Brennans Caddy Report-the Memorial Tournament

It was a bit unfortunate that we were unable to play last week at the Colonial but looking back it may not have been such a bad thing. The weather did not cooperate and there was a lot of sitting around waiting for the course to become playable, which makes for a very long week. With two weeks off it was great to hang out at home.  We celebrated my little boys first birthday last weekend which was great. I am not so sure at 1 that he had any idea of what was going on but it was a good time nonetheless.
 
On Monday Mike and I went to visit Oakmont Country Club, for a practice round for the US Open.  It was the first time we have seen the course and it is tough.  I really think that Oakmont is going to be one of the hardest coures we have played. The rough is very long and thick and the greens are big with all kinds of slope. It is nothing like I expected at all, there is not one tree that comes into play. I was expecting an old tree lined course with small greens much like most of the other major sites. It is going to make for a very interesting US Open and they key is going to be to get the ball in the fairway and being able to make a lot of 5-15 foot putts.
 
This week's event is the Memorial Tournament that is played on one of the better courses we play all year long, Muirfield Village Golf Club. It is also the start of another three tournament stretch, much like the last three we just played whereby we are finishing with a major. I consider the Players Championship a major as it has the best field in golf and has the feel of a major. The US Open will cap this stretch off and I am really looking forward to it.

I said in the report a few weeks back that I thought the last three events were very important to get the ball rolling leading up to the summer and I truly believe that they were a success. I know that we would have liked to finish in bit higher in all of them but they were three solid tournaments and the results were not as good as Mike played. I don't say that very often because I know that every player out here feels he could have played better each week but Mike really played better than the results showed in those events.
 
The Memorial which is Jack Nicklaus' tournament caused a lot of controversy last year when he went to the new rakes that put the big grooves in the bunkers. It was designed to make them more penal and it definitely did that as well as make a lot of guys upset. This year the bunkers are much better even though they are using the same rakes, they have added a lot of sand in the traps which minimizes the grooves the rakes leave. The one thing that is going to happen with all the sand is that there are going to be a lot of plugged lies. If your ball flies directly into the trap there is a good chance it is going to plug and that is not where you want to be. PGA Tour players have gotten so good out of bunkers that it is much better to be there than in the rough and Jack doesn't think that it should be that way.  He feels in the old days you were penalized for hitting into bunkers, which is the reason he is doing what he's doing.
 
The course has been the same for the last few years, some very minor changes that are hardly noticeable and one significant change on number 15. Much like Augusta National where subtle changes are done and few people know about them, they are always tinkering with small slopes around the greens. I know that Jack likes to keep things quiet but after playing around yesterday they have softened a few slopes and added a little on some, all very slightly and just enough to have the ball react a bit different than past years. It is important to really take a look during the practice rounds because you assume putts will be a certain speed after playing here so many times and that is when it can fool you. The have lengthened the 15th tee about 30 yards which will make the par 5 a little longer and a bit tougher but I still expect most guys to be able to get there.
 
The condition of the course is as good as we see anywhere on tour. I remember when I got to come here to play in the US Junior Championship I was amazed at the condition. It has remained that way for 20 years now and there really are no flaws on the course. The tees and greens are perfect and the fairways are also great.  The rough this year is very playable but there are spots where it is bad.  I like the way the greens have been holding so far this week and I would expect them to get a bit harder over the next few days.  There has been high humidity here lately as well so I don't see the greens getting overly firm.  
 
I am looking for some good scores this week.  With the hot, humid weather it will probably mean there will not be much wind. This is going to make for some really good scoring conditions for the field so expect good scores and hopefully a good week from Mike!

Thanks for reading,

Brennan Little