Inaugural Ginn Championship offers a stern and scenic test  PGATOUR.com Editorial Coordinator PALM COAST, Fla. -- Right on cue, a cell phone rang to the tune of The Beach Boys' "Surfin' U.S.A." It couldn't have been a minute after Mark O'Meara, a player adept at winning on ocean link with five victories at Pebble Beach, gave one reason he prefers a view of the water. "If the waves look pretty good, I wouldn't mind getting a surfboard out there and doing some surfing. It looks pretty relaxing," O'Meara said, joking. "Once in a while, it's nice to take a look at the scenery, because it's spectacular here."  Tom Watson believes this week's Florida layout has a lot of Pinehurst in it. (Kevin C. Cox/WireImage)
This week at the inaugural Ginn Championship Hammock Beach Resort, O'Meara and the rest of the Champions Tour face a tough test on a par-72, 7,113-yard Jack Nicklaus-designed course that features eight holes with breathtaking views of the ocean. Accompanying the spectacular scenery are unpredictable and potentially difficult winds, so two past British Open champions in the field could have an advantage. "I have a little Scottish in me. You know what they say. Day without wind is a day ne'er for golf," Tom Watson said, the five-time British Open winner attempting a Scottish accent. "I would say this is, by far, the most challenging course I've played so far this year on the Champions Tour," said O'Meara. "You can bump and run, try to lob it more, kind of similar to a British Open." When it came to describing this course, a new one in the Champions Tour rotation, comparisons were made to some of the best courses in the world. "One thing about Florida is, it's flat," Watson said. "What I really like about the design of this golf course is just that ... you can see the elevations from your shots. They created the elevations and with the roll-offs like this [it] has a lot of Pinehurst to it and that makes this golf course -- you play this golf course in a 25 mile an hour wind, you're not going to be hitting those greens." Nick Price also paid the course one of golf's highest compliments. "It's one of Jack's best that I've played," he said. "The ninth hole, you feel like you're in Ireland or Scotland somewhere; if you could just put four sweaters on and drop the temperature about 40 degrees, you would be." Asked whether Ocean Hammock was as difficult as the Pete Dye Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass, which will host THE PLAYERS Championship in April, O'Meara said, probably not. "But ...you could definitely have a PGA TOUR event here," he said. "With the best players in the world, if the wind didn't blow, okay, well they're going to shoot some good scores. But if the wind starts blowing it's going to be as good a test as any golf course you would ever want to play." Fred Funk echoed that sentiment. "I think this should grow into, hopefully, a really first-class event," said the former PLAYERS champion and resident of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., just over an hour up the road. As part of the Daytona Beach "Caddie for A Day" promotion, Brenda Ward got the chance to tote the fun-loving Funk's bag for six holes during Wednesday's pro-am. Ward wrote a poem about the two-time Champions Tour winner that included lines like: "...Being an accurate driver while playing with the best, age doesn't matter; you pass all the tests. Eight PGA TOUR victories and two Champions Tour wins, plus wearing a skirt to take all those Skins..." While pondering advice to give his novice caddie before she took the bag on Wednesday, Funk talked about the typical preparation for a caddie heading into a tournament. Since this is the first year of the Ginn Championship, Funk, his caddie and the rest of the field had to be extra diligent in their course preparations. "I was real excited about the announcement of the Ginn Championship coming so close to home," the 50-year-old said. "[But] I had no idea what the golf course was. Actually, my caddie came down and did the yardage book for the Conservatory (course) and after he did that, they announced they were going to switch [courses] because the infrastructure wasn't ready, so they were coming over here." The tournament had originally been slated to take place on the Tom Watson-designed signature course, the Conservatory. Since the Conservatory opened just last year, though, Bobby Ginn, the president and CEO of Ginn Resorts, felt it needed more time to mature. So the Ginn Championship moved to the Ocean Hammock course. "Moving the golf course this year was a no-brainer," said Watson, who understood why the switch was made. "If you don't have the infrastructure ready for it, don't force the issue. Don't try to fit a square peg into a round hole." Despite the initial course uncertainty, the $2.5 million inaugural event is getting off to a strong start, as it already boasts the second-largest purse on the Champions Tour. With 28 of the top 30 players from the 2006 Champions Tour money list in the field, several players foresaw it quickly growing into one of the best events on Tour. Whether the tournament remains at Ocean Hammock or moves to the Conservatory course -- a venue not on the water -- next year will be determined later. The way the Hammock Beach course is being received by the pros, though, Watson thinks it may be beneficial to rotate between the course that Nicklaus built and his own. "I'd like to see them rotate between this golf course and the Conservatory every year. That would be wonderful," Watson said. Then he repeated what everyone seems to be the theme this week. "This golf course is a really good golf course." Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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