Did 2020 finally show the golf world that Augusta is just a rather average course?

[mooks3113]

Average?? Seriously! Course played completely different from an April date and Dustin flat out played his butt off. 

[toc]

Interesting premise. The course definitely plays differently in the fall.  If it was average, though, the shortest hole on the course wouldn’t cause pros to s*** their pants.

Edited November 16, 2020 by toc

[FakeClubPro]

14 minutes ago, mooks3113 said:

Average?? Seriously! Course played completely different from an April date and Dustin flat out played his butt off. 

Dustin was awesome but it seemed an easier course.  Not like Oakmont, Bethpage Black or Shinnecock.

 

These southern courses are pretty but may be somewhat easier tracks.

 

Great players talking about Oakmont:

Tiger Woods:"That golf course is going to be one of the toughest tests that we've ever played in a U.S. Open, especially if it's dry, it will be unreal because those greens are so severe."

Arnold Palmer: "You can hit 72 greens in the Open at Oakmont and not come close to winning."

Rocco Mediate said of the greens that they are "almost impossible"

Sam Snead once commented that he tried to mark his ball on one of Oakmont's greens but the coin slid off.

Lee Trevino claimed every time he two-putted at Oakmont he knew he was passing somebody on the leader board.

Johnny Miller said that Oakmont's are the greatest set of greens for testing a player's ability to putt.

USGA Sr. Director Mike Davis: " scariest in golf."

[jdl]

Just because Oakmont is tough doesn't mean Augusta is "average".

 

They've tried to make it longer for so many years, instead move the tees forward a bit on #2 and #13. Then you've got a much "tougher" par 70 course.

[ray9898]

I wonder if the admins every check IP addresses to see who those trolls reinvent themselves as.

[Shilgy]

11 minutes ago, FakeClubPro said:

Dustin was awesome but it seemed an easier course.  Not like Oakmont, Bethpage Black or Shinnecock.

 

These southern courses are pretty but may be somewhat easier tracks.

 

Great players talking about Oakmont:

Tiger Woods:"That golf course is going to be one of the toughest tests that we've ever played in a U.S. Open, especially if it's dry, it will be unreal because those greens are so severe."

Arnold Palmer: "You can hit 72 greens in the Open at Oakmont and not come close to winning."

Rocco Mediate said of the greens that they are "almost impossible"

Sam Snead once commented that he tried to mark his ball on one of Oakmont's greens but the coin slid off.

Lee Trevino claimed every time he two-putted at Oakmont he knew he was passing somebody on the leader board.

Johnny Miller said that Oakmont's are the greatest set of greens for testing a player's ability to putt.

USGA Sr. Director Mike Davis: " scariest in golf."

Let’s get more current....Kevin Na hit 18 greens in round 1 and took 39 putts en route to. 73. AN played your definition of “easy” for a few players. 

[tgws]

OP makes the common but lazy mistake of using inflated aggregate par value to assess difficulty of major/test. 

 

Big DJ shot 268 (damn good but not unreasonably low) next best 273.

 

Don't view par 72s so literally.  The par 5 as a measurement tool may have run its course, but that's a different topic.

 

Augusta still second to none on the major stage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PhlashPhace]

1,2 and 3 in the world were tied for the lead after 36 holes.  No other course has ever yielded those results.  It isn't the Augusta that we are used to seeing but it did a perfect job at identifying the players who played the best.

 

On a side note I think this topic should be inducted into the dumb topic hall of fame.

[cardoustie]

Oakmont wet and windless would also be torn apart

 

crazy post

[puttfordoux]

Didn't Dustin win at Oakmont?

[golfandfishing]

I thought 2020 showed us that Augusta is amazing in almost every way. They varied the setup from traditional tees and pins, the conditions were vastly different, they dealt with a tropical depression one day and once again expanded and improved coverage. It was splendid. It really was. 

[nitram]

4 minutes ago, puttfordoux said:

Didn't Dustin win at Oakmont?

Yeah, with a 4 under 276. 

[PureStrikes54]

Courses main defense was taken away with the wet soft conditions....easier to keep the ball in the fairway, easier to attack pins, and slower green speeds....When it is playing in normal conditions you might have to aim 50 feet short of a pin to account for rollout or worry about a 4 footer going 8 feet past...didn't have that this time of year. I can assure you the teeth will be back in April....

[bscinstnct]

1 hour ago, FakeClubPro said:

Dustin was awesome but it seemed an easier course.  Not like Oakmont, Bethpage Black or Shinnecock.

 

These southern courses are pretty but may be somewhat easier tracks.

