ARRIVAL
You can tell the TPC is a first class facility from the moment you arrive. The staff is plentiful and immediately help you unload your clubs at the bag drop, check you in at your car, and tell you exactly where you need to go. They had an outdoor booth set up for registration for the tournament, hand outs with the local rules and directions, and a food/beverage cart parked at the entrance to get you filled up on your nutrient needs for the day. Bonus: bottled water was free.
THE RANGE
The practice area is of course immaculate, with only grass teeing areas and brand new balls in neat little range bags. There were maybe 6-8 target zones with good varied distances. The only negative was that there are only about a dozen areas to hit from across, which for a shotgun event (such as ours) meant that everybody had to wait to get an opportunity to hit a few.
THE PRACTICE GREEN(s)
There were two greens in use, one for chipping and putting up near the range, and one for putting only down close to the clubhouse. I only used the clubhouse green. It was huge (probably 200 feet diameter), and it was lightning fast -- on a slight downhill putt just tapping the ball would easily send it 15-20 feet. It was also completely true, with nary a bounce to be seen.
THE PRO SHOP
Mostly souvenir type stuff, very nice but not all that big. I ended up getting a towel and a yardage guide (more on that...)
THE YARDAGE GUIDE
(...now.)
Simply the best/nicest/most interesting yardage guide I've ever seen. Every hole depicts ideal target zones off the tee with notes about how many pros hit that zone and how the scoring played out depending on where the tees balls went. For example, here's the info for the 18th hole:
Info from the top page: 70% of drives were in this 29 yard zone [the target area highlighted on the lower page]; 58.5% of players bettered par; Almost 85% of players hit this green in regulation, by far the highest of any hole in the Deutsche Bank Championship; Missing the green in regulation cost an average of 1.18 strokes versus those players who got home in regulation; Players only needed an average of 1.52 putts, the lowest of any hole on the back nine.
THE COURSE/THE ROUND
As I said we had a shotgun start, but I was fortunate enough to be starting on the 1st hole, so I played it the same way the pros do. I'll run through the hole-by-hole in a second, but first a quick comment about the conditions. Not surprisingly, everything is in fantastic shape. The tees are just about all perfect. The fairways have a nice firm turf and and very tightly cropped, and other than your usual divots there's hardly a blemish on them. The rough is thick and punishing (probably second only to Bethpage Black for courses I have played), and you might find a few more varied turf conditions there (i.e. hard spots, a few bare areas, but nothing out of the ordinary). I was in just one bunker, and the sand was a bit softer than I expected.
And that brings us to the greens. Ohhhhh, the greens. For putting they were what I would consider to be absolutely perfect. Unbelievably fast and, just like the practice green, 100% true. You could trust your line every time, and with the speed you just had to get the ball going in the right direction. I swear that because they were so tightly mowed and rolled the holes actually looked bigger. On the other hand, they were very firm and keeping your ball on the green with anything more than an 8- or 9-iron in your hand was extremely difficult.
We played the gold tees (6847 yards) in theory, but on many/most of the holes they had them pushed back to at or near the very tips (7241 yards). The gold rating and slope is a brutal 76.6/148 (par 72).
Let's get to the hole-by-hole:
1 A relatively gentle beginning, a 365 yard par 4. I hit a nice 2-hybrid off the tee, pulled ever-so-slightly and just found the rough on the left about 140 yards from the pin which was in the front of the green. I had what looked like a flier lie, so I hit 9 iron. It was dead at the stick, landed probably 10 feet past... and then bounced/rolled all the way off the back. So after 2 shots I already knew the greens were going to be tough to hold. My 3rd did little to convince me otherwise -- a nice easy chip that landed about 50% of the way between me and the hole... and promptly rolled off the front of the green. Yikes. Two putts from there for bogey. Score: 5. Round: +1.
