Brennans Caddy Report-The Wachovia Championship

The Wachovia Championship has always been one of the elite tournaments of the year with this year being no different. Since the inception of this event, Wachovia has been first class and as mentioned in the past year, is the model for tournaments to follow. Everything at this event is first class, from the golf course, to the hospitality, to the pro-ams. This event has forced most of the other tournaments on the PGA Tour to improve their respective events. The more the players talk about how good this event is, the more other tournaments do that much more. Overall, Wachovia has significantly improved the tour as a whole, making recently added tournaments such as the Zurich Classic, top notch events. I believe this championship should be thanked for elevating the way tournaments on the PGA are operated. In my 10 years out here, the overall organization and hospitality has increased tremendously.
 
The course here in Charlotte is definitely one of my favorites, and I think most tour players will agree. Quail Hollow Country Club is a solid, good old fashion golf course with large tree lined fairways. It seems that the courses that have difficult holes without being tricky are those that receive the most praise. The course is always in great condition from the fairways to the greens. There haven't been many changes to the course over the past few years, which also speaks of the course's caliber. Most courses on the PGA Tour undergo small changes each year to try to improve, but there have been only a few minor changes at Quail Hollow over the past five or six years. So far this week, the course has been playing a little softer and slower than normal due to a few inches of rain received on Monday.
 
Each year on the Wednesday prior to the tournament there is a pro-am which is a great time for sponsors to get to play with a tour player. There are normally three to four amateurs paired with one PGA tour player. This is the only week of the year that there are only two amateurs in each group. It makes for the best pro-am all year, and a great day. Wednesday rounds tend to be at least 5 hours, sometimes more, but this week we play in just over four hours. Even though I have no problem with large groups during pro-ams as I understand how much sponsors contribute to these events, but it is a nice treat to have smaller groups this year. It shows the Wachovia's commitment level to running a first class event.
 
The best part of the course is the last three holes, with 17 being the toughest. It is a par 3 that is over water to a very tricky green. The bail out area is to the right of the green, but that makes for a tough chip to save par. 16 and 18 are difficult par 4's and always provide some excitement coming down the stretch. The course is solid from start to finish and you have to play solid golf from tee to green in order to have a chance to win here.
 
This is a great week to get the ball rolling and play well. It's the first in a stretch of 4 events in 5 weeks, and with the Players Championship next week it is a good time to get hot. Mike has seen some good things in his game over the past few tournaments he has played, and it would be great to see the confidence carry on over this stretch.  I am looking forward to a good month of golf and this is probably the best week to get it started.