tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25555967.post114469134090522749..comments2024-02-09T08:07:26.090-08:00Comments on Dodgy At Best: Masters Day 4: Major Buildup, Major AnticlimaxKanuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959256951835399304noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25555967.post-1144788013411176742006-04-11T13:40:00.000-07:002006-04-11T13:40:00.000-07:00Let's say that the USGA comes in and announces Aug...Let's say that the USGA comes in and announces Augusta National will hold the 20xx US OPEN. What would they do? Make it par 70 by making 13 a par 4 and 2 a par 4. All things being equal, Phil shot +2. This proves the US Open point. I think the golfing community gets caught up in the amount of strokes over or under "par" someone is. As we both know Tiger has that great percentage when he plays in par 72 events. I think he even gets caught up in it. A possible weakness. HMMMMMMM......<BR/><BR/>Any way you may be on to something here. I still think it was a great week. I think the MEN will tweek the setup for the next few years to get what you are asking for. <BR/><BR/>That's my story.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25555967.post-1144782819813460032006-04-11T12:13:00.000-07:002006-04-11T12:13:00.000-07:00B-Good stuff as always. They certainly are in the...B-<BR/><BR/>Good stuff as always. They certainly are in their own world.<BR/><BR/>Let me be clear: I do not want to go back to pre 1997. The changes made since then have been very good, making the course much more challenging but still very playable and exciting. Much needed length was added but several non-length things were done as well: adding rough, trees right of #11, trees right of #15 & #17, making the fairway bunker bigger on #1, etc. Then some holes were lengthened further, and a nice balance seemed to be struck between making it more challenging/keeping scores from getting really low, and keeping lots of risk/reward golf that made it the most exciting tournament of the year for fans. I am just saying that the some of the latest length changes are starting to cross the line in my opinion, and that is 4,11, and 15, but mostly 11 & 15 because they affect the famous "back 9 on Sunday" thing. As I said #11 is now a US Open hole. Last year it was the most difficult hole statistically, so why add another 30 yeards and make it even harder? There was exactly ONE birdie on #11 on the weekend. Avg score was 4.6 so par means you gain 0.6 shots on the field. That is a US Open hole, not an exciting risk/reward hole. And 15 was not nearly as exciting as in year's past: it used to be 200 for the long hitters and 230 for the others over water to an insanely sloped green. Now it is 235 for the longest hitters and unreachable for everyone else, so it just wasn't nearly as exciting as it once was.<BR/><BR/>I just think they went a little overboard with these 2 and that it detracted from the excitement factor.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps they freaked because Tiger & DiMarco both shot -12 last year, and maybe they don't want the winning score to be in double digits. But no one else in the entire field did any better than -5 last year, and the two years before that the winning score was -9 and -7. 2003-2005 were as exciting as it gets, with 2 playoffs and the Phil/Els finish. It just seems like they may have messed too much with a good thing.<BR/><BR/>There is definitely a place for conservative, survive & advance, war of attrition golf. I love watching the US Open each year and seeing the best players in the world struggle to shoot par. I am just saying that The Masters is not the place for it, so I hope they seriously consider any future changes with regard to this, and if they do make changes they should get more creative then just lengthening holes. <BR/><BR/>As far as the balata goes, I don't know about that, but it is an interesting point. I thought that back then some dudes used the balata ball but most did not, but I'm not sure.Kanuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02959256951835399304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25555967.post-1144773509896878102006-04-11T09:38:00.000-07:002006-04-11T09:38:00.000-07:00Kanu, the thing you have failed to notice about th...Kanu, the thing you have failed to notice about the Master's is that they are their own golf world. The coarse CAN be stretched out to 7400+ yards but there were MANY tees that were moved up through out the week. The par 3 4th CAN be stretched out to 240 yards but you heard the players all week long saying "they were easy on us by moving the tees to the ladies tees today" or "they moved up the tees on holes X,Y & Z today". The MEN OF THE MASTER'S play by their own rules. I feel that the competition committee will be setting the tees and pins in challenging positions Thursday through Saturday. Sunday may be GREEN LIGHT day. The pins seemed to be in accessible places. Pins at 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 13, 15 and 18 seemed the least difficult to get to all week. I think the Augusta National has it right. I have never seen it live and in person but to win major championships you have to be able to do all facets of the game well. Not just bomb it were ever you want without any penalty form rough or trees. Now you really have to golf your ball round that track. I say that the changes will bring MORE of the field into play. Part of these changes may be trying to push the Orville Moody's and the Charles Cooty's of the world out of their tournament without disturbing Bobby Jones's wishes. The addition of the bothersome but not penal "2nd cut" is enough of a bother to the squirrelly drivers. The additional trees are penal for the misguided drivers. I watched the 96 Master's on Tuesday and I think the death of the Balata golf ball started these changes. Seeing Norman, Couples and Mickelson just rip backspin balls off those rock hard greens. That is a big defense that the course used to have that it doesn't anymore. The new golf balls don't spin anywhere near as much as the old ones did. Thoughts?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com