In this clip from TGJ Podcast 202, Patrick Cantlay gives his opinion on the modern trend of removing trees from Golden Age golf courses.
Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/4I_DTg0AvYs
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5 Comments
Johnny Miller got ripped to shreds for knocking Erin Hills because they had wide forgiving fairways with almost zero rough for a US Open. According to this interview, Cantlay said best defense is narrowing the fairways…in the videos he saw from the 1980’s-1990 the fairways were way more narrow….so this statement validates what Johnny said
Depends on the course… thousands of real courses real people play need tree removal
They are removing trees and rough and bushes so the INDUSTRY can sell MORE EXPENSIVE DRIVERS that the amateurs can air out without feeling bad about not being able to hit it straight.
This has been going on for 35 years or so now, ever since the advent of Metal Woods that took over the game, along with the multi layer fast balls together with which we gained so much more speed that the balls are flying in the same lines as before when miss-hits happen, but so much deeper and farther and quicker into the hazards or obstructions that they eliminated the trees, bushes and rough and widened fairways, got rid of OB and boundary lines to MAKE THE GAME EASIER AND EASIER AND EASIER.
I grew up playing in the late 70s and all through the 80s and all I remember from them days is how BUSHY and THICK everything was if you missed fairways. Grass was knee high 6 feet off fairways and bushes and trees were everywhere. The ball did not travel as HIGH or as FAST, of course, so they travelled lower and slower and could be found most times if you kept your eye on it off the tee, but boy, were we made to HACK IT OUT!!!!! That's all GONE, now.
Cantlay is right separating the answer into architecture vs setup. In my opinion, the baseline difficulty is determined by the design. Defenses to me are an architectural feature, it's trees, water, elevation change. Tom Weiskopf said a great golf course always has those 3 things. Beyond those, the best defense from a design aspect to me would be tough slopping greens. Now in setup and conditions, you can raise or lower the difficulty to a degree but most of the difficulty lies in design. I think the best defense, or best feature to make a golf course difficult, is trees. Trees will naturally narrow the fairway both in design but also visually.
I see Patrick has been reading the Acushnet talking points, good boy!