2 I've twice gone to the Deutsche Bank and both times I've stood at the 300 yard driving point on the second hole. It's a great gradual dog-leg right par 5, with a drive that requires you to favor the left side of the fairway, else you risk several hazards (bunkers, fescue, a waste area) plus the possibility of being blocked out on your second. Most of the pros I've watched stick to that left side of the fairway, and then typically lay-up because the green is protected in front by a marsh and pond, there isn't a lot of room behind the green (at least when the galleries are there), and there is only a narrow isthmus of fairway that runs to the left of the water hazard. We played this hole really from the very tips -- much closer to the 554 yardage than the 510 reported for the golds. I hit a drive right to my spectator's spot -- 295 yards, left side of the fairway. Couldn't have been happier. I had about 220 to carry the hazard from there. The smart play of course would be to lay up. I didn't... but I chickened out a little and pulled a 2-hybrid to the left of the green and found a (brand new) bunker that was probably a good 40-50 yards from green center). I got out clean but as I mentioned the sand was soft and I didn't end up getting all the way to the green. I did make a good chip though, and my 5-footer went in for par. Score: 5. Round: +1.
3 The third is a somewhat uphill par 3 which is all carry over hazard, 184 yards. I hit 5-iron and pulled in left (safe), then what seemed like a good chip but again ran all the way through the green and into the 1st cut of rough past the apron. I chose to putt because of the lie and the up and down sloping shot that was left. And I holed it! Score: 3. Round: +1.
4 A short par 4 that essentially requires a lay up off the tee. This was not a good hole for me -- I hit a bad 2-hybrid right an into the hazard, had to drop back by the forward tees, hit an ok shot to the right of the green, then just a so-so chip and 2 putt for a double. Score: 6. Round: +3.
5 The 5th is a tough par 4 that plays between 410-465 yards from the golds/championship tees, but also requires a lay-up because of a hazard about 280 yards out. I hit 2-hybrid again, this time left to a position that gave me no view of the green. I then hit probably my best shot of the day -- a high 7-iron up over some very tall pines -- and found the back of the green. 2 putts for par. Score: 4. Round: +3.
6 A very tough and long par 4 (456 yards) that was playing into the wind. I popped up my drive and actually didn't even reach the fairway. From there I played fine -- a good 5-iron down to wedge range, 2 putts from the center of the green. Score: 5. Round: +4.
7 At this point in the round I was pretty pleased with how I was playing. I had been a little erratic off the tee, but my iron play and putting had been solid. Now faced with a down-wind par-5, even at 600 yards, I felt I had a good chance to make another par or even steal a birdie if I could get it somewhere close for my 3rd shot. I hit a good (not great) drive down the right side of the fairway, and then hit what I thought was a perfect 6-iron layup short of the large bunker that crosses the fairway about 135 yards from the green. However, the ball took a big bounce (maybe hit a sprinkler head?) and flew left and past the hazard, into the area between the 7th and the 6th tee. I never found the ball. By TOUR rules, that was a 2 stroke penalty. A shot long, a chip through the green, another chip and a tap-in led to an undeserved triple bogey. (Okay, some of it was deserved.) Score: 8. Round: +7.
8 We played this one from the tips, and that made it a beast -- 213 yards all carry over hazard. Down-wind a bit so I hit 4-iron, and just chunked it. Had to drop and then hit over the green, and followed that with a lousy flop shot and capped it with 3 putts. I hate 3 putts! Just a bad mental hole after falling apart the hole before. Score: 7. Round: +11.
9 A 90-degree dogleg left, where it is definitely possible to cut the corner, but the smart play (and what all the pros do) is to lay up around the corner, about in a zone about 215-245 yards from the gold tees. I hit another 2-hybrid slightly left, but safe enough past the corner (and managed to not find either of the fairway bunkers sitting there). I hit a wedge (or maybe 9-iron) to the right of the green, putted from about 10-15 feet off the surface and ended up rolling past 6-8 feet, and then took 2 putts from there. Score: 5. Round: +12.
