“ALTITUDE AND ATTITUDE” MAKE THESE HIGH DESERT …
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That’s the assessment of Pacific Northwest PGA Section President Marcus King, who is seeing his Section host the National Championship for the third time in 13 years. “Crosswater can be a really tough course, with lots of forced carries and a premium on accuracy from tee to green, while Meadows is more open but still requires precision into the greens,” says King, the general manager of Overlake Golf & Country Club in Medina, Wash. “You combine the chal- lenge of the designs with the way playing at a high altitude makes the ball fly, and you see the impor- tance of being able to control your distance on every shot. I think getting to Sunriver early enough for some quality practice rounds is going to be so important to help players adjust.” Competitors who have played in past National Championships at Sunriver – which sits 4,200 feet above sea level – say the ball travels 8–10 percent farther at the resort’s altitude. Seeing majestic Mount Bachelor’s snow-capped peak rising in the distance is a constant reminder of your surround- S unriver resort’s crosswater club and meadows golf course offer distinctly different challenges to the 312 players set to tee it up in the 46th PGA Professional National Championship later this month. But the two courses share a pair of traits: “Altitude and attitude.” 62 | June 2013 | www.pgamagazine.com (password: PGAmag007) P G A C O V E R S T O R Y A CLOSER LOOK: SUNRIVER RESORT’S CROSSWATER CLUB AND MEADOWS GOLF COURSE “ALTITUDE AND ATTITUDE” MAKE THESE HIGH DESERT COURSES AN INTRIGUING CHALLENGE By Don Jozwiak, Senior Editor
Transcript of “ALTITUDE AND ATTITUDE” MAKE THESE HIGH DESERT …
That’s the assessment of Pacific NorthwestPGA Section President Marcus King, who is seeinghis Section host the National Championship forthe third time in 13 years.
“Crosswater can be a really tough course, withlots of forced carries and a premium on accuracyfrom tee to green, while Meadows is more open butstill requires precision into the greens,” says King,the general manager of Overlake Golf & CountryClub in Medina, Wash. “You combine the chal-lenge of the designs with the way playing at a high
altitude makes the ball fly, and you see the impor-tance of being able to control your distance onevery shot. I think getting to Sunriver early enoughfor some quality practice rounds is going to be soimportant to help players adjust.”
Competitors who have played in past NationalChampionships at Sunriver – which sits 4,200 feetabove sea level – say the ball travels 8–10 percentfarther at the resort’s altitude. Seeing majesticMount Bachelor’s snow-capped peak rising in thedistance is a constant reminder of your surround-
Sunriver resort’s crosswater club and meadows golf course offer distinctly different challenges to the 312 players set to tee it up in the 46th PGA ProfessionalNational Championship later this month. But the two courses share a pair of traits:“Altitude and attitude.”
62 | June 2013 | www.pgamagazine.com (password: PGAmag007)
P G A C O V E R S T O R Y
A CLOSER LOOK:SUNRIVER RESORT’SCROSSWATER CLUB ANDMEADOWS GOLF COURSE“ALTITUDE AND ATTITUDE” MAKE THESE HIGH DESERT COURSES ANINTRIGUING CHALLENGE
By Don Jozwiak, Senior Editor
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ings at Sunriver.Coupled with the firm, fast conditions
typically expected in late June, and thatmeans a 300-yard drive can run out to330 yards or more on the bentgrass fair-ways of Crosswater and Meadows. That’senough to hit through many doglegs orfind yourself in a fairway bunker thatmight be unreachable were you playing atsea level.
The thinner air also tends to decreasethe amount of spin on the golf ball. Thiscan make a modest difference off the tee,where drives tend to fly a bit straighter.But the biggest change is seen on ap -proach shots, which will have less back-spin – that can make it tougher to hold
the firm greens at Sunriver’s courses.“I think it will be interesting to see
what happens with wedge shots this year,since this is the first National Champi-onship being played at Sunriver since thenew Rules about grooves and the condi-tion of competition regarding groovedesign went into effect in 2010,” Kingsays. “Players are going to have to work
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No. 18 on the Crosswater Course is a 456-yard par 4 that requires players to
navigate the Little Deschutes River twice –the river runs across the fairway and
guards the left side of the green.
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hard to control their distance and spin on shotsinto the greens.”
2001 PGA Professional National ChampionWayne DeFrancesco agrees with King’s assessment.
“The practice rounds are crucial for gettingused to the elevation change, and even then yourclub selection can get a little difficult,” De Fran -cesco says. “When I won in 2001, I became prettycomfortable with my drives and long irons going10 percent farther, and my short irons being abouta club longer. The greens are challenging on bothcourses, and you have to be careful with how you
approach them.”Each player in the 2013 PGA Professional
National Championship will play a round at bothCrosswater and Meadows before the 36-hole cut.The Meadows layout plays shorter and may pro-vide competitors with a chance to get into the club-house with a low round.
According to Sunriver Resort PGA Lodge Gen-eral Manager Scott Ellender, the Meadows layoutbuilds to a strong conclusion. On the front nine,wind isn’t much of a factor and players can takesome chances. The 579-yard, par-5 second holedoglegs left around a lake, and longer hitters cancut the corner and get home in two – though thewater along the entire length of the hole and a largegreenside bunker can turn thoughts of eagle into ascramble to save par or bogey.
