Pro tournament course set up

patricks148

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watched a bit of the British Masters highlights this morning and noticed one hole, which must have been the back end of his round Tommy Fleetwood was stood on the tee with the sign behind saying 490 yards par 4. it looked like he hit a mid iron off the tee and an iron again for his 2nd shot on the green. I looked at the Walton Heath Old course and could only see one hole on the card that was close to that, the 8th off the white is 494 yards (si3) a par 5, but off the purple tee (back) its 588 as a par 5.

There is no doubt the pro's hit it a long way and are much fitter, but is there not a fair bit of kidology going on in some of these tournaments ??

seen it myself first hand what it said on the tee and where pro's actually played from have been vastly different. Scottish Open at Royal Aberdeen, first morning tee marker behind players said 250 par 3, we walked up behind the tee to get a close look but walked past the stone that marked the back tee and the players were a good 50 yards forward of that. Also at Castle Stuart the last time it was there, the 13th 441 off the back which that day was into a stiff breeze that day, but the tee marker was closer to the green tee , 40 yards further forward. i play with an R&A Rules official from time to time and asked him this week what tee's they used at the open at Carnoustie and he admitted some were never right at the back in particularly the 16th and many of the back tee;s didn't really get used until the final round. Trump Aberdeen for Instance is 7428 off the back Par 72 with a course rating of 77.4, was commented that they would never be used in a pro Tournament!

I could be just jumping to conclusions, but why have courses 7300 plus if the very best in the world don't actually play off them..
 

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Because they use different tees every day, to mix it up a bit, but keep the length the same. So if it plays 7100, then there is juggling room.
 

Orikoru

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In the footage of Pepperell's hole in one yesterday, the board behind him says 220 yards or something, while the Sky captain they put up in the corner said 170-something yards. So obviously there is quite a bit of variance day-to-day.
 

duncan mackie

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Yes they vary things, and in respect of this particular hole it may have been one from the other course - they are using a composite course...
 

Wabinez

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Yes they vary things, and in respect of this particular hole it may have been one from the other course - they are using a composite course...

16 holes of the old course, and 2 of the new. Only the 1st and 3rd of the old course aren't being used, which is good as they are two quite weak holes.

As for the distance thing, I believe there is kidology going on, as the boards are normally set up a tee box or two forward of the 'very back' and yet it still states the full length. Would be interesting to know their distance calculation. Is it from back tee box to back of the green, front, middle?
 

Capella

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Is that any different from general play, though? When I think about our longest par 3 at my home course, for example. The official length is 161 m off the red tees and 210 m off the whites ( with black and yellow tees in between the two). But depending on pin and flag placement, it can play anywhere from 140 - 190 m for the ladies and 170 - 220 m for the men. Not all our holes have tee boxes and greens as long as this, but I'd say at least 30 m difference are possible on almost all of them. The number on the score card is just one specific distance measured from one marked spot on the tee box to (I think) the geometric middle of the green. (It could also be the front of the green ... I am not sure ... all our other distance markers an sprinklerhead and such are to the front of the green)
 

patricks148

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Is that any different from general play, though? When I think about our longest par 3 at my home course, for example. The official length is 161 m off the red tees and 210 m off the whites ( with black and yellow tees in between the two). But depending on pin and flag placement, it can play anywhere from 140 - 190 m for the ladies and 170 - 220 m for the men. Not all our holes have tee boxes and greens as long as this, but I'd say at least 30 m difference are possible on almost all of them. The number on the score card is just one specific distance measured from one marked spot on the tee box to (I think) the geometric middle of the green. (It could also be the front of the green ... I am not sure ... all our other distance markers an sprinklerhead and such are to the front of the green)
it's not at Ours, when you are off the Blue its at least that distance to the front of the green, same with white, maybe some leeway on the yellow, but none of our holes will be playing 40 to 50 yards different if you are off a certain tee
 
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When the European open was played at WH back in the 90's it was also a composite course. There were some holes where they played from a tee on one course to a green on the other so the hole in question that you saw may not actually exist on the scorecard.
 
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In the footage of Pepperell's hole in one yesterday, the board behind him says 220 yards or something, while the Sky captain they put up in the corner said 170-something yards. So obviously there is quite a bit of variance day-to-day.

I was thinking about that one yesterday actually. I saw 220 yards, Pepperell swung the the club like a soft little pitch and carried the green easily. Made my eyebrows raise anyway.

Not that those guys easily can carry it that, but the swing versus the lenght just didn't make any sense to me. If 170 was the actual correct distance it makes more sense.
 

Orikoru

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I was thinking about that one yesterday actually. I saw 220 yards, Pepperell swung the the club like a soft little pitch and carried the green easily. Made my eyebrows raise anyway.

Not that those guys easily can carry it that, but the swing versus the lenght just didn't make any sense to me. If 170 was the actual correct distance it makes more sense.
Check the video here:
The Sky graphic says 172, while the board behind him clearly says 222.
 

shortgame

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Same at the Forest of Arden for the Seniors Tour event. If you added the total yardage from the boards behind each tee you'd think they were playing it well over 7000+ yards when in fact it's around 500 shorter IMO.

Would have thought the TV coverage could show the actual length for each hole on the day though...
 
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