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Thread: 2020 LPGA Tour

  1. #1
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    Default 2020 LPGA Tour

    It's 2020 already, and the LPGA have kicked off their year. So we need a new thread.

    Normally I dislike Pro-Am and/or Pro-Celeb formats, but this one was more interesting than usual. Firstly, the celebs were mainly scratch markers (or better), and they played from the same tees as the women.

    In one way the comparison made the women look boring, because many of the men hit it way past the ladies. The former tennis player Mardy Fish hit the risk/reward 330yd hole with his drive, while his playing partner Inbee Park was 100 yards short. But the ladies were all going 5 and 6 under for the round, and 12 under for the tournament, while the winning celeb, John Smoltz, was the only one under par. So you also got to see how good professional women compare to high quality men amateurs.

    The other point of interest (or lack thereof) was the playoff. Tournament organisers never learn. We got to see players hitting hybrid and long iron to 40 feet and making par time after time on the same hole, just so the corporate crowd in attendance at the 18th could see a winner. In the end they didn't, because after 5 holes of dull, boring par golf on a hard hole it got too dark to continue. i really wish all playoffs would not just play the same hole over and over, and just as importantly, it should be on easy holes so we can cheer birdies rather than wait for the loser to lose with a three putt. Yawn. Rant over.

    Unfortunately, we have to watch another Florida tournament before they come to Australia next month, where the golf is likely to be much more interesting.
    "There are 50 things to remember in the golf swing. Trouble is that I can only remember 49 of them" - Bob Hope.

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    Interesting point about the playoffs, i guess it really just depends on the hole, if its long but otherwise not a lot of trouble, I guess thats why it just becomes a putting contest. Dunno what the best solution will be, obviously its the TV broadcast logistics too. I like how what the do in the US Masters now, play 18 again then 10. That some sort of middle ground I guess.
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    Quote Originally Posted by jimandr View Post
    It's 2020 already, and the LPGA have kicked off their year. So we need a new thread.

    Normally I dislike Pro-Am and/or Pro-Celeb formats, but this one was more interesting than usual. Firstly, the celebs were mainly scratch markers (or better), and they played from the same tees as the women.

    In one way the comparison made the women look boring, because many of the men hit it way past the ladies. The former tennis player Mardy Fish hit the risk/reward 330yd hole with his drive, while his playing partner Inbee Park was 100 yards short. But the ladies were all going 5 and 6 under for the round, and 12 under for the tournament, while the winning celeb, John Smoltz, was the only one under par. So you also got to see how good professional women compare to high quality men amateurs.

    The other point of interest (or lack thereof) was the playoff. Tournament organisers never learn. We got to see players hitting hybrid and long iron to 40 feet and making par time after time on the same hole, just so the corporate crowd in attendance at the 18th could see a winner. In the end they didn't, because after 5 holes of dull, boring par golf on a hard hole it got too dark to continue. i really wish all playoffs would not just play the same hole over and over, and just as importantly, it should be on easy holes so we can cheer birdies rather than wait for the loser to lose with a three putt. Yawn. Rant over.

    Unfortunately, we have to watch another Florida tournament before they come to Australia next month, where the golf is likely to be much more interesting.
    Use a different tee for the playoff so the grandstand can spectate but the hole is more of a half hole.

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    Quote Originally Posted by flathook View Post
    Use a different tee for the playoff so the grandstand can spectate but the hole is more of a half hole.
    Sounds interesting. Risk/ reward drive. Maybe 250 from green.
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    Quote Originally Posted by wazamac View Post
    Sounds interesting. Risk/ reward drive. Maybe 250 from green.
    We might be on to something here. If it really necessary to restrict the playoff to the 18th, why not play it from different tees every time around.

    It would work best on a par 5, where you'd start from the plates, move forward to risk/reward distance, then perhaps again to par 4 range, and maybe again to par 3 distance. It wouldn't work everywhere and would be deadly on holes with forced water carries, where all players would play the hole the same way each time. But there are places where playing from different tees would work well.
    "There are 50 things to remember in the golf swing. Trouble is that I can only remember 49 of them" - Bob Hope.

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    Royal Adelaide is looking its usual beautiful self on TV (ABC in case viewers can't find it) for the Ladies Australian Open.

    Good scores in the morning, and not so much with the featured groups on the afternoon coverage. I'm assuming the current conditions, with firmish greens and a bit of breeze, weren't quite so challenging for the morning players.

    i also note the rough isn't nearly as deep as last time I played there in 17, which probably isn't a bad thing.

