Wilf
Club Champion
Back from the practice day so thought I would share my opinion on the day. It was an enjoyable day and was very interesting watching how the pro's go about things. The length of time they spend on the putting green for one.
Two stand out memories, watching Kaymer hit 5 woods to a very small green 250 yards away and hit it every time. Watching Stenson hit golf balls. I cannot explain the difference but his ball flight and the noise off the club was just in a different class to the rest of the pro's. I guess that is what they mean by pure ball strikers. Stenson is clearly battling something in his swing as his right hand kept coming off the club and he and his coach were working hard on something.
In terms of access it was brilliant, it was very quiet in terms of crowds so whether watching at the driving range, putting greens, short game area or on the course we never encountered any issues with not having great views.
Due to it being so quiet you could get really close to the players out on the course particularly around the greens and it was very interesting watching them chip and putt to various dummy pin placements. The variety of shots used to one spot was an eye opener depending on the player, a chip and run, a land half way and let the ball release, a low bullet high spin chip and a high lob, all resulting in being no more than 2 ft away most of the time. The club head speed they use on the high lobs when they want the ball to only go 5 ft before landing is amazing.
In general the bigger names either went out very late in the day or not at all. While the Spaniards, South Africans etc all seemed to go out in four balls having a laugh and a game most of the English players seemed to prefer to go out on their own.
Followed Fitzpatrick for a bit, his short game is a bit wonky, quite a few duffed chips. Followed Willet for a couple of holes as well, he didn't crack a smile once and looked very fed up with life.
The lack of big names on the course was the only slight disappointment on a great day.
Two stand out memories, watching Kaymer hit 5 woods to a very small green 250 yards away and hit it every time. Watching Stenson hit golf balls. I cannot explain the difference but his ball flight and the noise off the club was just in a different class to the rest of the pro's. I guess that is what they mean by pure ball strikers. Stenson is clearly battling something in his swing as his right hand kept coming off the club and he and his coach were working hard on something.
In terms of access it was brilliant, it was very quiet in terms of crowds so whether watching at the driving range, putting greens, short game area or on the course we never encountered any issues with not having great views.
Due to it being so quiet you could get really close to the players out on the course particularly around the greens and it was very interesting watching them chip and putt to various dummy pin placements. The variety of shots used to one spot was an eye opener depending on the player, a chip and run, a land half way and let the ball release, a low bullet high spin chip and a high lob, all resulting in being no more than 2 ft away most of the time. The club head speed they use on the high lobs when they want the ball to only go 5 ft before landing is amazing.
In general the bigger names either went out very late in the day or not at all. While the Spaniards, South Africans etc all seemed to go out in four balls having a laugh and a game most of the English players seemed to prefer to go out on their own.
Followed Fitzpatrick for a bit, his short game is a bit wonky, quite a few duffed chips. Followed Willet for a couple of holes as well, he didn't crack a smile once and looked very fed up with life.
The lack of big names on the course was the only slight disappointment on a great day.