Another hole that will produce its share ofbirdies and bogeys is the ninth, a 432-yard par-4
with large bunkers running down the middle of thefairway. A drive to the left is safer, but leaves alonger approach to a green guarded by the SunRiver to the right. The river also comes into playalong the right side of the fairway for players whotake a more aggressive line off the tee.
Once players make the turn, they’ll start feelingthe effects of the wind, which can become a signif-icant factor down the stretch.
“Some of the Meadows holes play through thebig old Ponderosa Pines, which gives you some pro-tection from the wind,” Ellender says. “But by thetime you get to 17 and 18, you’re out in the open
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Above: The 450-yard closing hole on the MeadowsCourse is thetoughest hole on thecourse. Opposite:Contestants willplay three roundson the challengingCrosswater layoutduring the 2013PGA ProfessionalNationalChampionship.
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and you can get some pretty strong windto go with some interesting strategicdecisions that need to be made.”
At 537 yards, the par-5 17th hole isreachable for many players with a longiron or hybrid. The green is highest inthe center, falling away toward the back –meaning any long approaches withoutenough backspin are likely to end upover the green.
Picking up a stroke on the 17th atMeadows is key, since the 18th hole caneasily become a bogey or worse. The dog-leg left can play 450 yards into the pre-vailing breeze and is the toughest hole onthe course. A long-iron ap proach shot toa well-protected green makes par a finescore on the home hole.
Crosswater, on the other hand, ratch-ets up the challenge much earlier. Play-ers will play one of their first two roundsat Crosswater, which will then host boththe third and fourth rounds. Accordingto Ellender, any number of holes couldhave a significant impact on who winsthe 2013 PGA Professional NationalChampionship – and who will finish inthe top 20 to earn an exemption intothis year’s PGA Championship.
“At Crosswater, you have to get off toa fast start; the first three holes are veryforgiving, and you really want at leastone birdie on the card by the time youget to the fourth tee,” Ellender explains.“Because then you have the toughestback-to-back holes on the course staringyou in the face at 4 and 5.”
This pair of par 4s both place a premi-um on accuracy off the tee. Many playerswill hit 3-wood on the 416-yard fourth to
find the fairway – anything left will find aseries of bunkers, while Ponderosa Pineswill block your approach on any shots tothe right. From the center of the fairway,a mid-to-short iron needs to hit and holda shallow green that is surrounded bywetlands on three sides.
Meanwhile, No. 5 plays 449 yards andrequires players to hit driver over the Lit-tle Deschutes River while avoiding theriver’s path along the left of the fairway.The green has wetlands to the left and aridge running through the center; hit-ting the wrong side of the green brings athree-putt into play.
Crosswater closes with another gutcheck combination on holes 17 and 18.No. 17 is a monster par 3 playing up to244 yards from the back, into the pre-vailing breeze. Many players will hit hy -brid or 3-wood here, and the margin forerror is small with a green guarded heavi-ly by wetlands. If the pin is in the diffi-cult back right placement, Ellendersuggests aiming for the front of thegreen and playing a “ground fade” thatrolls back toward the hole.
No. 18 is a 456-yard par 4 that re -quires players to navigate the Little De -schutes River two more times – the riverruns across the fairway and guards theleft side of the green.
“The 18th is stressful under normalcircumstances, but it will be a real test inthe final round with so much at stake andthe TV cameras following you,” Ellendersays. “Add in the freshening late-after-noon wind and you’ll need to really con-trol your emotions and your golf ball ifyou need to make birdie or par.” ■
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SCORER: ATTEST: DATE:
HOLE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 OUT
GOLD 386 582 188 413 460 635 206 427 456 3753
SILVER 371 550 183 393 447 603 197 363 434 3541
CHAMPIONSHIP 371 518 177 393 410 572 186 363 434 3424
BLUE 345 518 177 368 410 572 186 343 412 3331
TOURNAMENT 345 518 160 368 357 572 177 343 412 3252
WHITE 320 485 160 344 357 471 177 289 355 2958
MEN’S HDCP 13 11 17 3 5 1 15 7 9
WHITE/TOURN HDCP 13 11 17 3 9 1 15 5 7
PAR 4 5 3 4 4 5 3 4 4 36
WOMEN’S HDCP 13 5 17 9 3 1 15 7 11
RED 278 412 136 240 329 441 120 211 327 2494
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 IN TOT HCP
412 480 687 171 468 414 598 244 456 3930 7683
394 454 649 157 457 396 569 232 424 3732 7273
394 415 608 157 446 396 569 218 424 3627 7051
361 415 608 144 446 382 536 218 370 3480 6811
361 386 572 144 343 382 536 204 370 3298 6550
334 386 572 137 343 347 503 204 354 3180 6138
4 14 2 18 10 12 8 16 6
4 12 2 18 16 10 8 14 6
4 4 5 3 4 4 5 3 4 36 72
10 6 2 18 8 16 4 14 12
294 330 485 127 330 286 431 173 263 2719 5213
NET
I N I T I A L
Golf ScoreCards, Inc. 05/2013
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