Brennans Caddy Report-Deutsche Bank Championship

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:14:12

The playoffs have finally begun! No I don't think it drawing quite the excitement that the Stanley Cup playoffs would, but the first playoff event for the Fed Ex Cup is now behind us. I have been asked by a lot of people the last few weeks about the format of these playoffs and I am really not sure how to answer that. I know they needed to do something to create a little interest for the events at the end of the year. I think once this year has concluded we will be able to evaluate the point system and adjust it if need be to make it better. As far as this year everyone just has to play their best and advance through as many weeks as possible. 144 guys started last week and in my mind that is way too many, if you are going to have a true playoffs they should shorten the field and make it more difficult to get in. This week we are down to 120 and then 70 for next week which I think is great.

This weeks event is the Deutsche Bank event which is played just outside of Boston on the new TPC Boston. Most of us stay in Providence, Rhode Island, which is the same distance from the course as Boston is but you don't have to fight traffic. This event has been around for three of four years but is the first time Mike and I have ever been to the course. One very unique thing this week is that the tournament starts on Friday and ends on Monday. A few years back ABC wanted to have another sporting event on Labor Day therefore they changed this event to a Monday finish which was fine. Not that this event is part of the playoffs I am not a big fan of the late finish. For all the guys who are in the field next week in Chicago the have to make their way there on Tuesday and if they are not in the Wednesday pro am they are behind the eight ball. I would like to see the tournament go back to the regular Thursday-Sunday time slot if it is going to be one of the big Playoff events as the tour is promoting. As far as the event goes I have always heard the course wasn't the best but the hospitality was great.

At the end of each year the tour sends out a survey to each player and asks them to rate each course, what they would like to see changed and anything they think that can improve the event. TPC Boston has been tinkered with three times now and after seeing the course for the first time it is much better that I thought it was going to be. I guess when you hear negative talk about a course for a few years your expectations are lower, but I think this course is quite good. This has to be the first time that I have seen a course make changes and actually shorten the course! Every time you see changes nowadays they are adding new tees to make the course longer, not here where it has gotten shorter. It has always been more of a long ball hitters course as witnessed by the winners of the event, Vijay, Tiger, and Adam Scott. The fairways tend to be a little wider than most tour fairways and the greens are quite firm which really puts the high ball hitters at an advantage. If you are hitting shorter irons into firm greens the ball tends to spin more than those guys who have to hit longer irons.

The course features a good mixture of holes, quite a few where water comes into play. Number 2 is a par 5 that bends slightly to the right and the second shot is all over water. Important to take the water out of play but over the green leave a tough chip. That seems to be the case on a lot of holes where the water or large traps are short of the green forcing the player to err long which can make for some tough up and downs. 7 is another great par 5 that has a cross bunker 75 yards in front of the green which blocks the view for the approach shot. A good risk reward hole, lay up short of the trap and wedge the ball on or go for it and risk the difficult chip.

The back is a better nine in my opinion and 11-13 is a great stretch. 11 is a 235 par 3 that plays a bit uphill and is going to be long iron to fairway wood for most. The green isn't real tricky but tough enough for the length of the shot, it's a hole where par is a good score. 12 is a straight away par 4 that has a long thin green guarded by water. Its one of those holes that you have to take the water out of play but at the same time over the green isn't the best place to be. 13 is the toughest hole on the course, it is a 480 yard par 4 where the fairway starts at 260 yards. That is correct, 260 and we all know that the longer hitters wont have a problem with that carry yardage but if they keep the tees on the back tee area there are some guys who may not be able to get to the fairway. The approach shot is also quite tricky with all the undulation on the green, another hole where par is a good score. These three holes get the back nine off to a great start and from here you will have some birdie opportunities.

Overall I think the course is going to play very fast by the end of the week. There really isn't any rain forecasted for week so by weeks end the greens should be very hard and fast which will make for some exciting viewing. It would be a good time for us to have a good week so that we can advance to next week and hopefully get in the tour championship the following week which is only the top 30 on the FedEx Cup points list.