2022 KPMG Women's PGA Championship (Jun 23-26)

[Creedo77]

Given that most of these tees so far are played 1 up from the back the approach into #15 won’t be that bad. They’ll be hitting 6iron at the most into that green. You’ve got about 15 paces to work with in the front before everything releases. The difficult thing is playing to back right pins and hitting the exact line to get into that section of the green. From the bottom of the fairway all you’re looking at is a group of trees on the far left side, then a big gap, and then the clubhouse. Bit of luck and guesswork will go into playing that hole

 

 

[JungleJimbo]

4 hours ago, Creedo77 said:

Given that most of these tees so far are played 1 up from the back the approach into #15 won’t be that bad. They’ll be hitting 6iron at the most(??) into that green. You’ve got about 15 paces to work with in the front before everything releases. The difficult thing is playing to back right pins and hitting the exact line to get into that section of the green. From the bottom of the fairway all you’re looking at is a group of trees on the far left side, then a big gap, and then the clubhouse. Bit of luck and guesswork will go into playing that hole

 

 

@Creedo77: isn’t hole #15 playing at 440 yards?

 

if so...then I’m guessing that 2nd shot= 180 yards uphill(!), i.e. more likely a hybrid (or fairway wood) for the average LPGA pro (assuming a ~260 yard drive...see *Note below) ie all but the longest hitters?

 

 

..*Note: 260 yard assumption = Based on the median drive of ~258yards.. from here: https://www.lpga.com/statistics/driving/average-driving-distance




Hole#15 = illustrated in this course layout video (timestamp ~37m45s)

 

Edited June 22, 2022 by JungleJimbo

[Rapidcat]

4 hours ago, Oh Hi Carl said:

I bet Leona will play that hole well.  

You mean the highest ranked European women's golfer in the Rolex rankings (@#17)?

 

Will be fascinating to see what she and others do and also how many lose their composure facing that challenge (she won't).

[Rapidcat]

7 hours ago, Yellow Jacket said:

Today was pro-am day. My pro was Emma Talley who I'm familiar with in part because she won the 2013 US Women's Amateur. She was great and her amateur partners, executives at an energy company, were also quite friendly.

 

The course is quite hilly and Emma thought the layout was difficult and long. The green weren't that fast, maybe stimping a 10, but they were decently firm. A lot of the greens have tons of slope so it's not clear how much firmer and faster the PGA will make them.

 

Emma let me try a 12 footer for birder after everyone missed on a par 3; I wasn't watching their putts that closely so I didn't start mine nearly high enough but my speed was good. The coolest moment was when she let me hit a drive with her driver on our 8th hole of the day (one of the caddies also took up her offer). I haven't played golf in a year  so I was very nervous. I hit a slight push fade but the trajectory and distance were impressive looking at least.

 

Holes to watch out for:
2: long uphill par 3 with heavily guarded green
7: longish par 3 to elevated and heavily guarded green
8: drivable par 4 with heavily guarded green (there's a theme here)
15: long par 4 with blind uphill second shot to a heavily guarded green that tilts front-to-back with a HUGE dropoff behind the green. Expect some big numbers here.

 

The 18th green juts into a pond and there's no grandstand, just a hospitality tent, so I wonder how it'll look on TV without crowds surrounding it.

 

Sorry not sorry for the image dump.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice pics and write-up, thanks for posting👍

 

Did you see Morgan there? Did you give her any commentary tips?🙂

[Stooch]

7 hours ago, JungleJimbo said:

 

@Yellow Jacket thanks for the info & photos.
Is there a hole-by-hole course guide that you'd recommend for this tournament?

 

i found the tournament website has some hole-by-hole info

(here: https://www.kpmgwomenspgachampionship.com/congressional-country-club )

...albeit only a single "desktop wallpaper" style photo & an accompanying blurb (i.e. can't really see the hole layout etc ... Your descriptions = way more informative!)

 

I found the Spectators' Guide/ Mobile App = Does a better job w.r.t. course layout (albeit with some other quirks/compromises for the small screens of mobile devices)

Linked here: https://www.kpmgwomenspgachampionship.com/spectatorguide#mobileapp 
(download for iphone/iOS or Google Play)

..p/s: For time being, i'm using this video game course guide as a reference.

