Brennans Caddy Report-The Wachovia Championship
Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:14:32
This week's event, the Wachovia Championship, has the feel of a major and is as close to a major as you are going to get. The moment you step foot on Quail Hollow Country Club it has a great feeling from the course itself to the great hospitality. I know in previous reports I have mentioned how good this event is for caddies and for the players so I won't go on too much. I do have to say that players are issued Mercedes Benz courtesy cars, which is a nice perk for the players. The caddy hospitality lounge is first class, it is in a great location and has some fantastic food. We are allowed to valet park at the clubhouse which makes it great and ') onmouseover=javascript: showMenu(popup_folder226496) onmouseout=javascript:Hide_Popups(popup_folder226496); href=http://sps.mikeweir.com/mediaworld/view_modify.sps?siteid=364&itype=6668#>saves a lot of time over the week. If you were to set up a model on how to host a tournament all you would have to do is get the tournament manual for this event and follow it to a tee! There is a reason that 46 of the top 50 in the world are here this week, it's ') onmouseover=javascript: showMenu(popup_folder226496) onmouseout=javascript:Hide_Popups(popup_folder226496); href=http://sps.mikeweir.com/mediaworld/view_modify.sps?siteid=364&itype=6668#>because this is a first class event.
') onmouseover=javascript: showMenu(popup_folder226496) onmouseout=javascript:Hide_Popups(popup_folder226496); href=http://sps.mikeweir.com/mediaworld/view_modify.sps?siteid=364&itype=6668#>') onmouseover=javascript: showMenu(popup_folder226496) onmouseout=javascript:Hide_Popups(popup_folder226496); href=http://sps.mikeweir.com/mediaworld/view_modify.sps?siteid=364&itype=6668#>The host course this week is the Quail Hollow Golf Club, also one of the best courses we play on tour. This course is capable of handling a major championship the way it is right now, therefore they would not have to make any changes. There are not many courses that you can say that about so that tells you how I feel about the course. The condition is fantastic and the weather has been perfect for getting the course hard and fast this week. It is very similar to Augusta National around the greens with the hard fast conditions, very firm greens and balls rolling in the fairways. It really makes the players think a lot more rather than just getting up and hitting with a driver on every hole. It is very important to hit the ball in the fairway and to do that you may have to hit fairway woods and iron off some of the tees. The fairways are so hard and fast that distance will not be a problem, the key is going to be to get it in the fairway and get the ball rolling. The rough is not as long as it has been in the past and is very playable as far as tour rough goes. However it will be very difficult to keep the balls on the green from the rough as you will not be able to spin the ball. The condition of the greens is fantastic, they are firm and very fast and it is still early in the week. If the weather holds up and the rain stays away these could be the fastest greens on tour all year.
The Wednesday pro-am this week is creating a buzz in the area as Tiger is teaming up with Michael Jordan and one other amateur. This week pro-am is the only one all year that has one PGA Tour player and two amateurs, usually its one pro and four amateurs. One very fortunate person got picked to play with them so that has got to be a highlight of their golfing career. I can only imagine how he is going to feel on the first tee after they announce Tiger and then Michael! Having only three people in the group makes the pro-am go by very quickly and is much better as you really have the ability to communicate with your partners.
I must say that I am very disappointed my Dallas Stars have been eliminated from the playoffs after a tough first round loss. It is amazing how many golfers are hockey fans and everyone seems to chat hockey during the last few weeks of playoffs. I know that there were a lot of guys who would have loved to have seen the Stars play last week when the Byron Nelson event was going on but unfortunately the season was cut a little shorter than normal. I hope the Senators can keep up their good play and bring the cup back to Canada!
I am looking forward to a great week. However don't expect the scores to be a low as they have been here due to the firm conditions. I think it will be more difficult to hit the ball close to the hole and harder to make birdies.
Thanks for reading!
Brennan Little