10 The back 9 starts with a bit more of a challenge than the front, with a medium length 425 yard par 4 that plays quite narrow. I remember watching about 6-7 groups hit off this tee at the Deutsche Bank a few years ago, and it was unbelievable how everyone hit the same shot -- 3-wood with a slight draw to the target area about 260-280 yards off the tee. I tried to emulate and hit 1-hybrid...with a little draw...260 yards down the middle. Nice. Then I chunked my approach (didn't see any of that from the pros), made an OK pitch, and 2 putt for bogey. Score: 5. Round: +13.
11 Just an absolute monster of a hole. Probably the toughest par 3 I've ever played, with the possible exception of 17 at the Black. Our tees weren't quite at the tips (231 yards), but at 211, uphill, with a huge deep bunker closely guarding a brutal pin position, it was definitely intimidating. I pushed a 2-hybrid right into the woods; had a path to the green but hit it soft out of pinestraw, then had to flop over the bunker and went 30+ feet past the hole. I hate 3 putts. Score: 6. Round: +16.
12 A nice, lengthy but slightly downhill par 4 that clocks in at 461 yards. I hit a good drive out to the middle of the fairway, then a long iron just short of the green, made a nice chip, and then a 6 footer for a "routine" par that I'm quite proud of. Score: 4. Round: +16.
13 This was the only hole where there was a big difference between our tees and where the championship tees would be -- 369 yard par 4 for us, vs. a monster 451 yard uphill par 4 for them. I hit a good drive 275 yards to the center of the fairway, then again hit my approach fat, and couldn't get up and down on what was the toughest green to putt on the course (average 2.038 putts in the final round of the Deutsche Bank). Score: 5. Round: +17.
14 The pros play this as a par-4 from a tee box that is actually in front of our 516 yard par-5 tees. I pulled my drive a little left, then hit a good 5-iron to about 75 yards, and from there a 60-degree wedge to the center of the green. The birdie try just skirted the right edge of the cup, and I settled (happily) for par. Score: 5. Round: +17.
15 An uphill 426 yard par 4, I hit a great drive 285 yards to the center of the fairway. An easy wedge to the center and 2 putts made for a rather conventional par. Score: 4. Round: +17.
16 Another hole that I spent a lot of time at as a spectator, this is a classic medium length (155-161 yard) par 3 over a pond to a small, narrow green. The pin was way up front and dangerous. I hit what appeared to be a perfect 8-iron right at the stick... but it came up short, hit a rock on the hazard wall and bounced back into the water. I dropped in the drop zone, and promptly hit into the hazard again. Shot-putt-putt. Score: 7. Round: +21.
17 A dogleg right par 4 where you definitely don't want to be too far right because it greatly extends the length of the hole. I was right. In the rough. With a bad lie. I then pured a 6-iron that somehow ended up 25 yards over the green; I still don't really know how. I made my only truly good out of the day from the woods there to get onto the green, and 2 putt for bogey. Score: 5. Round: +22.
18 Just a classic finishing hole, which we played from the absolute tips as a 528 yard par 5. The drive is intimidating with small pot bunkers in the center of the fairway about 240 and 270 yards out, plus a larger catch-all bunker at about 295 yards on the right side of the fairway -- where all the balls will funnel to. I hit what I will humbly submit is the perfect drive -- a big power fade that carried the pot bunkers, landed well left of the larger bunker and the rolled out past it, about 300 yards in the center of the fairway. At this point, why not go for it? My hybrid carried the hazard, but somehow didn't actually make the green, leaving a somewhat awkward flop that ran about 10 feet past the hole. I really wanted that birdie putt, but just missed. Ho-hum par. Score: 5. Round: +22.
THE ANALYSIS
If not for being +14 on 4 holes (7, 8, 11, and 16), the round would have been awfully good (only +8 on the other 14). My iron play was great on the front, and my driving was great on the back. Had I put it all together it really could have been something. In fact, my adjusted score of 88 yields a USGA round index of 8.7, which ain't too bad.
I can honestly say I've never had more fun shooting 94.
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