I guess we litigate the worthiness of golf venues online all the time, but I did NOT expect this amount of hate for Quail Hollow. It’s coming from everywhere: the architecture snobs, the country club crowd, even the damn pros.

For the record, it’s a fine course, this isn’t the U.S. Open where we expect and hope for a winner that’s over par.

Yeah, the scoring might be a little lower than we’d like, but we’ll get our fill of carnage next month at Oakmont.

That said, I did think they were going to attempt to make this tougher than a normal Wells Fargo. Sam hits on the major issue here:

While it’s not like normal major weeks where we need to introduce or re-introduce a course, Ron still did a great job covering the ins and outs of this one. An excerpt from his course preview:

Quail Hollow

Measuring 7,626 yards, Quail Hollow is a  par-71 layout. Similar to courses like Torrey Pines and Bay Hill, it presents a challenging combination of length and difficult scoring conditions. It is the second-longest and fifth-toughest scoring course in the annual Tour rotation. It also has the sixth-longest combined par 4s and par 5s on Tour.

There are only five scoring holes at Quail Hollow – the three par 5s and the two semi-driveable sub-350-yard par 4s. To have success, players will need to birdie as many of those as possible and then hold on for dear life on the other 13 holes, which all average over par.

The course features tree-lined fairways, rolling terrain, strategically-placed water hazards, and firm, undulating greens on approach. There is a wonderful mix of doglegs veering off in all directions. Though there are only 61 bunkers (12th fewest), they are well-utilized near landing zones along the fairways and often in the direct line of approach shots around the greens.

With a SubAir system below the greens, rainy conditions have a very limited effect. Tournament officials gradually firm up the surfaces throughout the week so that by Sunday, it becomes very tough to hold the green surface. This is another reason why long drivers of the ball have an advantage at Quail Hollow. More distance off the tee equates to higher-lofted and softer landing approach shots into firm, tricky pin positions.

Championship contenders must work the ball, curving their shots to match the fairways’ frequent bends while avoiding overhanging branches and vibrant rough. The drier Bermuda grass will put a premium on such shotmaking skills. “If we have those firm conditions and you just hit it long without shaping it, you’re probably going to end up in the rough because the ball is going to bounce,” Wood said. “We can put a real premium on hitting fairways, hitting greens and making putts, which is what major championship golf is all about, right?”

According to Golf Channel analyst and Quail Hollow member, Johnson Wagner, “The fairways are as firm and fast as I’ve ever seen them. While the rough isn’t long, it’s super thick, and it’s been mowed back towards the tees. It’s going to play gnarly. I think this will be the best that Quail Hollow has ever presented itself.” 

From an agronomic standpoint, the base turf at Quail Hollow is 100% bermudagrass. In the fall of each year, groundskeepers seed the course with bermuda, a warm-weather grass, and with rye, a grass meant for colder seasons. Right after the conclusion of the Wells Fargo Championship, a herbicide is used to kill the ryegrass and let the bermuda grow for the summer.

With Charlotte being in the mid-Atlantic region, the beginning of May is still too cool for the bermuda to completely break through the overseed. According to Wood, approaches, tees, and fairways are around a 50/50 mix of overseeded rye grass and the underlying bermuda. The rough is 90% overseeded rye. “The Bermuda grass will wake up,” said Wood, who has worked at Quail Hollow for a decade and oversaw course conditions for the 2017 PGA Championship. “It’s coming alive. I’m very happy with the turf quality and where we’re going to be.

“Once that Bermuda grass wakes up and starts putting out some roots, it starts using up the moisture in the soil. It’s also providing a denser, tighter surface because it’s starting to compete with the rye grass for space in the canopy. Things are going to be firm so that balls can bounce and give people the opportunity to shape the ball versus just hit it long.”

The rough length at the annual Wells Fargo Championship has consistently been maintained at 2″. For this week, however, Wood said the rough will start at 2.75″ on Monday and will be around 4″ by Sunday. Greens are a 50/50 mix of Poa trivialis overseed and bermuda. Greens will be a speedy 13+ on the stimpmeter and are on the larger side, averaging over 6,500 square feet. Scrambling, putting from 5-15 feet, and three-putt avoidance will be key “short-game” stats this week.

The Green Mile

I’m a sucker for “named stretches” (we need a term for this), like Amen Corner or the Devil’s Elbow. 

For my money, though, this is the best one. Augusta’s stretch is more iconic, and there are tougher three-hole stretches, but the fact that they are the closing three holes is the topper for me. Likely offseason project: ranking the monikered trios.

Blockie’s Back!

Maybe you hate him, and that’s fair, but he’s a content machine when the cameras find him, and I’ll be rooting for him to at least find the weekend in Charlotte.

A quick trip down memory lane:

Betting

Taking it (fairly) easy this week with so much win equity sucked up by the top three, and rightfully so.

PGA Championship Outrights

Justin Thomas +2150
Ludvig Aberg +3036
Patrick Reed +8258
Min Woo Lee +11000

Corey Conners Top 20 +200
Daniel Berger Top 20 +250

72-hole Matchups

Rory > Scottie +114
JT > Rahm +110

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Weather

The week started pretty wet, with the grounds completely closed down on Monday.

The initial reports made it look pretty bad for the actual tournament as well, but rain chances on Thursday and Saturday have been lowered and we may see a pretty nice week for weather after the Monday washout.

Afternoon winds may not be strong enough to really affect the late waves, but we’ll see what sort of difference we see in the speed of the greens.

Update Your Calendars

As always, bet responsibly, have fun, and try to enjoy Quail Hollow no matter how you feel about it.

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