 

Great players talking about Oakmont:

Tiger Woods:"That golf course is going to be one of the toughest tests that we've ever played in a U.S. Open, especially if it's dry, it will be unreal because those greens are so severe."

Arnold Palmer: "You can hit 72 greens in the Open at Oakmont and not come close to winning."

Rocco Mediate said of the greens that they are "almost impossible"

Sam Snead once commented that he tried to mark his ball on one of Oakmont's greens but the coin slid off.

Lee Trevino claimed every time he two-putted at Oakmont he knew he was passing somebody on the leader board.

Johnny Miller said that Oakmont's are the greatest set of greens for testing a player's ability to putt.

USGA Sr. Director Mike Davis: " scariest in golf."

Bobby Jones didn’t have the US Open in mind

 

 

[dmeeksDC]

A future Hall of Fame golfer who is playing the best golf of his career set the tournament scoring record by a few shots and the best anyone else could do was five shots worse. Augusta is fine. The event is spectacular and it will no doubt be playing faster in April. But DJ is dominant right now and that is the biggest factor. 

[pktaske]

2 hours ago, Larry Swing said:

Langer beat Hulk Bryson. Good to see that there is more to golf than muscles.

Second longest hitter on tour still won. Even though it wasn't Bryson, it still was a guy who could poke it a mile.

[pktaske]

1 hour ago, tgws said:

The par 5 as a measurement tool may have run its course, but that's a different topic.

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting ...

[FakeClubPro]

I think over the winter they need to put a lot more sand traps to protect the greens at Augusta.  The bombers just fly over the fairway sand traps on their drives.  Those old fairway traps were designed for Gentleman Jim in the 1950s who hit it 240 on a good day.

 

DJ played great and nice to see the DJ haters eat crow.

Edited November 16, 2020 by FakeClubPro

[bscinstnct]

8 minutes ago, FakeClubPro said:

I think over the winter they need to put a lot more sand traps to protect the greens at Augusta.  The bombers just fly over the fairway sand traps on their drives.  Those old fairway traps were designed for Gentleman Jim in the 1950s who hit it 240 on a good day.

 

DJ played great and nice to see the DJ haters eat crow.

 

Hey, you got me thinkin, what does everyone refer to “eating crow” likes its horrible. So, I checked it out ; )

 

 

[FootWedge16]

Augusta could simply grow US Open rough and make 13 and 15 par 5’s. It’s instantly a top most difficult course in the world.

 

Score to par is deceiving, especially since many courses that are actually par 72’s transition to par 70 courses for pro tournaments. 
 

But doing these things would be stupid. Part of the great thing about the masters is the risk/reward involved. It simply wasn’t on display this week because of soft conditions and no wind.

[freowho]

38 minutes ago, bscinstnct said:

Bobby Jones didn’t have the US Open in mind

 

 

I think Alister MacKenzie also said a course with a high course record was a poor course. It should reward good play as well as penalise bad play.

[golfgirlrobin]

Weird flashback to every Sunday night of a major when someone decides the course wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. 

[farmer]

"I've known average courses, and that, sir, is no average golf course."  Apologies to Lloyd Bentsen.

[bscinstnct]

6 minutes ago, farmer said:

"I've known average courses, and that, sir, is no average golf course."  Apologies to Lloyd Bentsen.

 

Is Augusta a great golf course?

 

 

 

 

[PhlashPhace]

1 hour ago, cardoustie said:

Oakmont wet and windless would also be torn apart

 

crazy post

The OP also says Augusta isn't as hard as courses like Whistling Straits.  Day won the PGA at Whistling Straits at -20.

[don28]

Calling Augusta National an average course is an insult to the dominant performance Dustin Johnson displayed. Don't try to take away from his incredible weekend. He played the same course as the other players, just at a higher level. 

[puttingmatt]

Augusta is not average,

Just ask Tiger about his  score on 12  on Sunday,  Augusta will humble , even the best players.

Edited November 24, 2020 by puttingmatt

[jomatty]

It may not be the hardest, but it has to be one of the most fun to watch a tournament at. And sometimes the weather just doesn’t cooperate to make a course tough.  There is nothing easy about Augusta, but even if it was, who cares?

[tmac7592]

1 hour ago, cardoustie said:

Oakmont wet and windless would also be torn apart

 

crazy post

Right. I’m not saying Augusta would necessarily play easier but let’s say oakmont cut their rough same length as Augusta did. How does it end up then. I’d argue Augusta shows it’s teeth despite having any rough or places where you can really lost balls

[dropkicked]

Average?