The Classic Club...Classic Tournament Killer?

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Bill Dwyre in the L.A. Times makes up for Saturday's Phil Mickelson column (Phil remembers the names of his pro-am partners!) with a succinct indictment on The Classic Club course, which frequently delivers winds like Sunday's.

Many said it was the worst wind they have experienced, and those were the former mountain climbers. The weatherman put the winds at 15-20 mph, with gusts up to 40. Mostly, there were gusts.
Now keep that number in mind when reading the next bit. First, Larry Bohannan in the Desert Sun:
It was an ominous question at best.

"Are they going to play this course again next year?" Phil Mickelson asked after his windy Sunday round on the final day at Classic Club in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

Yes, Phil, they are going to play this course again. They own the course.

"Who?" Mickelson asked.

The Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, came the response.

With that, Mickelson turned and walked away to sign some autographs without a response.
And here's where it gets fun...
Mike Milthorpe, the Hope tournament director, said he certainly hopes Mickelson and other players won't make decisions about whether to play in the Classic in the future simply on one horrible day of weather.

"I don't know that (Mickelson) questioned the course," Milthorpe said. "He may have questioned the conditions. It's a tough day today, no ifs, ands or buts. If anything, he may have just questioned the day."

Milthorpe said Classic Club isn't fighting a bad perception about wind among the PGA Tour players. The perception, he said, comes from media reports about wind and the so-called wind belt on the north side of the freeway.
I wonder where they would get the idea that it blows?
 

The trees lining the railroad tracks? The thousands of wind turbines? The fact no one in their right mind would build anything out there until the last few years?

That biased, negative, liberal elite media!

Last year's final round, for instance, was described as a blustery day, making it tough on the final groups down the stretch. But Milthorpe said the official tour report on the final day listed a wind speed of 17 mph.
Key word: unofficial.


Tod Leonard in the San Diego Union Tribune offered this:

Perhaps because he knew he would get queries, Milthorpe said he checked with the other three courses in the Hope rotation yesterday and said the wind conditions were similar.

“The perception is the media's perception,” Milthorpe said. “We had firemen gauging the wind today, and it didn't get above 25 mph. We got a tour report from last year for this golf course and the winds Sunday were 17 mph. But if you listened to the commentators and what the media wrote, it sounded like it was huge wind.”

They say the camera adds 10 pounds. Maybe it adds 10 mph too? 

Either way, you have a new 7,600 yard course that is so massive in scale that the amateurs clearly don't enjoy walking and playing it. 

You have a final round that took just under 6 hours (based on my TiVo calculation) and an event that drew only one player in the world top 30.

Those short, harmless little old desert courses like Indian Wells, Bermuda Dunes and El Dorado aren't looking so bad are they?

Oh that's right, they're dated because the guys are working out too much. I keep forgetting!

“I don't want to get in the bad habits"

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Tod Leonard in the San Diego Union Tribune also had this from Phil Mickelson after Sunday's final round:

“It was hard, but today I didn't want to try to fight it too much,” Mickelson said. “I don't want to get in the bad habits, which is the main reason why I don't play Kapalua (for the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship)."

Ohhh...the FedEx Cup schedule may be starting a week later for Phil next year. 

Classic Club Wind

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windmills.jpgAll jokes about putts breaking to the freeway aside, I had no idea that the Classic Club was on the other side of the freeway until this week. This time of year in the desert, that should always make the new host course susceptible to a wind event.

Now, we're not talking about a bad day at the British Open here, but an evacuate-the-television-towers-and-grandstands type of event.

Thomas Bonk in today's LA Times:

As for Perez, let's just say he had the kind of day that sorely tested his newfound positive attitude. He was four over after 11 holes and wound up with a one-over 73 at the wind-blown Classic Club.

It was a round that suffered in comparison with the 60 he shot in the first round at the Palmer Course at PGA West. This was no surprise to Perez, who offered a brief critique of his round.

"Terrible compared to yesterday," he said.

This time, Perez knocked his ball into the water at three holes, including his first shot of the day at No. 1, his first shot at the 10th, plus his four-iron second shot at the 18th.

He was not happy about it, but Perez should have known such a feeling was a distinct possibility, right after he played nine holes in a practice round Sunday at the Classic Club.

"The flags were almost coming out of the holes … it was blowing 80 miles an hour. I said 'We're out of here.' That gave me a good enough sign of what could happen during the week."

The Classic Club played to an average score of 73.37 on Thursday, about 3 1/2 shots harder than the first round. It was also close to four shots more difficult than the Palmer Course at PGA West played in the second round.

"This course is so much different than any other one," Perez said. "It's not even close to PGA West. And the wind tunnel. It howls here….

Classic Club Previews

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Thomas Bonk and Larry Bohannan look at the Classic Club. David Duval's effusive praise:
"It's seemingly a good golf course. You have to see it in different weather conditions and stuff. It's hard to even comment," said David Duval, the 1999 Classic winner.

"I think they are kind of changing the face of the event a little bit. Whether you agree or disagree is a debate," Duval said. "Like Indian Wells (Country Club). I didn't realize it was done until last year when they said, 'Oh, we're done with Indian Wells.' It's just kind of sad. You kind of really associated a couple of places with the Hope."
Bohannan also writes about how the Classic came to be in the golf course ownership business, highlighted by this Yogi-esque quote:
"This course has some longevity to it, and it is just starting its history," said John Foster, a member of the Hope tournament's executive board. "So as it goes through time and generation, I think you are going to find it one of the premier spots. Because it has amenities that older venues don't have, older great venues."