group of guys within 4-5 shots of them.

 

I think the USGA takes note of this and we'll see a brutal US Open this year.

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I agree weather is huge. They could've have firmed up the greens though. That facility is so advanced that they can nearly do whatever they want to the greens no matter the weather. I would've been fine with the rest of the course playing how It was.

Driver- Tmag 2017 M2 tour issue 8.5* actual loft 7.8* w/ HZRDS Green PVD 70TX"
Fairway Metal- Taylormade SLDR Mini Driver 12* w/ Fujikura Rombax TP95-X"

Utility- Mizuno MPH5 1 iron w/ Aldila RIP 85X (depending on course/ conditions)

Irons- Mizuno MP- FLI HI 2i w/ Aldila Proto ByYou 100X
          Mizuno MP59 4i-6I w/ PX 6.5

          Mizuno MP69 7i-PW w/ PX 6.5

Wedges- Scratch 8620 Driver/Slider set.  50*, 54* bent to 55* and 60*

Putter- Taylormade Spider Tour w/ flow neck
Ball- Bridgestone Tour B X

Bag- Sun Mountain C130 Supercharged

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So many balls hang up now and don't roll back into ponds, you don't see guys blowing it over 15 and into the water on 16, slow ass receptive greens and just overall easy conditions.

 

Tigers' interview after Saturdays round said it all when asked about Spieth's performance - pretty much said course is too easy anyone one their A game would be putting up these scores and that Augusta has chickened out and a shell of its former self.

 

Congrats to Spieth on winning, but sadly he didn't play the Augusts of past.

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As  good as Jordan played Thursday and Friday, if the course would have been set up like you guys are wanting, he has a 10 stroke lead going into Saturday, and probably 14-15 by Sunday.

 

A difficult course may see Tiger going home Friday night, not hanging on and playing well on Saturday.

 

There was no drama, matter of opinion by the way, on the back 9 because Jordan responded on the front 9. Clearly, Rose came out intending to put pressure on with birdies on 1 and 2. But Jordan's birdies on 1 and 3. Jordan began a melt down on 5 & 7 and builds the lead back on 8 & 10. The real reason there was "no drama" was Spieth didn't allow it.

 

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42nd Driving Distance

2nd Greens in Regulation

Sand Saves 2/4. Only hit 4 bunkers!!!!

3rd in Putting

1st in Birdies (by 4)

1st Par 3 Birdies

2nd Par 4 Birdies

1st Par 5 Birdies

 

You can talk about how "easy" the course was all you want, but the reason for "no drama" on the back 9 is Spieth.

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As  good as Jordan played Thursday and Friday, if the course would have been set up like you guys are wanting, he has a 10 stroke lead going into Saturday, and probably 14-15 by Sunday.

 

A difficult course may see Tiger going home Friday night, not hanging on and playing well on Saturday.

 

There was no drama, matter of opinion by the way, on the back 9 because Jordan responded on the front 9. Clearly, Rose came out intending to put pressure on with birdies on 1 and 2. But Jordan's birdies on 1 and 3. Jordan began a melt down on 5 & 7 and builds the lead back on 8 & 10. The real reason there was "no drama" was Spieth didn't allow it.

 

22nd Driving Accuracy

42nd Driving Distance

2nd Greens in Regulation

Sand Saves 2/4. Only hit 4 bunkers!!!!

3rd in Putting

1st in Birdies (by 4)

1st Par 3 Birdies

2nd Par 4 Birdies

1st Par 5 Birdies

 

You can talk about how "easy" the course was all you want, but the reason for "no drama" on the back 9 is Spieth.

Course played too easy all week though. I saw multiple players say that were thrown off by how slow the greens were, not just Tiger. I'm not saying that Jordan wasn't a deserving champion bc he earned It but the course was too easy all week. Also I think that if the greens had played firmer all week that would've brought some other names closer to the top. Particularly the ones with higher ball flight.

