Why We Open Champions think this week’s PGA Tour is more interesting

Bread Town, Pennsylvania – When Lucas Glover saw the Truist Championship game kicked out in the 70-card 7,100-yard course, the Wissahickon course at Philadelphia Cricket Club, he knew something alone: ​​There are very likely many things in the course. Long holes, short holes and everything in between. Represents all major food groups, wedge rod 3 and 5 wood rod 3 rod 3 rod 3 rods. He then played the AW Tillinghast course at the cricket club and knew his intuition was correct.

Next week, the PGA Championship will be played at Quail Hollow, with 7,600 yards at Quail Hollow. It’s been a bear for years. When Glover won the Tour in 2011, it was 7,500 yards in length. The Ryder Cup will be held in September at Bethpage Black. The match will be 7,400 yards. When Glover won the U.S. Open in 2009, it was about the same length. During Glover’s 23-year Masters, the 72nd route increased from 7,200 yards to 7,500 yards in 2002.

So, he was asked a few days ago: Is golf a men’s elite professional golf – better on a course with a size of 7,100 yards or 7,600 yards?

“Seven hundred, one hundred,” Glover said. “No doubt.

“Look at this cricket club course,” Glover said. “You have a 3-block with a 100-yard cap, you have a 250-yard uphill par 3-block with one side of death and you have two par-3s between four different clubs. [the ninth for member play, a short, right-curving par-4]. I played with it was 5 wood and a sand wedge. Wyndham Clark was longer than me until the green hit the driver. We both did 3s. Architects offer you a lot of options. At Quail Hollow, we all hit it almost the same place. ”

Glover described his Saturday game with Clark, when two U.S. Open champions won twice three hours later. On Sunday, they did it again. Needless to say, a 7,100-code course is faster than a 7,600-code course.

“Golf is a walking sport,” Glover said. “When Tillinghast designed the course, the green and the T-shirts were close. The land was not a problem at the time. [in the early 1920s]. But the purpose of golf is to walk, so of course, you bring the vegetables and the t-shirt close. ”

Glover noted how the player stood out from the green of the post 3 hole and immediately went on the 4-shirt. [Holes 15 and 16 for member play.] Once there, they walked a short distance back to the back of the T-shirt. Across the road, there is a farm, just like the day in Tillinghast. Behind the T-shirt is a sprawling townhouse development. Exurbia meets the suburbs.

Glover took some classes on Monday, had more classes on Tuesday, and had a 9-hole Pro-AM on Wednesday (at almost reasonable speed, 2 hours and 20 minutes). Then there are four games. He wasn’t excited about his game – the 72, 70, 70 and 72 rounds brought him close to the bottom of the 72 courts – but he was happy with the course.

“You already have two greens at the door of the men’s locker room,” Glover noted. These greens are the third vegetable, under the daily route. “Then you’ll have the 18th green and the first tee, right at the clubhouse, all the moves are.” Glover was talking about the lifeblood of the club. Of course, this lesson, and it’s people, its members, guests, small players, and staff.

So with all the love for 7,100 yards, for the true walking route, all kinds of holes and all the other love you might guess Glover (Glover) perhaps Starting in 2028, the longest hitters have been 10%. After all, Glover is trapped in USGA culture. In 1997, he held the USGA Junior Championships in Aronimink near Philadelphia. (Jason Allred beats Trevor Immelman.) He plays among two American amateurs and plays in 16 games.

He is not.

“I’ve always been against rolling back the ball,” Glover said. “Our job is entertainment fans.”

Huge drives are fun. It was a generous thing for him. According to the PGA Tour, he averaged 290 yards with the driver this year, which is (which is almost shocking) ranked 170th. Glover believes that Wyndham Clark and Rory McIlroy and various other released 350-yard drives are the product of superior technology, training, course conditions, hot golf balls, and the huge 460 CC driver responsible for what the USGA allows. Glover stressed that the last part is the size of the modern driver’s head.

He believes that classes like Quail Hollow at 7,600 yards will be held at Augusta National at 7,400 yards or Augusta National at 7,400 yards when Rory McIlroys and Wyndham Clarks bombed 340 yards instead of 375.

But what about Glover’s claim to love the 7,100-code course? When the course is shorter, will golf have a better love for elite professionals?

He insists on a simple, logical warning:

Glover said, rolling back the ball back and shortening the course like you did.

“At a 470 instead of a 505 long 4 shot?” Glover said. He likes it.

Michael Bamberger welcomes your comment michael.bamberger@golf.com