 

 

 

I literally have the old version of the exact video game 😂  I guess it could be same game with just updated courses, I haven't played it in many years to check for updates.  The game was great tee to green but the putting function IMO is terrible and because of the function you'd make silly little mistake not really your fault that ruin the game.

[Yellow Jacket]

7 hours ago, JungleJimbo said:

 

@Yellow Jacket thanks for the info & photos.
Is there a hole-by-hole course guide that you'd recommend for this tournament?

 

i found the tournament website has some hole-by-hole info

(here: https://www.kpmgwomenspgachampionship.com/congressional-country-club )

...albeit only a single "desktop wallpaper" style photo & an accompanying blurb (i.e. can't really see the hole layout etc ... Your descriptions = way more informative!)

 

I found the Spectators' Guide/ Mobile App = Does a better job w.r.t. course layout (albeit with some other quirks/compromises for the small screens of mobile devices)

Linked here: https://www.kpmgwomenspgachampionship.com/spectatorguide#mobileapp 
(download for iphone/iOS or Google Play)

No hole by hole guides that I'm aware of. The only times I've seen those are for the men's majors.

 

2 hours ago, Rapidcat said:

Nice pics and write-up, thanks for posting👍

 

Did you see Morgan there? Did you give her any commentary tips?🙂

I didn't see Morgan and I definitely wouldn't have said anything about her commentary. 😂

 

The only media person I saw was Amanda Balionis walking past. I was on the course when most of the Live From stuff was being broadcast.

[Yellow Jacket]

4 hours ago, Creedo77 said:

Given that most of these tees so far are played 1 up from the back the approach into #15 won’t be that bad. They’ll be hitting 6iron at the most into that green. You’ve got about 15 paces to work with in the front before everything releases. The difficult thing is playing to back right pins and hitting the exact line to get into that section of the green. From the bottom of the fairway all you’re looking at is a group of trees on the far left side, then a big gap, and then the clubhouse. Bit of luck and guesswork will go into playing that hole

 

 

Yeah the PGA can definitely make 15 a much more manageable hole by moving the tees up and keeping the pin on the left. I guess after the low scores we saw at the US Open a few weeks ago and the potential for higher scores here, I'm hopeful they let Congressional show its teeth.

 

Debating whether I want to go to the practice round today since we don't know when players will be around. I'm going to have full days Thursday and Friday, following some players in the morning before working in the afternoon, so maybe I should try to save my energy? I guess the main benefit of going today is being able to get autographs and selfies, but I'm really uncomfortable about imposing on players for that kind of stuff. Also I'd be conspicuous as a tall 30-something guy in the sea of young girls asking for autographs. I didn't even ask Emma for a photo yesterday 😳. I guess it couldn't hurt to go out for a few hours at least.

Edited June 22, 2022 by Yellow Jacket

[Stooch]

22 minutes ago, Yellow Jacket said:

Yeah the PGA can definitely make 15 a much more manageable hole by moving the tees up and keeping the pin on the left. I guess after the low scores we saw at the US Open a few weeks ago and the potential for higher scores here, I'm hopeful they let Congressional show its teeth.

 

Debating whether I want to go to the practice round today since we don't know when players will be around. I'm going to have full days Thursday and Friday, following some players in the morning before working in the afternoon, so maybe I should try to save my energy? I guess the main benefit of going today is being able to get autographs and selfies, but I'm really uncomfortable about imposing on players for that kind of stuff. Also I'd be conspicuous as a tall 30-something guy in the sea of young girls asking for autographs. I didn't even ask Emma for a photo yesterday 😳. I guess it couldn't hurt to go out for a few hours at least.

PGA of America doesn't get evil like a US Open, they don't usually mind the score hitting double digit.  I'm sure each day they'll have some challenging hole and pin locations but usually they allow you to score if you're playing well.  Since they started with KPMG (around 2015) and getting the ladies on actual Major courses there has only been one winning score to not hit double digits and that was Sahalee in 2016 where the winning score was -6.

[Creedo77]

5 hours ago, JungleJimbo said:

@Creedo77: isn’t hole #15 playing at 440 yards?

