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Who's feeling confident at Trinity Forest?
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May 15, 2018
By Mike Glasscott, PGATOUR.COM
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Highlights
Jordan Spieth is dialed in at THE PLAYERS
It’s back to Texas for the next two weeks as the PGA TOUR plays events Nos. 4 and 5 of the season in the Lone Star State.
The AT&T Byron Nelson is the ninth oldest event on TOUR, dating back to 1944, and is two years older than next week's Forth Worth Invitational and the Houston Open. The Valero Texas Open, established in 1922 and the third-oldest event on TOUR, is the patriarch of the bunch.
Golf in Texas has a proud history and that story will add another chapter this week as for the second time in three years, a new course will be brought into the PGA TOUR rotation. In 2016 the Austin Country Club made its debut as it hosted the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. This year, Trinity Forest — a 7,380 yard, par 71 course — will add its name to the list of places to hold TOUR events as it replaces TPC Four Seasons at Las Colinas as host.
Located 12 miles south of Dallas, Trinity Forest has exactly zero trees on the property, but that hasn't stopped Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw from their vision of an American-style links layout. Surrounded by forest, the course sits on an old landfill on property that is being leased from the City of Dallas for 40 years. Coore and Crenshaw shaped and molded this unique development under the watchful eye of governmental and environmental regulations. Not even two years old, Trinity Forest is still maturing but is ready to provide a unique test this week.
Jordan Spieth, one of the few members in the event, described it as an American links course. While there are a handful of shots that can be played on the ground, the majority will be played through the air. There isn't any water, but 88 bunkers, wildlife reclamation areas and an unfamiliar grass, Trinity Zoysia, will present challenges to the field. All of the grass on the course, save for the Champion Bermuda greens, is Trinity Zoysia. The Zoysia, named for the course where it only exists, will run from tee to the edge of every green and there's barely, if any, rough on the course. The absence of trees means the presence of wind and Texas has plenty of it. May isn't the calmest time of year weather-wise either; big breezes and big, slick greens don't mix, so the greens will run around 10.5 feet on the Stimpmeter.
Reports on Tuesday morning from the Director of Grounds, Kasey Kauff, suggest that the course will be firm by competition rounds. If this place plays firm and fast, watch out!
Great job by everyone this am, much better than yesterday! Much more efficient!! If we miss the weather, this place will be really firm by competition rounds pic.twitter.com/aB1fEiw11m
— Kasey Kauff (@KaseyKauff) May 15, 2018As this is brand-new track, we won't have a "Tale of the Tape" this week as we don't have any history to assess in our preparation. The last time the TOUR used a brand-new course wasn't long ago, as the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship was added to the schedule just last March. While the course was new to the TOUR, it had hosted previous events on the Web.com Tour.
Stretching back to last fall, the TOUR arrived on Jeju Island, South Korea, for THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. Stretching back to last season, the TOUR welcomed four new courses to the schedule. Club de Golf Chapultepec hosted the WGC-Mexico Championship and was followed by the temporary home of the Wells Fargo Championship, Eagle Point Golf Club. Later that summer the TOUR returned to a new, old course in the renovated TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm before meandering to the Glen Oaks Club for the first FedExCup Playoff event.
I believe with any "new" course on TOUR that the ball-strikers and the players in form will be the ones to circle. It's obvious that the greens haven't had time to be mapped or enough rounds to be played, especially at Trinity Forest, which hasn't been open for even two years. Since this is not a major championship venue, guys are not going to take special trips to prepare ahead of time. Here's where I'm starting my search this week:
NOTE: Golfers inside the top 50 in each statistic on the 2017-18 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week.