Driver- Tmag 2017 M2 tour issue 8.5* actual loft 7.8* w/ HZRDS Green PVD 70TX"
Fairway Metal- Taylormade SLDR Mini Driver 12* w/ Fujikura Rombax TP95-X"

Utility- Mizuno MPH5 1 iron w/ Aldila RIP 85X (depending on course/ conditions)

Irons- Mizuno MP- FLI HI 2i w/ Aldila Proto ByYou 100X
          Mizuno MP59 4i-6I w/ PX 6.5

          Mizuno MP69 7i-PW w/ PX 6.5

Wedges- Scratch 8620 Driver/Slider set.  50*, 54* bent to 55* and 60*

Putter- Taylormade Spider Tour w/ flow neck
Ball- Bridgestone Tour B X

Bag- Sun Mountain C130 Supercharged

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Well I'm glad it wasn't just me!

 

I say again Spieth deserved to win - but The Masters ain't the Masters for me without crazy fast greens and some border line unfair bounces and bad luck.

Rest in peace long sticks - I'll remember you

 

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TM RBZ Stage 2 Fairway 14.5 stiff

Adams Blue Hybrid No. 3 stiff

Adams Super xtdHybrid 21.5 Stiff

 

Ping G30 4 and 5 Iron - Regular CFS Shaft

Ping i25 6 - PW Regular CFS Shaft

TM Y Groove Gap Wedge

Cleveland CG10 Sand Wedge

 

PingTR Piper Putter, adjustable shaft, SuperStroke Fatso

 

Titleist StaDry Cart Bag

 

Motocaddy S3 Pro Trolley

 

Foot Joy City, Adidas Boost Boa and Adidas Superstar shoes

 

Pro V1x in the summer, Titleist Velocity in the winter.

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I'm sorry but with all due respect to Tiger he has no room to talk.  When he set his record two of the par 5's played driver wedge for him.  I loved the guy in his prime but his act is getting very, very old.  Never accepts accountability for playing poorly and is not a particularly gracious loser.   

 

I do agree with MBP - I saw any number of balls hold up that I expected to roll back into the water on 12 and 15 and in former years there would always seem to be shots that caromed off the back of 15 into the pond - also shots would roll off left of 10 or into the pond on 11 if you hit the left side of the green.

 

Again I think that weather has a part in this - despite the sophistication you can't get everything out of the greens if it rains the night before and then is damp.

 

I also agree with RR - it could have been much worse in terms of margin of victory.  The course is the course and the guys playing best generally contend and win.

Taylor Made Stealth 2 10.5 Diamana S plus 60  Aldila  R flex   - 42.25 inches 

SMT 4 wood bassara R flex, four wood head, 3 wood shaft

Ping G410 7, 9 wood  Alta 65 R flex

Srixon ZX5 MK II  5-GW - UST recoil Dart 65 R flex

India 52,56 (60 pending)  UST recoil 75's R flex  

Evon roll ER 5 32 inches

It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD   

 

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Here's an article from 2012 on the Sub-Air System installed under Augusta's greens...
 

Augusta's greens: Secrets to magic carpet ride

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Patrons look on during a practice round prior to the start of the 2012 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. ( Getty Images )
By Bradley S. Klein 

Friday, April 6, 2012

   

Rain this week has taken some of the bite out of Augusta National's notoriously tricky greens. What a shame, because in the run-up to the 2012 Masters, conditions were ideal for a firm, fast setup that would have put the golfers on a nervous edge in terms of controlling surface roll. World-class players want control of the game, and that usually means the aerial game. The ground game is up to the maintenance and design folks. And, as we are reminded this week, the weather gods.

 

Until last week, the warmest, driest winter in decades had left the region 7 inches below normal for the year in precipitation. That left the golf course with a firm, consistent and dry coat of turf grass.

 

Unfortunately for TV viewers and for those tournament officials who like to present a multi-colored image of the golf course, it also meant that Augusta National's famous nursery beds of azaleas, nandia and golden bell (among many other species) had bloomed out early and reverted to monochromatic green. All the icing down in the world can't fend off Mother Nature. So the course will look duller than usual. No need to adjust the color values on your home TV screen.

 

As for the greens, the midweek rains that shut down Wednesday's Par 3 Contest mean that the putting surfaces will be more receptive. Given maintenance practices, there will be virtually no loss of surface speeds. Drainage is so good and the subsurface growing medium so well constructed and aerated that the greens still will roll in the 13.5 range on the Stimpmeter.

