Tough rough but huge fairways, it's long but not impossibly so and if you can stay out of trouble the course is more manageable than most US Open courses. I'm going to drop a shameless brag that I last year played Pebble Beach (G Mac 2010 as far as I remember was the last outing it had) and all things considered (wind mainly) I thought it the most difficult course I'd ever played. The greens were impossibly fast to the point of putts from 6 foot could very often result in a 3 putt if you weren't fully concentrating. Paul Casey pulled off one of the more remarkable rounds we'll see this weekend, looked to have lost it altogether with a bogey, triple bogey and another bogey in 4 holes but hit 5 birdies and no bogeys on the way home to stay right in contention. Other than Fowler it's a light enough leaderboard and Casey might just have a say in this. Also is Bruce Harmon any relation to Butch at all
There were, through a twist of fate, completely free thankfully, I couldn't afford to play that place at full rates. They charge somewhere around $500 a round but you must be booked into onsite accommodation too which ranges from $1000 a night per room to unimaginable amounts. Monterey peninsula is beatiful but a huge amount of it is privately owned by the golf course and you have to pay them $10 for the priviledge of driving around the coast, it's definitely worth it mind but sad that such an amazing place can be privately owned and controlled but such are the ways of the USA.
16 mile drive it's called. Done it myself. It's well worth the 10dollars, I considered that fee would cover the upkeep of the lookout points along the way, so I wasn't too concerned about paying it. Beautiful part of the world down that way.
Yeah it's completely fine for tourists paying $10 as you'll only do it once or twice, but just a bit trickier for the locals in the area who would love to have the amenity free for public use but yeah the drive probably just pays for itself all things considered. Gorgeous part of the world indeed down there. I was in San Fran a few weeks back and heard that the Big Sur had some collapses from flooding there this winter, only did it last september, it would be a great shame if that was closed off now.
Never even thought about the locals, you'd think they'd give free entry if you show a California Drivers License or something like that. Done it myself last year, didn't hear about the collapses this year, but I think some form of natural disaster is quite frequent in California. We couldn't do Mariposa grove because there was a fire, and a drought at the time so the river was closed too. Anyway, back on topic. Great win for Koepke, I was mulling over backing him or Hoffman, of course I went with Hoffman. Had Matsuyama ew, so made a little bit of profit for the weekend. I wasn't overly bowled over with the golf either this weekend, not really sure why. Probably a combination of the weather being nice here, it being my first fathers day, none of the big names doing too well and the course playing very easy. I love watching golf when it's going wrong, I like to see how the best get themselves out of tricky situations.
Hoffman had that triple bogey and only for that would have been a cert for a place. Always has one brutal hole in a round. Met Keopkas brother in Tampa about 18 months ago and started following him closely, backing him in majors. The brother is also a brilliant golfer and looking to turn pro soon.
Anybody have any fancies for the 146th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale this week? Some great each way offers with Coral and Paddy Powers going 8 places online and Sky Bet with 10 places! I am going with these six.... Rickie Fowler @ 16/1 Adam Scott @ 28/1 Paul Casey @ 33/1 Branden Grace @ 50/1 Pádraig Harrington @ 66/1 Ian Poulter @ 75/1
is it a good deal for us armchair spectators though? They have lost all their old golf crew, they got sky to bail them out of the last 2 years of their open contract due to BBC cut backs (was supposed to finish after this years open) I would imagine they will just use the world feed for Thurs and Fri then send Lineker, Irvine and co over for the weekend for interviews and analysis but still use the world feed comms....please no Peter Allice!!! One thing I think sky do really well is their golf coverage. It's a shame they look like they are going to lose the masters also. Kind of a kick in the teeth to their new shiny Sky sports golf channel.
I posted a blog on the 146th Open Championship if anybody wants to have a read. 'Fifteen To Follow' I have looked at 15 players who may do well and have my six selections at the bottom. https://www.olbg.com/blogs/post.php?id=412773 The website have updated their blog pages so the formatting/spacing/tables aren't exactly right just yet but it's layed out as best as possible right now!
I see PP are going eight places, however odds for every player is much shorter than other bookies. It's a clever marketing ploy to entice folks thinking they are getting the additional place, however you are actually losing out by backing with them overall. The amount of times 6/7/8 is spilt means you won't get much back anyway
Kuchar at 50/1 giving me a run for my money, none of the others contending. Looking like Spieth will win though!