Maginnes: Warwick Hills is a cozy, intimate track

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John Daly hits his tee shot on the par-3 17th at Warwick Hills in 2007. The hole is featured on PGATOUR.com's LIVE@ coverage this week.

My 7-year-old daughter has started noticing with great amusement the fact that so many things around us are completely misnamed. Kangaroo is the name of a chain of convenience stores in the Southeast where there are no kangaroos. And don't even get her started on the grocery stores called Food Lion.

John Maginnes

I think that she would be amused by the fact that Warwick Hills is one of the flattest venues on the PGA TOUR each season.There isn't a single hill large enough for a small child to roll down with glee. It is an intimate golf course that folds back over itself from start to finish.

When Ben Crane and Billy Andrade start the tournament on the first and 10th tees, respectively, at 7 a.m. Thursday morning, they will actually have an eye on each other all the way around the course. The first tee is separated by a small grove of trees about 20 steps from the 10th. And when the tee announcements are made simultaneously just behind the putting green it can get a little confusing.

From there, the front nine and the back nine mirror each other. Billy and Ben will be able to watch each other play every hole from the other fairway. From Nos. 1 and 10 running parallel to the closing par 4s on either nine, players with the same tee times on opposite nines are essentially walking side-by-side.

And sometimes things can get too close for comfort. The ninth hole has one of the narrowest fairways players face all year. It is not uncommon to see tee balls rattle around in the trees on the left-hand side and end up in the 18th fairway. It is not a terribly difficult shot over the trees from there to the ninth green but you may get a little verbal barb from the guys whose hole you are trespassing. So many of the greens are close together, too. The par-3 17th and the par-3 eighth are only steps apart, separated by a small valley.

You will see a lot of standing around this week, but there is an explanation. If a guy is putting on No. 8 while you are trying to hit a bunker shot on the 17th, you need to let him go ahead and hit his putt before you splash out of the sand. Obviously, you don't want the roar of the crowd from his made birdie startling you while you are over your bunker shot.

Now, this may make the golf course seem bland -- but nothing could be farther from the truth. There are 18 distinct holes at Warwick Hills that have provided incredible excitement over this tournament's rich history. The stretch of holes from No. 12 to No. 14 can make any leaderboard do summersaults. The 12th is a short par 4 that under the right wind conditions can be driven. At the very least, a player who successfully hits the fairway will have a short wedge into a receptive green.

The drive at No. 13 must be moving from right to left as it hits the narrow fairway. If you can find the fairway a dangerous yet relatively short second shot to the par 5 gives a player a chance to be aggressive. The green is bulkheaded above a picturesque little pond that swings around the right side and will definitely be in play for second shots whether they are played at the green or laid up.

This stretch of must-get holes ends with the drivable par-4 14th. Under the right conditions every player in the field can drive this green. The bunker that guards the front left of this green and the bunker to the right leave a generous alley in front to run the ball onto the putting surface.

The tournament can be won or lost on this stretch of holes on Sunday afternoon. By the time the leader passes through No. 14 on Sunday there won't be any players on the front nine to mirror him. As a matter of fact, although he is surrounded by some of the most raucous crowds of the year, he will likely feel completely alone. Warwick Hills, however inaptly named, is a course that has stood the test of time. Relatively unchanged even through the technology revolution it is still a great test and one of the most exciting venues on TOUR.