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By Lauren Deason
PGATOUR.com Editorial Coordinator

TIMONIUM, Md. -- When Tom Watson referred to practicing hitting his golf shots over the barn, the statement was a tad perplexing.

Had Watson accidentally stumbled upon a putt-putt course? Generally barns and buildings don't factor into the equation at professional golfing events. But it's really there, sitting atop rolling hills which are surrounded by changing red, yellow and orange trees with leaves that settle at the base of a long, white picket fence.

Jeff Sluman said he's excited about playing a course he loves. (Martin/WireImage)

The old red and white barn is on the fourth hole, one that doglegs a sharp 90 degrees to the left. A well-struck tee shot can be maneuvered over the barn to create a much shorter second shot, but out-of-bounds, deep rough and changing winds made even Watson struggle with figuring out exactly where to hit it.

That's one of the things that make Baltimore Country Club unique -- there are sites and holes on the course unlike anywhere else in Champions Tour golf. And while it may look like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting, the tough old course won't be creating a ton of warm and fuzzy golf moments this week at the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship.

"There's not a weak hole on the golf course. Every hole has its Waterloo, you might say," Watson said.

The slick greens are a major topic of discussion amongst the players since the greens tend to tilt from back to front and require accurate iron shots to be hit below the hole.

"We were just talking in the locker room that you spend all your life trying to be pin high on every hole and this is the course you really don't want to be pin high because you want to be putting with 6, 8, 10 feet of break coming across the green," Jay Haas said.

Jeff Sluman agreed, citing that it's necessary to "keep the ball short of the hole. You aren't going to make many birdies from 15 to 20 feet past the hole on any of the greens that I've found so far, just like at Winged Foot.

"...If you can't get it on the green, then you have to try to figure out where you can hit it so you can get it up and down. But randomly taking it at every pin and being aggressive is probably not suited for this golf course. It's more having a game plan, saying this is what we want to do and staying short as much as possible."

The 7,037-yard par-70 course was created in 1923 by "Terrible Tilly", the same A.W. Tillinghast who created Baltusrol, Bethpage Black and the aforementioned Winged Foot Golf Club. Tillinghast was commissioned back in the 1920s to create two 18-hole courses in the area but only created the Five Farms East Course, which is the host of this week's event.

The original Baltimore Country Club was located in a different part of the city and hosted the 1899 U.S. Open, which was won by Willie Smith. The club was then moved to the Five Farms location, so named because they acquired several farms to build the course. No. 4's barn was part of the course when Tillinghast designed it and he incorporated several other existing aspects into the course as well. In fact, at least a dozen of the greens are completely natural, which Tillinghast noted in a letter to the club when he made sure to point out that he'd saved them money by keeping the greens in their original state.

The length of his course favors the long hitters, but it's going to take more than distance to win this week. Players will face several holes with elevated shots into the greens and it will require crisp iron shots, a hot putter and an avoidance of the deep rough to win this week.

"There are varieties of greens but the larger ones play small because they have slopes to them. If you put the flagsticks in front and they are raised in the front, you better be right on with your iron play because you will have some difficulties. It's the same as Augusta National because you will be putting defensively all week," Watson said.

This is the first year the Champions Tour has played at Baltimore Country Club -- a course that has now hosted a major on the PGA TOUR, LPGA Tour and the Champions Tour along with the U.S. Amateur and the Walker Cup -- so players could have a difficult time adjusting to the new venue.

"Being a new golf course, I don't think any of us really know what to expect and how it will play out. Generally speaking when we go to a new place we might think its harder than it really is. But I'm afraid this one really is pretty difficult. I think Muirfield [was tough] and Whistling Straits is a tough golf course but I think this will rank right up there," Haas said, referring to the home of the 2007 Senior Open Championship and the 2007 U.S. Senior Open Championship, respectively.

Sluman, a newbie to the Champions Tour rotation himself having recently turned 50, tied for sixth at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in 2006, so he knows a thing or two about working his way through a Tillinghast design. Since they are so similar, can he incorporate anything from his success there?

"If I could I'd be a genius, wouldn't I?" Sluman said with a smile. "No, every week is different but when you truly look at a golf course and you say, 'I really, really like it,' it's certainly better mentally than if you look at a course and it doesn't suit your eye.

He then added that he, along with many of the other players, cherish the opportunity to try a new, albeit difficult, design.

"As I said, being excited and loving the golf course is a great start before you hit your first tee shot."

"We don't play any courses like this," Watson added. "It's a pleasure to play a course like this in a championship any time but especially for a Senior Players Championship. It gives an added importance to it to play a course like this and it gives an added pleasure. It's an old style but it's a great old style to play. We play a lot of good courses but we don't play these relics, these ancient golf courses that have withstood the test of time as far as difficulties and pleasure to play."