    I'm looking forward to seeing if anybody manages to get a ball stuck in The Peppas Tree on 12. For the RA members on this forum, has a plaque commemorating that occasion been installed yet?
    "There are 50 things to remember in the golf swing. Trouble is that I can only remember 49 of them" - Bob Hope.

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    I have a memento from the 19 champs a plastic wedge where they were cutting down some of the pine trees think it was the 4th where I dudded a drive and had to chip out left onto the 7th green to play my 3rd , I think I saw more parts of RA than anyone on their first round there and not much of it was the fantastic fairways or greens , the lasting memory was Ferrin’s back from 200m on most holes

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    I really enjoyed watching the last two days of the Womens Open at Royal Adelaide. Today the course showed what was on offer, with a significant breeze and the greens firming up, and many of the players failed the test.

    I've said it before in other threads, but the people who think the men hit it too far and just overpower courses should watch women's golf at a quality place like RA. There were some strategic decisions to be made, options to be considered, and risks to be assessed. I loved it.

    Generally, Inbee Park didn't have too many decisions to make. While some may think her game boring, fairways, greens and holing the odd putt was a winning formula. She looked like the Inbee Park of old, particularly yesterday, and on the type of course that favours accurate play over power, she might win again this year. Ladies British Open maybe?.
    "There are 50 things to remember in the golf swing. Trouble is that I can only remember 49 of them" - Bob Hope.

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    I prefer to watch women's golf and have enjoyed the last two weeks of free to air coverage. Never been to RA and believe that it would look better in person as opposed to the footage on tv. Thought it was interesting that Clayton would write this though [after being heavily criticised and sacked for his work at the 17th hole at RA]..''the newish, short par five, 17th hole (one resembling the concept MacKenzie drew) is growing in nicely and looking more a part of the course with each passing year.''...

  10. #10

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    jimandr

    I was playing with Peppas that day - the only tennis shot overhead smash with a wedge I have ever seen.

    Damoocow

    Doak and Clayton have a similar style, and worked together at St Andrews Beach (Doaak design) and Barnbougle Dunes (joint design).
    Clayton doesn't harbour a grudge to either RA or Doak to my knowledge - he just enjoys good design.

    By the way, RA was excellent - I saw shots I can't relate to and also lots of poor shots and putts that I can relate to.
    The back 9 is just unrelenting on any slightly mishit shots. The holes don't seem to be that difficult (except 14) but they will often extract a bogey,a double or a triple.

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    Quote Originally Posted by jimandr View Post
    I really enjoyed watching the last two days of the Womens Open at Royal Adelaide. Today the course showed what was on offer, with a significant breeze and the greens firming up, and many of the players failed the test.

    I've said it before in other threads, but the people who think the men hit it too far and just overpower courses should watch women's golf at a quality place like RA. There were some strategic decisions to be made, options to be considered, and risks to be assessed. I loved it.

    Generally, Inbee Park didn't have too many decisions to make. While some may think her game boring, fairways, greens and holing the odd putt was a winning formula. She looked like the Inbee Park of old, particularly yesterday, and on the type of course that favours accurate play over power, she might win again this year. Ladies British Open maybe?.
    Great post.
    I think the main tours and how they are televised have done a lot to distort the game of golf. Many people think you just hit it as far as you can and aim at the pin. I had a disagreement with a tour pro some time ago who hated The Dunes because he couldn't aim at the pin on every hole. For me golf is primarily a game of strategy and the skill to implement that strategy. RA doesn't look like much on TV but it rewards the right line of play and asks you to hit different flights. I also think they could have better commentators explaining this with better visuals. If they had their tracer technology higher up behind the tee and a visual explaining why one side of the hole was better a lot more novice golfers would understand the strategy and RA would be much better appreciated. What we mostly got on the first tee shot was a sideways shot of the ball running past the camera but when they rarely showed a shot from behind the tee you could see the fairway change angles. We're constantly getting bombarded with how far they hit it. Inbee Park might not hit it out of sight but her play this week was awesome in a different way.
    I followed Anne Van Dam around 13th beach and her swing and athleticism are also awesome to watch. But she didn't seem to be thinking her way around the course on the half a dozen holes I saw.

