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Welcome to multi-course golf: our only answer to “How the hell do we get 150 rounds of golf in before it gets dark out in January?” While despised by many for pro-am part of the tournament, these are still some gorgeous courses and led to a pretty cool storyline last year with amateur Nick Dunlap winning.

So, with not much to say about this one, here are some Nick Dunlap facts I stole from the PGA Media Guide for the week:

With his one-stroke victory over Christiaan Bezuidenhout at the 2024 American Express, he became the first amateur to win a PGA TOUR event since Phil Mickelson at the 1991 Northern Telecom Open

• Became the first sponsor exemption to win on TOUR since Martin Laird at the 2020 Shriners Children’s Open

• Third-round 60 at La Quinta Country Club tied the lowest round by an amateur in TOUR history (Patrick Cantlay/2011 Travelers Championship/R2)

• At 21 years, 27 days, he seeks to become the second-youngest player to successfully defend a TOUR title since 1900

• Winner of the 2024 Arnold Palmer Award as the 2024 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year; second-youngest player to win the award (Jordan Spieth/2013)

• Finished No. 49 in the 2024 FedExCup standings after adding a second title at the Barracuda Championship, becoming the first player in history to win on TOUR as an amateur and a professional in the same season

As for course previews, Ron essentially wrote three this week since we have the rotation and the 54-hole cut. I’m going to just feature info on the course they’ll (hopefully) play twice. You can click on the article or follow Ron on Twitter for more info on La Quinta and Nicklaus.

Pete Dye Stadium Course

At only 7,210 yards, the Stadium Course is the 10th shortest on Tour. Two of the par-5s stretch out beyond 590 yards, but other than that, Tour players have the length to overpower the forced carries as well as many of the shorter holes on the course such as the four par-4s that are each less than 390 yards.

Success can be had by bombing it off the tee, but if golfers do not miss in the right spot, water and sand lurk everywhere. Stadium Club averages the ninth most penalties off the tee out of all the Tour courses played since 2015. The Driving Accuracy rate of 63% is only slightly easier than the Tour average. Players will need to be cautious on numerous holes and lay back off the tee to avoid danger.

Along with the very difficult bunkers that surround the small greens and some fairways, the challenging Par-5s are also one of the course’s biggest areas of defense. Players “Going for the Green” on their second shot are often met with trouble if not long enough off the tee and super accurate on approach. While distance is an advantage on this course, players will need to use good judgment.

Most of the par 4s here are “less-than-driver” holes due to tight fairways and the strategically placed bunkers. Strong wedge play from 125 yards and closer is paramount for those who take a more aggressive approach off the tee. Almost half of all approaches come from the 125-200 yard range. The remodeling of the greens is a huge change this week. They went from the 5th smallest on Tour to the 10th largest at 7,000 square feet. Many are elevated and the firmness of the new surfaces will repel approaches that are not hit on the right length or line. An underrated aspect of not only the Stadium Course but also of the Nicklaus and La Quinta courses are the difficulty of the par 3 holes. Out of the 12 most difficult holes that golfers will face this week, nine are par 3s with a scoring average of 3.10.

While sand saves rates around the green are among the toughest on Tour, scrambling from the almost non-existent rough is the easiest. One important note about the grasses at all three courses is that the Bermuda grass lies dormant this time of year. Fairways and rough are overseeded ryegrass and the greens are overseeded with Poa trivialis. As eight-year PGA Tour caddie, Brian Mull commented, “It’s nothing like Poa annua. They’re like perfect greens, pure carpet…can be a little sticky, not fast, and with minimal grain. Anybody can putt well on them.”

Model

I’m using one from last year as well, but Ryan and I built one from scratch this morning, and honestly, it covered most of what I was looking for this week.

• Total SG on “short and very short” courses

• Approach on “short and very short” courses

• Total SG in “easy and very easy” scoring conditions

• SG: short game on Poa Trivialis courses

• Ball Striking on “Less than Driver” courses

• Birdie or better % in “easy and very easy” scoring conditions

Plenty of the big names fit this criteria, but as always a few surprises rise to the top.

Chris Kirk made 79% of his cuts last year, finished top 20 22.7% of the time and snagged a win. Cut last week but he does have a T3 finish here back in 2021.

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Betting

Matchup bets are a little more robust this week! I found my first newsletter play of the 2025 season:

Full Tournament: Wyndham Clark > Max Greyserman -110 (FanDuel)

I love Max, but a lot of his best golf has been against lighter fields and I have Clark as the better ball striker, especially in a spot where you’re keeping the drive in the bag a bit. Both are fine with the short game, but Wyndham has better numbers and more experience on this west coast poa.

Outrights:

Si Woo Kim +4500
Ben Griffin +5000
J.T. Poston +6000
Tom Hoge +6668
Keith Mitchell +7500

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Weather

Big Nothingburger again. It may be a little chilly in the morning, but otherwise, the wind and rain won’t have anything to say about how this one plays. It should be gorgeous afternoons.

TGL Time

After banging home an underdog winner last week, I’m hooked on the TGL and will be tuning in tonight for Tiger, Max, & Collin.

One and Done

Also got some thoughts down on paper for One and Done this week. I’ll likely keep this rolling as it seems to help my process quite a bit to work through this and make it into an article.

News and Notes

• My birthday is in April (in case my wife is reading this) and I’d like this game.

• speaking of TGL, apparently, we may have MORE teams and possibly more arenas.

• lastly, golf twitter doing what it does best:

As always, bet responsibly, have fun, and go LAGC!

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