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Jordan-proofing Augusta National?

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Chat' started by ken2v, Apr 13, 2015.

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  1. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    That was one fun show to watch. Even putting up with CBS as fawning sycophant.

    I look forward to the return of fans and rough, even as Masters week is one helluva good week.

    Way to go, kid!!!
     
  2. shifter

    shifter Degenerate Gambler

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    they just couldn't get mother nature to cooperate.

    (relatively) slow, soft greens are going to get destroyed by the big boys!

    the ironic thing is that everybody talks about the lengthening of Augusta favoring the longer hitters,

    but Spieth is a short-hitter these days and had no problem tearing it up.
     
  3. VegasBJ

    VegasBJ VIP Whale

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    Yeah, Rose was past Speith on almost every drive, but Speith was almost always closer to the hole on the second (incoming) shot. Also, the greens did seem slower than usual as balls were holding the greens and the putts (with some exceptions) seemed to be rolling slower than previous years. All in all, Speith put on a great show of course management and not letting the pressure get to him.
     
  4. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    And it wasn't an aberrant Johnson/Immelman weather year, either.

    Don't you think "bombing" is relative? Spieth isn't exactly a Pavin-esque figure. And with his iron game and those greens ...

    I'm saying it was a conscious decision of the Greencoats. No one talks about the Zach year in glowing terms, but when guys can toss up silly numbers? Good stuff.
     
  5. vegasvic

    vegasvic VIP Whale

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    He did a great job. It was never close. Which as a viewer was frustrating, I like majors that go down to the wire. But he dominated from start to finish. Well done.

    The US Open is about a 10 minute or so drive from me in 2017, looking forward to it. The 2020 Ryder cup is about an hour away, I hope to go to that too.
     
  6. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    But if he'd pulled a Rory or a Norman ...

    OK, time to move to my favorite tourney of the year, overall, the Players. (Although the U.S. Open at Chambers is gonna be way cool.)
     
  7. TheCooler

    TheCooler Professional Gambler and the Best Football Handica

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    I always enjoy watching golf, and especially The Masters. Because Speith's performance this week do incredibly dominant, I found myself a bit bored. The best part about Masters Sunday is the shuffling on the leaderboard. I really never felt like Speith's lead was in Jeopardy. I really enjoy a tough Sunday, like the 04 US Open at Shinnecock or the 08 Open at Royal Birkdale.
     
  8. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    For me, that he didn't crater was compelling. The runs at him didn't get that close, but there were some runs, and after Phil hits that bunker shot and if he had rinsed that approach ...

    And the thing about Augusta, as bad as the place is for the game overall, you simply are enamored of the look. I'll never understand why everyone genuflects and kisses so much ass, but we all do.
     
  9. PayTriple

    PayTriple VIP Whale

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    People love feeling like they are part of some exclusive club, and having knowledge about Augusta National seems to impart that feeling for golf fans.
    Hogan's bridge, Eisenhower's tree (now gone, but since I know about it, I am somehow a card-carrying member of the fraternity), etc.
    Similar to being treated like a VIP in Las Vegas, the implied exclusivity of Augusta National has great snob appeal...and let's be honest, most of us have some snobbery in us!
     
  10. PayTriple

    PayTriple VIP Whale

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    duplicate
     
  11. Packer

    Packer VIP Whale

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    Now we can say it was never close. Turns out he beat them up but good. Don't know about dominated though. But it was always close. As golfers, we know anything can happen even at their level or and especially at that course and under those circumstances. Also what were the green coats doing? They could have rolled the greens more or dried them up more. Balls were staying on the greens that in years past would have rolled off.
    I agree, well done Jordan to say the least! What a great guy with such humility and wisdom beyond his years.
    Spieth for president!
     
  12. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    Anyone who feels part of Augusta from watching it on TV over the years needs help. I mean, we know the shots, the hanging lies, the absurd music and so-called journalists acting like fawning tweens at a David Cassidy concert -- we know the script, in other words, intimately, so maybe that's the familiarity thing. But them ain't us. Not remotely. For all Augusta does for the game, it's still just a 21st century version of noblese oblige. I'd CERTAINLY love to play the course, but avoid the Kool-Aid.
     
