Dave Pelz: “Studying the game”

Seeing PMik again after a few weeks off

It was really great to see PMik again after a few weeks off, and on Wednesday I enjoyed walking 18  holes at Hazeltine National with him. The course was fairly dry after 5+ inches of rain on last Saturday night. Although the course seemed to be playing nicely, the bent grass greens have been taken over by probably 65% poa annua, and will probably cause some tough putting in the afternoons all week. This will happen because as the ball goes from bent to the poa surface, the little white blooms of afternoon-growth poa can deflect or bounce the ball up or push it off-line.

  Read the rest of this entry »

Hole #3 - 633 yards

Welcome to Chaska, Minnasota, and Haseltine National Golf Club - site of the 2009 PGA Championship. If Monday was any indication, the local community is really supporting this tournament - big crowds early on Monday were already on site to watch Tiger Woods teeing it up at 6:45am. Tiger had several thousand followers and that is a rare crowd for an early Monday morning at any golf tournament.

Lets take a closer look at Hazeltine National:

Length: This course is looooooooooooong. Especially now after lots of recent rain, it is playing really long. Here is the tee-box sign from Hole#3 - a 633 yard par 5.

Read the rest of this entry »