(05-24-2018, 12:32 PM)slide Wrote: I hope hulk is right about the course favoring management over brute length/strength.
Haley Moore hit cut drivers on every par four and five and Ade, her opponent, stopped using her driver entirely until the last hole of regulation, when she realized she had to hit the green in two. Moore, a very long hitter, decided long wasn't worth the risk. Those two women's decisions all but confirmed for me that Karsten's premium is on accuracy.
It also appeared there were a lot of places on thse fairways you don't want to be for your approach shot.
Don't know what team this favors. In my competitive days, the very good college players from the US Southwest were, almost of necessity, guys who hit long, low draws to cope with Southwest winds and well-baked fairways. That ball flight on this course, from what I saw, will get you on a plane flight home Saturday night.
One more re accuracy vs. distance. There are many holes at Karsten Creek where a ball not far off the fairway can be in virtually unplayable lie. I'm not sure when I last saw a course where so many players were having trouble finding their ball, and then trying to figure what do once they made the discovery. That may help explain why the rounds in this event took so long.