World Cup: Royal Melbourne On Edge!
The unprecedented pairing of the Australian Masters and World Cup in back-to-back weeks at Royal Melbourne posed only one possible issue: two weeks of tournament conditions on one course which happens to have some pretty wild green contours.
While officials are downplaying the griping, the scores and player comments suggest Royal Melbourne is on edge heading into Saturday's third round of the World Cup. Matt Murnane reports.
One of the tournament's headliners, Ireland star Graeme McDowell, admitted the course was ''driving him insane'', however insisted he was loving the challenge of lightning putts and sometimes impossible-to-judge approach shots - comparing it to the type of test you only got at golf's majors. That appraisal was backed up by Denmark's Thomas Bjorn, who leads the individual section of tournament at eight under par, and his closest rival American Kevin Streelman (-7), who added that the pace of the greens seemed as quick as Augusta, the home of the US Masters.
But it was comments from Australian star Jason Day, third at four under, that set off concerns that controlling the pace of putts and the bounce of approach shots could prove impossible as the course continues to deal with the toll of hosting two tournaments in two weeks.
Asked whether he felt the course was verging on being unplayable, Day's response forced Australian PGA tournament director Andrew Langford-Jones to face the media and squash concerns that the organisers could be facing a potential problem over the weekend.
''You look at the ninth hole. G-Mac [McDowell] landed his [approach shot] just on the green and it bounced and rolled 30 paces,'' Day said.
If memory serves, a very nice approach area short of the green is provided to land the ball short and run it up. Just a thought!
Martin Blake said officials downplayed rumors of epic Stimpmeter readings.
Two players said they had heard the greens were running at 15 on the stimpmeter, an astonishing figure. But the PGA Tour of Australasia's tournaments director Andrew Langford-Jones said the stimpmeter reading this morning was 13.8, adding he had not heard any complaints from players in the locker room.
Thomas Bjorn leads. You can follow the scores here. In the USA, Golf Channel coverage starts at 8 pm ET.
Friday, November 22, 2013 at 09:59 AM 41 Comments | in 2013 PGA Tour, Australia, Course Setup, Maintenance 
Reader Comments (41)
'They just don't see that shot anymore'
The greens are pretty borderline though - just on the right side of sanity but only just and the majority here this week would never have seen anything like it.
'We are not playing American target golf here this week.'
Being able to land at the front of 10 (18 west) and have it bounce back to that pin arguably makes that shot easier. Lots of shots finished close there yesterday.
The fact that there were no players in the locker room when Andrew passed through was of no consequence...
;0)
..."unlike last week, we are not playing American target golf here this week."
;)
DTF
+1
Mike, wasn't 9 th hole that McDowell ran in into the hole for a 2? Stimped pretty well then!
Green? Really! help..
I think all is well, you guy just get out there and play.
And you guys want to make fun of the Bethpage crowds?!? LOL...Jason didn't look like he got much of a kick out of it.
Having said that, looks like the good ol' USA are making another good showing in yet another event centered on the "non-American" style of golf ;) Looks like a 2 team race at this point...
Yes he went 1-11 in back to back holes. 38 on front nine with an 11 on a par 4. Shot 1 over 72 with an ace, an eagle and an eleven. Top that Phil!
I swear, people are terribly insecure when you try to relate something constructive to them. "How do you like the course?" "I think it's great, although I feel like it was almost over the edge on Thursday and Friday. Close to it. It's really great though." "Oh, well, you're Canadian right? Well, one week over here and then you're back to bombing it and hitting it high." Relax Royal Melbourne lovers.
ps: tell the locals it's a huge adjustment since you grew up playing among polar bears, muskeg, and snow drifts until the Canada Day long weekend.
Oh...and if you got the time after the tourney. Make your way to St Kilda & enjoy all it has to offer it's a neat little part of Melbourne.
Don't worry!! I went out to Royal Melbourne to see the World Cup and the greens where no where near on "the edge". The days when everyone starts to get a little nervous about the greens are those days when the temperature is 40 degrees C (100F) and a howling hot northerly wind is blowing, they can dry out quick which can make things interesting. At the moment it is around 20degrees C with a (1-2 club) cool breeze.
Those in charge of the course set up also have been around the Melbourne Sandbelt a long time and could turn down the "volume" on the greens if they thought things were getting/going to get out of hand. The condition of the greens are excellent and they actually look far better at the course than on TV. It seems the course has comfortably coped with the two weeks of golf as we all have here in Melbourne.
.
How can you possibly judge a the architectural merits of a golf course by the 'quality' of the field that turns up to play it?
The PGA players were not there last week - or this week - because despite them all saying the 'love playing the sandbelt' they only love it enough to bother to play if they get a big chunk of cash to come down.
Is Doral a great course because Tiger and Phil play every year?
munihack.
All true - couldn't agree more re the ball - but in RM's case they used to have the greens at crazy speeds in the 70s when the ball wasn't a problem. I was there in 74 when Trevino famously told them 'to get a picture if me going out the gate because they won't get one of me coming back here again.' It was closer to the edge then than it is this week. It would be on the edge this week if the weather had been warm - but its been cool for two weeks now.
Thoughts?
The talk of RM is overdone. Yes, it is a great course, but a great course should be discussed to compare other great courses and not demean them as somehow inferior.
One moronic Melbuorne sports commentator still has egg on his face with his 2011 Presidents Cup call that the Americans stood no chance as all they understood was target golf. Peter Thomson's retort that these are the best guys in the world and they'll quickly adapt to any conditions still reminds me of an overlooked feature of successful golfers.
Brad, l take great pride in telling you the most enjoyable golfing experience I've had was being lucky enough to play St George's in Toronto. It's couirse that should be included in any sensible discussion on what makes a golf course great.
That moronic commentator would be me I assume.
The local paper did make a headline of it - when I wrongly predicted the Americans would fall for the same trap as they did in 1998. Then they had very little idea how to play RM is a fierce North Wind.
They were much better last time.
Without pumping up your tyres, I enjoy your commentary, writing and insights. A great feature of golf is that there is so much more to it than just the result of a tournament, so the game lends itself to sensible discussion and debate.
Usually, Australian golf commentary is refreshingly balanced and respectful of foreign players who venture to our shores. The past fortnight has been closer to the edge than RM's greens.
I said the same thing as the SEN guy though- but hopefully I know more about golf than they do!
Great players want to play Great courses. The course they are playing is actually TWO golf courses cobbled together to make "RM". so the course they are playing is not even a full 18 of ONE course.
Great ? NOT.
Have you ever played the West Course.? It's great on its own and the main reason for making the Composite is there are no road crossings.
You would get and argument from Bill Coore,Ben Crenshaw,Tom Doak and Gil Hanse on your not 'great' call. It would be a hard argument to win.