 

if so...then I’m guessing that 2nd shot= 180 yards uphill(!), i.e. more likely a hybrid (or fairway wood) for the average LPGA pro (assuming a ~260 yard drive...see *Note below) ie all but the longest hitters?

 

 

..*Note: 260 yard assumption = Based on the median drive of ~258yards.. from here: https://www.lpga.com/statistics/driving/average-driving-distance




Hole#15 = illustrated in this course layout video (timestamp ~37m45s)

 

Even though it’s listed as that they’ll move the box up. Only way it plays 440 is if it’s downwind. 
 

That green is definitely not designed for woods and hybrids to be hit into it 

[MagicClassic407]

4 hours ago, Yellow Jacket said:

Also I'd be conspicuous as a tall 30-something guy in the sea of young girls asking for autographs.

You could always ask Cristie and Gerina (and a few others). 🧓

 

PS: Many thanks for the updates.

[ChipDriver]

Nice pix YellowJacket.

 

To me the biggest difference between the previous Blue and the new are the greens.  The breaks and reads are almost totally different now and also more severe.  A few holes were completely redesigned too.   The course will make the pros use every club in their bag.  There is never a flat lie in the fairway; and the greens are another challenge altogether.  

 

As for some concerns in this thread - #2 and #7 and #15  are not easy holes b/c of elevation/contour/or distance.   It will be interesting to see what happens.  They force you to be a bit creative.  There is expected to be a ton of rain later today tonite - so Thursday morning should be good for scoring.  Without the trees - and since it's summer- perhaps the course will play faster as the week goes on.   And of course - they aren't playing member tees - so the tees can be whatever the PGA wants them to be - depending on the outcome they anticipate?  

 

Should be a fun tournament.  

[18majors]

On 6/20/2022 at 4:04 AM, Yellow Jacket said:

TV Coverage (ET)

Thu/Fri: 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Golf Channel

Sat/Sun: 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. NBC

 

 

 

A food for thought for Mollie:

 

A major tournament with $9.0 million purse deserves to have feature groups and a minimum of five hours a day coverage.

[Stooch]

8 minutes ago, 18majors said:

 

 

 

A food for thought for Mollie:

 

A major tournament with $9.0 million purse deserves to have feature groups and a minimum of five hours a day coverage.

The problem is dealing with NBC so much,  The US Senior is being shown on Peacock so no room there and GC will always show "The nobody gives a rats behind Open" over an LPGA Major.   Also I'm 50/50 that if it goes to a playoff on Sunday the conclusion will be on CNBC and only seen by America and not the rest of the world.

[18majors]

6 minutes ago, Stooch said:

The problem is dealing with NBC so much,

 

 

 

NBC showed a bit of creativity with USWO when they utilized USA network beautifully.

 

I'm sure Mollie will fix it for 2023.

[Yellow Jacket]

Everyone is off the course right now due to a thunderstorm (where do spectators go?). I was able to see almost everyone I wanted to, either on the range or the putting green, so that’ll reduce the number of groups I need to catch on Thu/Fri. I was able to see Lydia hit wedges and Jessica Korda pound some drivers. Lydia’s mom was her usual self, shading Lydia with an umbrella after every shot in the 90F heat.

 

The most interesting thing I saw was Morgane Metreaux who won her first LET event a few weeks ago. She was struggling with slightly chunking and overdrawing the ball with her hybrid and 3 wood. She was using a Trackman and kept setting up too far left of her target. I think her dad is her caddy and he was periodically checking her alignment but not changing anything.

[AWinfortheAges]

Top 3 finish for Lizette Salas? 

[woahnelly]

16 minutes ago, AWinfortheAges said:

Top 3 finish for Lizette Salas? 

 

Based on her form this season. Unlikely. Only 2 top 25 finishes in 9 starts. 

[Stooch]

31 minutes ago, woahnelly said:

 

Based on her form this season. Unlikely. Only 2 top 25 finishes in 9 starts. 

 

While I agree, I think all the short hitters caught a break, with rain all night and into the day tomorrow, I think they'll probably set it up shortish, if fairways are wet there might not be too much rollout.

