faux_maestro
New
I went to the Nationwide Tour event here in Columbus yesterday at The Ohio State University Scarlet course. Was quite a day, temperatures in the mid 90's, heat index in the mid-high 100's. I have some observations of the day I would like to share and hear some input from others.
It was interesting to see the difference between the range and the course. Once the players were warmed up on the range, it seemed that no one missed a shot. I say "once warmed up" because I saw many chunked wedges, usually at the beginning of the warm-up. One right after another striped at the target with the same trajectory and ball flight as the one before. A lot of the most impressive range players looked completely different on the first tee/first few holes. Makes me feel better about myself!
We talk a lot about strength these days and how the players are better athletes. I had bought in to this as it had been a few years since I've been to this event or The Memorial. Bigger, stronger ETC. Now, they might be better athletes and they might be stronger but I saw a lot of really skinny guys. None that I might confuse with a linebacker, corner, point guard. Most everyone seemed to be 5'9"-6'2"-ish and skinny. The BIGGEST guys out there just looked average. No big muscles, no one I would be afraid to see in an alley somewhere (I'm 5'10" 225-ish). Really flexible, skinny guys.
Maybe 75% of the guys I saw hit it REALLY high. But it was a different high than I'm used to. The ball got up to it's peak fast and just hung there forever. Didn't see anyone hit that "spinny" high upshooter type shot. Everything seemed to get up fast and stay there. The "low" hitters still hit it higher than me.
With that said, everyone hit their wedges low. I parked in the layup zone on #6, a 600+ yard par 5. I was there for about 3 hours so I saw a variety of players. No one that I saw hit the green in 2 but some guys got within 20 yards. The third shots were in the range of 95-110 mostly and the ball flights were actually a little lower than I hit my wedges but with more spin.
I bet if put on a trackman, most guys would be pretty close to zeroed out consistantly with their irons. I didn't see many curveballs hit with the irons. The driver curved a little more, but the longest drives I saw all day would be really close to all zeros.
The most impressive drives I saw were by Harris English, amateur from University of Georgia. He hit drives on 11 (into the wind) and 12 (downwind) that are 60-80 yards past my best on those holes from tees 30 yards behind where I usually play. He's a stud and no doubt why he's in second place right now. Peter Uihlein was impressive though he hit some of the more massive slices I've seen from a good player. I mean big banana balls that started left of the fairway and ended 20 yards right of the fairway. Uihlein and English were paired together.
Last thing. Seemed like the only guys that were having any fun were the two amateurs. They were laughing about that running back from USC that said USC pays more than the NFL and checking out some of the female talent in the gallery. They interacted with the gallery a little, the pros I saw looked like they were headed to a funeral. I guess playing the game for a living is different than showing up to a few events a year and not worrying about a paycheck.
It was interesting to see the difference between the range and the course. Once the players were warmed up on the range, it seemed that no one missed a shot. I say "once warmed up" because I saw many chunked wedges, usually at the beginning of the warm-up. One right after another striped at the target with the same trajectory and ball flight as the one before. A lot of the most impressive range players looked completely different on the first tee/first few holes. Makes me feel better about myself!
We talk a lot about strength these days and how the players are better athletes. I had bought in to this as it had been a few years since I've been to this event or The Memorial. Bigger, stronger ETC. Now, they might be better athletes and they might be stronger but I saw a lot of really skinny guys. None that I might confuse with a linebacker, corner, point guard. Most everyone seemed to be 5'9"-6'2"-ish and skinny. The BIGGEST guys out there just looked average. No big muscles, no one I would be afraid to see in an alley somewhere (I'm 5'10" 225-ish). Really flexible, skinny guys.
Maybe 75% of the guys I saw hit it REALLY high. But it was a different high than I'm used to. The ball got up to it's peak fast and just hung there forever. Didn't see anyone hit that "spinny" high upshooter type shot. Everything seemed to get up fast and stay there. The "low" hitters still hit it higher than me.
With that said, everyone hit their wedges low. I parked in the layup zone on #6, a 600+ yard par 5. I was there for about 3 hours so I saw a variety of players. No one that I saw hit the green in 2 but some guys got within 20 yards. The third shots were in the range of 95-110 mostly and the ball flights were actually a little lower than I hit my wedges but with more spin.
I bet if put on a trackman, most guys would be pretty close to zeroed out consistantly with their irons. I didn't see many curveballs hit with the irons. The driver curved a little more, but the longest drives I saw all day would be really close to all zeros.
The most impressive drives I saw were by Harris English, amateur from University of Georgia. He hit drives on 11 (into the wind) and 12 (downwind) that are 60-80 yards past my best on those holes from tees 30 yards behind where I usually play. He's a stud and no doubt why he's in second place right now. Peter Uihlein was impressive though he hit some of the more massive slices I've seen from a good player. I mean big banana balls that started left of the fairway and ended 20 yards right of the fairway. Uihlein and English were paired together.
Last thing. Seemed like the only guys that were having any fun were the two amateurs. They were laughing about that running back from USC that said USC pays more than the NFL and checking out some of the female talent in the gallery. They interacted with the gallery a little, the pros I saw looked like they were headed to a funeral. I guess playing the game for a living is different than showing up to a few events a year and not worrying about a paycheck.
I just hope they know how to use it otherwise it's a colossal waste of money.
