For lovers of classic courses, Sedgefield feels like heaven
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Brandt Snedeker wasn't even born the last time a PGA TOUR event was held at Sedgefield Country Club.
Snedeker, who defends his Wyndham Championship on the Donald Ross gem this week, is actually among 39 players who were still figments of their parents' imagination in 1976 when Al Geiberger won what was then called the Greater Greensboro Open.
Geiberger's son, Brent, is among the 156 players in the field this week for the $5.1 million event that ends the PGA TOUR Regular Season. Brent Geiberger is also a former champion but that win -- like Snedeker's -- came at Forest Oaks Country Club, which began hosting the event the year after his father's victory.
So the Wyndham Championship comes full circle as it returns home this week to Sedgefield, which shared hosting duties with Starmount Forest for the first 21 tournaments and then became its only home from 1961-1976. And the course is drawing rave reviews.
"They've done a great thing by moving here," Snedeker said. "I have some fond memories of Forest Oaks (but) I'm glad to be here. The golf course is fantastic. I think it's going to be better for the tournament and Wyndham ... and everybody involved."
The Wyndham Championship is also the last opportunity for players to earn points before the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. Seventy-one players -- including No. 7 Vijay Singh and No. 10 Ryuji Imada -- have come to Greensboro to improve their position while the rest of the field is bidding to get a spot among the 144 who are Playoff-bound.
Sunday's champ will follow in the footsteps of 11 World Golf Hall of Famers, including Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Julius Boros, Gary Player and Sam Snead, who have won in Greensboro. Snead, in fact, won the event a TOUR-record eight times with five of those coming at Sedgefield.
Coincidentally, Snedeker is bidding to become the first player to successfully defend his title in Greensboro since Snead did in 1956 at Starmount Forest after winning the previous season at Sedgefield. So maybe that bodes well for the 2007 Rookie of the Year.
While Snedeker has great memories at Forest Oaks after closing with a 63 to pick up his first TOUR win, he definitely likes the new venue. In fact, he said if he'd been given a choice of courses for the switch "this would be pretty much A-plus for me.
"The golf course is all about placement," Snedeker said. "(It's) playing firm and fast right now. Lot of 3-woods and irons off tees which we don't see a whole lot on TOUR anymore. It's a different kind of golf course from Forest Oaks.
"The green complexes are difficult -- a lot of slope and the greens require a lot of imagination. It's something that suits my game to a T and I love Donald Ross golf courses. I love old traditional golf courses. Could not have asked for a better venue."
Sedgefield underwent a 10-month, $3 million restoration by Ross historian Kris Spence to prepare for this week's coming-out party. When Geiberger won in 1976 the course played to a par of 71 and stretched 6,641 yards. This year the par is 70 and the yardage 7,117.
David Toms, who got a sneak peak at the course last fall, sees the course as a great equalizer. He likes the traditional feel, tree-lined fairways and sprawling Tudor-style clubhouse that dominates the vistas by the ninth and 18th greens.
"You do have to learn it's not a driver on every hole, especially for half the field," Toms said. "They'll be hitting some other clubs off the tees, which I like. The way the fairways are sloped and the way they gather in certain areas, you'll have a lot of guys hitting the same shots from the same spots in the fairways, which I like a lot, too."
Toms says the large, sloping greens are Sedgefield's biggest defense.
"It will take us probably by the end of the week to really figure out the greens as far as you look and see where the pin is but you don't really know the slopes until you hit the shot," he said. "It will take awhile and obviously, whoever figures that out best will play the best."
Davis Love III had never played Sedgefield before this week, despite attending college in Chapel Hill, N.C., which is about an hour away from Greensboro. He calls Sedgefield a "hilly Hilton Head," which could be a plus for a man who has won the Verizon Heritage at Harbour Town five times.
"It's great to be moving to a traditional golf course," said Love, whose father played at Sedgefield in 1963 and '65. "So many times in my career we've left a classic, traditional golf course and gone to a new modern-style course. So it's nice to be doing the opposite for once, and they did a wonderful job with the renovation."
That's high praise from Love, who had redesigned Forest Oaks, a course on which he won twice several years ago. He said he and his brother Mark, who is caddying for him this week, "kind of got lost" in their practice round on Tuesday discussing the various green complexes and wondering about Ross' original intents.
"Anytime you get to play a Donald Ross course it's a treat," Love said.
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