Players talk Bellerive conditions
Tuesday afternoon we got the chance to (finally) talk to some of the players about how they felt about the way Bellerive was playing… and yes, we also asked them about the condition of the greens.
As always, these are one-on-one interviews (no press conference interviews here!) conducted on the course. These interviews all took place Tuesday afternoon, after the course endured a rainy morning and early afternoon, dropping almost an inch and a half of rain on the course.
Keegan Bradley
Q: What do you think of the course?
A: I think it’s great. It’s obviously really wet. It’s great, a nice layout.
Q: How are the greens?
A: I hear a lot of people complaining but I think they’re fine, they look great! They’re soft but they roll great, I think they roll fine.
Q: What stands out to you about how you have to play this course?
A: You have to drive it well, you have to hit the fairway. The rough is kind of thick. You can get really bad lies in the rough. Hit the ball in the fairway.
Q: How do you like these Meyer zoysia fairways?
A: I mean (the fairways) are great to play off of, it’s like hitting off a mat, the ball sits up perfectly, it’s great.
Gary Woodland
Q: How do you like the course?
A: I like the golf course, it’s great. It’s a big boy golf course, and obviously the conditions, the rain has added to that. You drive the ball in the fairway and you can really be aggressive, which is nice. But if you miss the fairways, it’s tough to be as aggressive to the pins.
I think you’re going to have to make some birdies this week so driving the ball in the fairway is going to be a premium and obviously the farther you get it down there, having shorter clubs in your hand is going to be an advantage. I’m definitely excited about being able to play aggressive and playing a golf course that sets up to my eye and my length.
Q: How are the greens?
A: The greens are good, they’re a little slow, I think they’ll get them quicker, I do. We’ve had a hard summer, back home in Kansas, some of the places aren’t where we like them to be, that is what it is. The good thing is everybody is going to play them. I think they’ll play a little slow, but the rolling of them is fine — they roll fine — they’re just a little slower than normal.
Q: What do you think of the Meyer zoysia fairways?
A: I love ‘em! Growing up in this area, I grew up around zoysia. I enjoy it, it’s very familiar to me which is good and we don’t get to see it very much, so I’m excited to play it this week.
Xander Schauffele
Q: What do you think of the course?
A: It’s awesome, I haven’t played on zoysia… they’re doing their best, I’d be surprised to see any super make the course in perfect condition after how much rain they had. Everyone is dealing with it.
Q: What do you think of the greens?
A: The greens remind me of the greens we grew up on back home. They’re soft, it’s hard to get an idea… it rained a ton and then 160 people decided to walk all over them. The cool thing about the greens is how big they are, (there are) a lot of different pin locations. Fairways are big, so putting pins tucked in certain areas is going to be the tricky part of the course.
Q: Given what you’ve seen on how the course is set up, any one part of your game you hope is really dialed in?
A: Everyone thinks (the scores) are going to be really low, I’m not sure what to expect yet just because the course is really long, and with it being wet… it’s going to play really long. It’s hard to know what to expect.
Chez Reavie
Q: What do you think of the golf course?
A: It’s fantastic, for all the rain they got, it’s still in good shape. I think it’s going to be a great week.
Q: Tell me about the condition of the greens.
A: The greens are good! The greens are good. You can tell they’re struggling a little bit, but I think they roll great, weather-wise, I think they’ve done a great job.
Q: How do you like the Meyer zoysia fairways?
A: They’re great, you get a lot of great lies, I think it handles the weather well and I think they’re going to play great this week.
Peter Uihlein
Q: How is the golf course playing?
A: It’s long and it’s wet. It’s good. Obviously it’s wet so the greens are soft, it’s holding up well. Fairways have some water in them but I think if they don’t get any more rain they’ll dry out.
Q: What do you think about the condition of the greens?
A: They’re going to have some wear and tear on them, but they still roll good, they hold a line. The greens will be just fine.