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    I normally don't watch womens Golf as it holds no interest for me.
    In the absence of anything else to watch while having a break from doing stuff outside I found myself with it on the idiot box for 20-30min a couple of times on Saturday.
    Found it slightly more watchable than the snore fest I've been unfortunate to see bits of before with endless wasted time watching them being lined up by the Caddy. If it still happens the editing by the ABC was good to not show a heap of that rubbish.
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    Went to the ladies open on Sunday, watched Minjee while it was quiet (morning) she played relatively well and it was good getting close up to every shot without any crowds

    Watched Inbee for about 2 holes and got bored pretty quickly; didn't help with her playing partner taking her merry time on every shot. The 7th being the worst. Gave up in the end and went to Costco

    Course was a delight, very lush, IMO the greens were a tad slower than usual, rough was cut back a fair bit making the course a bit friendlier in the wind.

    How they make 17 a par 5 downwind is beyond me

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    Quote Originally Posted by thecollective View Post
    Went to the ladies open on Sunday, watched Minjee while it was quiet (morning) she played relatively well and it was good getting close up to every shot without any crowds

    Watched Inbee for about 2 holes and got bored pretty quickly; didn't help with her playing partner taking her merry time on every shot. The 7th being the worst. Gave up in the end and went to Costco

    Course was a delight, very lush, IMO the greens were a tad slower than usual, rough was cut back a fair bit making the course a bit friendlier in the wind.

    How they make 17 a par 5 downwind is beyond me
    Do they play it as a Par 5 from the Mens Whites or Blues? Surely they wouldn't put them of the Mens Blacks?
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    Hey C, did you notice any tour spec shafts in their drivers?

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    Doak and Clayton have a similar style, and worked together at St Andrews Beach (Doak design) and Barnbougle Dunes (joint design).
    Clayton doesn't harbour a grudge to either RA or Doak to my knowledge - he just enjoys good design.


    Benje,

    Exactly right - Tom and I have a great relationship as do I with Royal Adelaide. Tom's 17th is certainly better than our version (which was closer to Mackenzie's plan) and it's a better hole than the original 17th.
    But given my time again there is no chance I'd do something so different as a first project at such a good course.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hatchman View Post
    Do they play it as a Par 5 from the Mens Whites or Blues? Surely they wouldn't put them of the Mens Blacks?
    17 was off the men's blacks - but probably should have been a par 4. 6 played longer and harder because of the wind direction (into) all week.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ferrins View Post
    Hey C, did you notice any tour spec shafts in their drivers?
    Yes but they hit it further than you...

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    On SBS at the moment

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    Anyone see Pia Babnik's drop on 16???

    I swear she dropped from just above her ankle

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    Quote Originally Posted by Toxic View Post
    Anyone see Pia Babnik's drop on 16???

    I swear she dropped from just above her ankle
    Close to that yes.
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    I didn't see the drop, but doing some channel surfing I found this by chance.

    Every other year it has been on ABC. I daresay SBS will be very happy they picked up the coverage, because their logo will get some coverage on all the news and sports news outlets for a while, underneath the "Star Is Born" headlines.

    I'd had never heard of Stephanie Kyriakou, and I only even knew she was leading when I saw a one paragraph snippet in the Sunday paper. The event didn't even make the news or the papers for the first two days. I think it will be a bit more prominent today.
    "There are 50 things to remember in the golf swing. Trouble is that I can only remember 49 of them" - Bob Hope.

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    tset to see if this working properly.

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    I'm tempted to post this in CAPS to shout it to all golf fans, and sports fans in general.

    We have live golf on TV, starting tomorrow at 4.00pm. It's only the Korean LPGA, but there are a few name Koreans in the field, and it is live, real golf at last.

    With this, the Taylormade Challenge starting Friday, and the Bundesliga soccer, finally the sports drought is breaking. My Kayo subscription will be worth something again.
    "There are 50 things to remember in the golf swing. Trouble is that I can only remember 49 of them" - Bob Hope.

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    Not quite the LPGA, but the ELPGA is playing in Dubai, a day/nighter for those who don't follow the ELPGA, which, lets face it, is almost all of us.

    I actually stumbled across the replay on Kayo, and I'm watching it now. It is so strange.

    It is genuine night golf on TV. Floodlights, and dark spots away from the fairways. It is quite impressive to see the ball in the air against the night sky, but it seems that the cameras have to restrict their angles to avoid shooting straight into the floodlights. Lots and lots of shots of the Dubai skyline though.

    The main negative is that you can't see the hole after they take the flag out.

    So far, the only wildlife shot they have captured is a family of jackals on one of the fairways. I dare say that is a first for golf of TV.
    "There are 50 things to remember in the golf swing. Trouble is that I can only remember 49 of them" - Bob Hope.


 

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