PGLS

Congrat to the designer for a fantastic course and well done to the setter for choosing tougher conditions, thats what the PGA18 should always be like....really enjoyed it....keep up the good work...cheers

I agree and disagree. First the course is fantastic and just one of my new favorites. Second I didn't like the setup and hear me out on this. I setup events in links for years and I even setup an event at the RTS event and play the game IRL so I understand the difference between tough and fair. Was it tough yes was it fair no and here is why. When playing in heavy wind IRL even on PGA Tour they will set the course up to the conditions to make it tough but fair and when the wind is blowing like that and the stimp is up they bring the pins more out in the open as that would still be difficult. The problem with this weeks setup is that the pins seemed to be tucked into corners and near traps and it was pretty much impossible to get the ball anywhere near the hole. Yes you could play more draws and fades but we all know the wind at Strong breeze and gusty is a bit over cooked and when you got a pin on the left and trees near the green its tough. Dont get me wrong I dont mind the wind and it is fun and challenging but when you dont even have a chance to get the ball close and are fighting to just find the green its frustrating and why when you setup pins you have to be tough but fair and that is why I dont feel the pins this week were fair and even if they were put in more open areas the scores would have been a little better but not outrageous. All ballooning scores do is keep people who get to a point of frustration is to not finish their rounds and that shouldn't be what we are trying to achieve. My take is if you are going to play a lot of wind make the pins more accessible and if you are going to tuck them all in corners make the greens soft and cut the wind to Calm or Breezy to make it challenging. Again not trying to upset the cart just trying to show another side of it as no Real PGA event would ever put pins like that in those winds. Great golf course tho and quite humbling playing it.

I also noticed that the pins were tucked in that gusty round. In my opinion, gusty should not be used for anything. Fantastic golf course though, wow!

Perc

It sure is a beauty Perc and one tough course.

i take on board what your saying about the pins and the wind.....when its windy like that i just aim for the center of the green and take a chance on a longer putt......theyll probably make it a bit easier this week anyways......

Got to agree it is a fantastic course, but for those of us who dont pull off great scores consistently the conditions can make it so difficult. This week I have just got my handicap down to +4 from +7, was really pleased lol who knows where it will be after this weeks PGA18. We have 5 course setters in the team now, each with there own individual way of setting up tours, so just as in real golf so weeks conditions are easy wilst other times more harder.

sounds like a good challenge, looking forward to it.

Was certainly a test and proves how difficult setting up a tournament actually is. You need to cater for a big range of skills, make it a good test for the lower scorers yet make it accessible for the newer or less skilled players. I personally loved the tucked pins and having to negotiate your way around making sure drives found the correct side of the fairway or even miss the fairway the correct side to leave the pins a little more gettable. The trouble is the gusty winds (not the setter's fault) which I'm sure I'm not the only one to fall foul of. They make it seem a bit like a Tuff Stuff round and luck becomes quite a factor, will it suddenly blow, or not or change direction?

Overall, a great design and good tournament setup, with testing pins which you couldn't play target golf with all the time. Maybe the winds a touch high, but that the game's problem.

Also, kudos to all the players who weren't shooting low but still took the time to finish all the rounds even if it was tough and frustrating at times...very easy to quit, but that's not how you improve! I didn't shoot -10 each round, but enjoyed the challenge just as much as posting a -50, if not more in fact.

KUPTGW setters! (also, PGA9 was good this week too).

Gusty just doesn't seem right but then again never has. I still think tucking pins for all four rounds is a bit much but agree it was a good challenge and also glad to see so many finish the event. Not easy setting up events as you have to test pins and take a lot in consideration when doing it including ground conditions. I think I might have put a few soft gree rounds in to maybe keep the ball on the green more but then you bring more spin into play but it's give and take. Overall that was one great golf course and good tho frustrating fun at times.

That only 60% of all Starters finished says all about this Settings. Premium Tourneys like PGA 18 and 9 should be created for all and not for only the "Golf Nerds"!