As I sit here on Seneca lake waiting on the frost delay to lift in about an hour, I figured I’d comment on my day at Oak Hill yesterday for the Wednesday practice round…a COLD day for May golf! It’s 36 right now but supposed to warm up to the mid 60’s this afternoon.
First off, the course is in great shape and pleasing to the eye. Thick rough and the greens are going to be tough as the weekend gets here. The bunkering and elevation/drop off areas around the greens are going to be tough and a good test for these players. It’s going to take precision with mid irons and high ball flights with good spin control to score on this layout. This layout is going to be a grind this weekend.
Having walked the entire course yesterday and watching several different groups play, I’m predicting a winning score of minus 3/4 for the week to hoist the Wanamaker trophy. Greens are already crusty, fast and they were watering them late yesterday afternoon.
Couple of guys I think will have good weeks based on observations yesterday…Sam Burns(if his driver is on) bc he’s a good putter and I’m pulling for our local Squire Creek resident. Rahm looked confident as usual as did Scotty Schefler. I think Brooks K is finally healthy and his game is shaping up. I’m curious to see how Rory plays this weekend after taking off the past few weeks—is he in a mental funk bc physically he appears fine? Dark horse is our Razorback Taylor Moore—he’s got a great swing and plenty of game for this tournament, just needs for everything to click at the right time this week.
Lastly, the PGA fan experience was phenomenal yesterday. We got a free swing analysis with a PGA pros comments emailed to us last night along with free ProV1 sleeve of balls! The food options were good. The fan shop and golf attire store…I could’ve spent hours in there looking at the stuff from the vendors.
I’ve been to 3 PGA Championship tournaments and have enjoyed all of them. Last year at Southern Hills was the first time we didn’t melt from the heat, but it was warm enough. I couldn’t imagine having a pullover on waiting for it to warm up, lol.
Oak Hill is a Donald Ross design, recently reworked by architect Andrew Green to restore some of Ross’ original features which had faded away over the years. Ross designed numerous courses in the first half of the 20th Century, including Pinehurst #2 and the often overlooked Wilmington Municipal (because he lost a card game). Ross grew up in Dornoch, Scotland, and brought what he saw as a youngster at Royal Dornoch and other Scottish courses to his American designs.
I have played Squire Creek. It is a nice Tom Fazio designed course. What is the story behind the course? It is kinda in the middle of nowhere. Kind of like where I am from.
Squire Creek is the show piece of the Davidson family in Ruston. James Davidson was listed as the 2nd wealthiest person in Louisiana a few years ago , behind the Bensons who own the Saints( and I think the Pelicans). The Davidson family wanted a top shelf club for entertaining clients and friends(and probably a tax right off), thus Squire Creek was created. They also hoped to host some professional golf events, but this hasn’t materialized because of the lack of logistic support and population limits to host a big event in our area.
Squire is a great track to test your game and the service out there is 2nd to none.