by Raj Bhuyan (83 round 1, 77 round 2)
It was a great experience to be able to play alongside such great up and coming golf talent - even more so on a home course. What was interesting, however, is that the course this weekend was not the course that I've grown accustomed to play over the years. This is the 8th consecutive MAGA Open on Lewis & Clark, and this year's setup was in my opinion more difficult than in previous years.
What was different this time?
1) The rough. There is no doubt that Lewis and Clark has generous fariways. But at 4-5+ inches, the rough was quite penal. Mix in the firm fairways and any well hit ball out of the rough will come out hot and not stop too easily.
2) Greens/pins. We've had a lot of rain this spring and early summer. So much so that the greens probably did not get to the desired level of firmness for this tournament. Nevertheless, Bill Maynard, Rich Becker and the Golf Course Maintenance Stafff got the greens to a pretty firm and fast level - with stimp meters running nearly 12 by Friday PM. When the greens get this firm and fast, the breaks are totally different. I generally had to double the reads on any putt over 15 feet. Also I had to play for putts to drop in the front of the cup as any firm putt would go 5-6 feet by. I generally like to hit the back of the cup so my putting approach had to change markedly this weekend. Moreover, chips and pitches react differently that I've been used to over the years. No "2 bounce" spin and stop shots on these greens. One needs to hit a much softer pitch around the greens to get it close.
3) Length + wind. A combination of the wind and overal length of some of these holes made it tough for GIRs - especially for some of the not-so-long hitting amatuer golfers. On Thursday PM, #11 played 495 into a stiff wind, and today #18 was 502 yards to the pin into the usual CCSA 15mph headwind - now that's a par 4...
All in all, it was great to be out there, and it's nice knowing that our course has held up well to some great emerging talent on the professional ranks. Thanks to all of the volunteers that helped with scoring, and also to Jim Nienhaus and Bill Maynard for the great scoreboard - first class.
Congrats to the players on the top of the leaderboard - they are quite talented to excel in such conditions. Get out there and watch some good golf this weekend.
Best, Raj
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