[Creedo77]

30 minutes ago, Stooch said:

 

While I agree, I think all the short hitters caught a break, with rain all night and into the day tomorrow, I think they'll probably set it up shortish, if fairways are wet there might not be too much rollout.

There won’t be any roll. The soil is still relatively sandy at this place given it’s only been reopened for a year. When it rains even half an inch it gets pretty sloppy. 

[ChronicSlicer]

8 hours ago, 18majors said:

 

 

 

A food for thought for Mollie:

 

A major tournament with $9.0 million purse deserves to have feature groups and a minimum of five hours a day coverage.

You should be thankful there's a 9m purse, and it's not 2hrs per day.

[ChronicSlicer]

Hye-Jin for the W. Lilia Vu with some dark horse action. 

[Stooch]

9 minutes ago, ChronicSlicer said:

Hye-Jin for the W. Lilia Vu with some dark horse action. 

 

I found my dark horse in the sponsor Invite category, Pia Babnik, I'm a fan of her game.

[JungleJimbo]

8 hours ago, Yellow Jacket said:

Everyone is off the course right now due to a thunderstorm (where do spectators go?). I was able to see almost everyone I wanted to, either on the range or the putting green, so that’ll reduce the number of groups I need to catch on Thu/Fri. I was able to see Lydia hit wedges and Jessica Korda pound some drivers. Lydia’s mom was her usual self, shading Lydia with an umbrella after every shot in the 90F heat.

 

The most interesting thing I saw was Morgane Metreaux who won her first LET event a few weeks ago. She was struggling with slightly chunking and overdrawing the ball with her hybrid and 3 wood. She was using a Trackman and kept setting up too far left of her target. I think her dad is her caddy and he was periodically checking her alignment but not changing anything.

 

Some nice photos from the practice day: Link: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/womens-pga-championship?family=editorial&assettype=image&sort=best&phrase=women's pga championship&recency=last72hours

 

( in my mind ... Jessica Korda is amused/laughing at kid sister Nelly's decision to only wear one arm-sleeve ...
can you imagine the lopsided/ uneven tan lines!)

 

Edited June 23, 2022 by JungleJimbo

[HankScorpio]

I picked Jeeno earlier for the win but my dark horse would be Andrea Lee.  She has been playing some good golf lately and her confidence should be at an all time high.

[fredogolfer]

10 hours ago, 18majors said:

 

 

 

A food for thought for Mollie:

 

A major tournament with $9.0 million purse deserves to have feature groups and a minimum of five hours a day coverage.

Absolutely right a major should

be more than just a big purse.

[fredogolfer]

9 hours ago, 18majors said:

 

 

 

NBC showed a bit of creativity with USWO when they utilized USA network beautifully.

 

I'm sure Mollie will fix it for 2023.

There are only so many Law and Order:SVU episodes to see.

[postfold]

Jin Young Ko will fix whatever her swing issue was and WIN.

Lydia Ko will continue to play great golf and PLACE.

Angel Yin is my darkish horse pick and will SHOW.

 

Giddyup

 

 

[Oh Hi Carl]

Getting torrential amounts of rain overnight at Congressional.  

[Golf Dino]

 

Well, I am going to say that I think Ayaka Furue will have a good week (which would be a top-20)  And a great week is also possible - which would be a top-10. 

Edited June 23, 2022 by Golf Dino

[Yellow Jacket]

2 hours ago, JungleJimbo said:

 

Some nice photos from the practice day: Link: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/womens-pga-championship?family=editorial&assettype=image&sort=best&phrase=women's pga championship&recency=last72hours

 

( in my mind ... Jessica Korda is amused/laughing at kid sister Nelly's decision to only wear one arm-sleeve ...
can you imagine the lopsided/ uneven tan lines!)

 

I was there when that photo of Lydia was taken! Her mom was trying to wipe her face and she very much had a “Mooom you’re embarrassing me!” reaction. 😂
 

I’m not happy about the rain, mostly because I don’t want to deal with a rain jacket but also because that means I’ll have to wear waterproof golf shoes which obviously aren’t as comfortable as running shoes.

Edited June 23, 2022 by Yellow Jacket