 

That's a far cry from the Bermudagrass days, pre-1981, when some greens ran at nearly half that speed. Back in 1977, the year of Tom Watson's first Masters victory, the U.S. Golf Association measured the greens at Augusta National and found them to average 7.9 on the prototype Stimpmeter then in use. Not only were the greens much slower back then but they also varied dramatically from one to the next, with the par-3 12th hole measuring only 6.3 and the sixth green, also a par 3, topping out at 9.5. Arguably, it took more skill back then to adjust to such different putting surfaces. This week, regardless of average speed, the variance across the entire golf course will be no more than plus/minus 3 inches.

 

The micro-management of Augusta National's greens is nowhere more impressive than in the notoriously low-lying area of Amen Corner, where holes 11, 12 and 13 are located along Rae's Creek and a smaller, unnamed tributary. There, 170 feet below the elevation of the clubhouse, air circulation is more limited than anywhere on the course and the area remains marginally cooler and with less sunlight than other sections of the course. A system of pipes allows for warming and/or cooling of these putting surfaces. Grow lights at the 12th green afford a means of counteracting shade. And gradual progress has been made in opening up some corridors in the trees for sun.

 

All of the greens at Augusta National have been equipped with SubAir equipment. This is the subsurface air-flow technology devised by the club's senior director of golf course and grounds, Marsh Benson, and now marketed independently. SubAir works only with greens built to the modern specifications for sand-based construction developed by the USGA's Green Section. It won't work on old-fashioned, push-up greens because those models don't have the internal drainage structure created by the tiered structure of porous material that flows down into outlet pipes.

 

The SubAir unit is basically an air pump that hooks into the outlet drains of the greens. It can be used to pump air out of the green, thereby creating a vacuum effect that draws water or residual moisture out of the green surface – thereby expediting internal drainage. The SubAir pump also can be run in reverse to drive air into the system to achieve subsurface cooling. The machinery is of marginal assistance in drying out greens but cannot replace or compensate for poorly constructed greens. The technology is an expensive indulgence and therefore beyond the reach of most clubs. But Augusta National isn't like most clubs.

 

More important than SubAir is simply a sound year-round maintenance program. Mowing alone can't achieve the speeds they get for the Masters. If you tried to do that, you'd beat the turfgrass into submission and it would quit on you. Instead, the A1 bentgrass greens are readily top-dressed, aerated, rolled and kept as dry as possible. Growth regulators help, as does reducing fertilization going into tournament week

 

Even with all the rain this week, the surface speeds will be there. But there will still likely be just enough ambient moisture residing in the greens to make them a little more receptive than officials would like. That tends to level out the playing field because it allows less-than-perfectly struck shots to stay. The ideal is for the greens to be firm and hard enough so that only perfectly crisp, well-spun iron shots hold. That would tend to reward only the best play.

 

One effect of the slightly more receptive greens is to open the door for some players who might otherwise have little chance. Unless, of course, the weather dries out completely by the weekend, as looks possible.

 

Weather aside, those greens remain among the most compelling in all of golf. At 6,435 square feet in average size, they are just slightly above the norm for U.S. golf. But they have more three-dimensional contour than just about any other quality surfaces that function well. There are courses with more greens contour, but those are over-the-top and out-of-control.

The amazing thing about all of these greens is their internal rolls and swales and their personal characters. The green at the par-4 14th hole is one of those putting surfaces where if you fire it at the pin, the ball always seems to roll away into a spot that leaves you in trouble. You have to know precisely where to hit it from the fairway.

 

That's the test of an interesting green; one you need to read from afar. The maintenance program at Augusta National allows the character of those contours to stand out like no others in tournament golf. Start with interesting contours. Keep them firm and fast and as dry as possible with good internal drainage, and you have all the elements of the kind of golf theater that make the Masters the best show in the game.

 

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This year's Masters reminded me of the US Open last year. It was never really in doubt after Friday. Not a bad thing but didn't pull me in to watch on Sunday.

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I wouldn't say it was disappointing, but I kept waiting for someone to make a move, and it just never happened, everytime Phil or Justin tried, Jordan would just birdie one of his own, it kind of room the wind out of the sails, he never came back to the field, that's why there was no drama, he never faltered

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