  13. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    Well stated.
     
  14. klawrey

    klawrey High-Roller

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    While length is somewhat of a factor with the lengthening that is done nearly every year, Augusta is and always will be a ball strikers golf course. I don't care if you can hit it 400 yards on a string you HAVE to miss in the right spots, you can't be above the hole on some holes, you have to be able to dissect August with your iron play and Jordan proved that with at second overall in Greens in Regulation at 75%.

    He was near the bottom of those making the cut in Driving Distance at a touch over 280 but he is still hitting 5-iron from 210 or so although his lofts are all a touch stronger than a "standard" loft. So as Ken said it's pretty relative, even though Augusta is pushing 7400 yards even the bottom portion of the field is hitting it 270 off the tee when around the time of "Tiger Proofing" the bottom portion was struggling to crack 250 or 260.
     
  15. PayTriple

    PayTriple VIP Whale

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    Then millions of people need help....the Masters is by far the most watched Major.
     
  16. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    Yes, it is. I'm just not buying the rest of the argument, is all.
     
  17. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    I'd guess post-cut, when that more than half the field that has no chance is eliminated, driving average probably jumped significantly. All these guys can hit 290 and that as you suggested is far enough. From there Spieth simply hit better iron shots. It's not like he was Chip Beck looking at a 3-wood -- remember when the water behind 15 was in play? But a 4i hit better than a 6i is an iron hit better. And then he simply didn't spit the bit, as most everyone else did from time-to-time to often.

    God, and what about Tiger not hitting a fairway until, what was it, 15? Wow.

    I'd say it was a good set up and the weather worked out. If you really hit a shit ball, you found a lake. But not everything was playing off a Brazilian. And all manner of player was up there somewhere. The worst years are the cold slow years. Yuck.
     
  18. VegasBJ

    VegasBJ VIP Whale

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    Ok Ken, I need to know exactly how you know so much about Brazilians?!:wink2::evillaugh:poke::beer:
     
  19. bardolator

    bardolator Lifelong Low Roller

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    Rather than consider whether they might have kept the greens dry or rolled them, and what effect the decision may have had on lower trajectory iron shots, I prefer to believe that someone said, "Here's our golf course- play it."

    The Masters is always worth watching. I loved how nervous Spieth got- right after he had hit yet another intelligent, well-executed shot.

    I'm in the ticket lottery for 2016. We can't blame a woman for being beautiful, and it does make us want to overlook her other flaws and her cost of maintenance. The business with Crenshaw's caddy got to me a little bit. Touching as it might have been to see it, and to wonder how many times the guy had handed Ben that $15 putter, the scene (for me) still had overtones of the bad old days.

    So how much difference does it make that Spieth's caddy knows Chambers Bay so well?
     
  20. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    I always say that condition is a moot consideration since all are playing the same course. Sure, there might be changes in wind or more spike marks from morning to afternoon flight but the course is the course is the course. It's the same reason why it is so laughable when an outfit like the USGA or announcers or whomever get all worked up over scoring; scores of "3" and "5" are exact, finite. It is concepts like "par" or "bogey" that are arbitrary constructs, and as long as everyone plays the same 18 it simply doesn't matter whether it's a new record or +4.

    Augusta is a one-off, or at least it needs to be. It's fine for the Greencoats to have that perfectly faux playpen but it is bad for the industry as a whole because it is wasteful, supremely expensive and nearly impossible to replicate elsewhere, though many try. I don't know how many times I've heard a player at a course going batshitz because the place is a little brown or whatever, yet it is playing beautifully.

    Chambers is going to be a wholly different animal, running like Pinehurst last year but crinkled and crumpled and heaving. Greg Norman never won Augusta with some great caddies who knew the place inside/out, so that's really no indicator. It's the shrink side of caddies that really seems to matter. (Now for me, it's green-reading, but I'm not exactly a pro.)
     
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