Bay Hill Invitational Presented by MasterCard

The Tour Championship © Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images

Mike and I had last week off from Tour and it was nice to relax a little bit.  I managed to play a few rounds of golf with my Dad who was visiting Tampa.  And we are back on the road again this week for three great events starting with the Bay Hill Invitational this week in Orlando, Florida.  There always is a lot to do in Orlando at this time of the year, and the city is bustling with tourists on spring break.  There are some really great restaurants in the area if you can ever get in!

This is the first time we have played in this tournament since 2001 and this year the field is very strong.  We played in a pro-am today (Tuesday) which is different from most events when the pro-am falls on the Wednesday.

Since 2001, the Bay Hill golf course has undergone a few changes.  The par 5, 4th hole has been lengthened by 45 yards making it unreachable for most players in two shots.  The par 5, 16th has been changed as well to include water in front and to the left of the green.  The par 3, 17th has also been altered making it more receptive for a long par 3.  Other changes since we have last played here in 2001 included the addition of new grass for the greens.  This made the putting surfaces very hard and players found it very difficult to keep the ball on the greens downwind, but they have worked on the conditions to fix this.  Overall the course is more playable with all of the changes.
 
Bay Hill is truly a demanding golf course.  The greens have some slope and demand accurate iron shots in order to make birdies.  The rough this year is quite thick and very penal, and with the rain in the forecast for this week it will only get deeper as the week goes on.  Generally, the course is very soft already and looks to stay that way for at least the first few days of play, making the par 72, 7239 yard course longer than usual.

There are a few holes I want to tell you about in further detail, number 6, 8 and the finishing holes 16,17, and 19. 

The sixth hole is a very scenic hole and always a topic of conversation.  You may remember it as the hole John Daly made famous a few years ago while getting into trouble and posting a very high score.  It is a 558 yard par 5 dogleg left, curling around a lake that borders the left side of the fairway.  It is up to the player as to how much water they want to carry off the tee, the more they carry the shorter the second shot will be.  If you happen to get a little greedy it can be a very penalizing hole as many players have found out the hard way.  A very good risk-reward hole.

Number 8 is also a great hole, a 459 yard par 4 with a dogleg right.  It is a must to get the ball in play off the tee, followed by a mid iron approach shot over a small lake to a narrow green that has a lot of slope from back to front.  The second shot always seems to be a very tricky shot as the wind tends to swirl around the green, making it a great spectator hole.

16 through to 18 are three great finishing holes.  Number 16 is a reachable par 5 that can yield some eagles and lots of birdies if played correctly.  It has water in front of the green and to the left and can make for some excitement on the back nine on Sunday.  17 is a long iron par 3, normally a 3 or 4 iron to a green that has always been a rock hard surface.  Water guards the front of the green, resulting in most hitting the ball over the green.  Hard par 3 to make par on and there are very few birdies on this hole. 

Number 18 is in my opinion one of the top finishing holes in golf!   A drive in the fairway is a must in order to have any chance of hitting the green in two.  The second shot is normally a mid to long iron and all over water.  The wind tends to swirl a lot like number 8 and therefore it can play tricky.  If you are going to win on Sunday you have to hit some good shots coming in, especially on this hole!
 
This would be a great week to gain some momentum for our upcoming events, The Players Championship and the Masters. 

Thanks for reading and enjoy the week!