SG: Tee to Green
Rank Golfer
10 Scott Piercy
13 Sergio Garcia
34 Charles Howell III
36 Hideki Matsuyama
43 J.J. Spaun
45 Marc Leishman
46 J.B. Holmes
47 Adam Scott
51 Russell Knox
52 James Hahn
Proximity
Rank Golfer
1 Nate Lashley
2 David Hearn
7 Jordan Spieth
10 Brian Stuard
13 Russell Knox
14 J.J. Spaun
15 Ryan Armour
15 Scott Piercy
19 Brian Gay
22 Alex Cejka
22 Vaughn Taylor
22 Matt Kuchar
28 J.J. Henry
30 Blayne Barber
32 Conrad Shindler
34 Sam Ryder
38 Martin Laird
40 Brett Stegmaier
40 Corey Conners
44 Rory Sabbatini
44 Cameron Percy
50 Johnson Wagner
50 Kevin Na
Bogey Avoidance
Rank Golfer
5 Jordan Spieth
7 Charles Howell III
11 Johnson Wagner
16 Matt Kuchar
17 Hideki Matsuyama
21 Brandt Snedeker
23 Beau Hossler
26 Alex Cejka
27 Hunter Mahan (Member)
31 Ben Crane
40 Russell Knox
41 Brian Gay
46 Nate Lashley
48 Scott Piercy
49 James Hahn
50 Kevin Na
Birdie-or-Better Percentage
Rank Golfer
7 Ricky Barnes
8 Marc Leishman
9 Grayson Murray
15 Aaron Wise
16 Ryan Palmer
19 Martin Laird
23 Sam Saunders
24 Jordan Spieth
26 Sergio Garcia
27 Jimmy Walker
28 Brian Gay
29 Keith Mitchell
35 Kevin Na
42 J.J. Spaun
43 Peter Malnati
45 Branden Grace
47 Harris English
48 Matt Jones
50 David Lingmerth
The Coore-Crenshaw design will be protected by its youthfulness and the weather. The greens have softened but should still play quite firmly. The players had to deal with this as recently as Quail Hollow Club, so those who played there might adapt quicker.
According to Kauff, this is a shot-makers track and bombing-and-gouging isn't the proper strategy. The longer off the tee, the worse angles to attack the green can be found. I'm leaning on guys who can work their ball to get into the proper attacking positions. From there, the pros who figure out hitting it to the middle of the green the fastest should be the ones with the most chances at birdie. The others who continue to attack fringe pins on firm greens are asking for trouble. Once off the putting surface, good luck finding the right pitch, bump, metal, nudge or flop to save par. The putters won't have any advantage this week as the greens are new to everyone so find the guys who hit the most greens.
Trinity Forest is going to test just about every club, player and caddy this week. With plenty of rolling terrain that is not conducive to flat lies plus an unfamiliar Zoysia grass everywhere, the pros and caddies who adapt the quickest will have the best chance to win. There are no yardage books from past years to rely upon for reference just like there are hardly any points of reference on the course for aiming as Trinity Forest is without trees. It's hardly a surprise that usually the top players win on the "new" courses on TOUR because their talent is evident when course history is not. If it stays firm and fast, they should have even a bigger advantage. Don't be surprised if a big name like Jimmy Walker takes home the first trophy.
Since we don't have any course history to lean on this week, I gave you all some recent history to digest below. I hope this also helps in your preparation this week!
Rob Bolton's Power Rankings will give you more juice for the week so make sure you stop by. It's also who I trust with the weather each week so pay attention!
NOTE: The groups below are comprehensive to assist in data mining. Inclusion doesn't imply automatic endorsement in every fantasy game as all decisions are specific to your situation.
CONFIDENCE MEN
THE PLAYERS Championship top finishers entered this week.
Golfer Place Jimmy Walker T2 Adam Scott T11 Charles Howell III T17 Matt Kuchar T17 Ryan Palmer T23 Ricky Werenski T23 BUILDING CONFIDENCE
Recent top 25 finishes (post-Masters) by players entered in the field this week.
Golfer Event Top 25 Best Finish Satoshi Kodaira RBC Heritage 1 Win (RBC Heritage) Billy Horschel Multiple 3 Win (Zurich Classic) Bill Haas RBC Heritage 1 T7 (RBC Heritage) J.J. Henry Multiple 2 T10 (Zurich Classic) Beau Hossler RBC Heritage 1 T16 (RBC Heritage) Scott Piercy Multiple 2 Win (Zurich Classic) Tyrone Van Aswegen RBC Heritage 1 T23 (RBC Heritage) C.T. Pan RBC Heritage 1 T23 (RBC Heritage) Rory Sabbatini RBC Heritage 1 T23 (RBC Heritage) Brandt Snedeker Multiple 2 15th (VTO) Jimmy Walker Multiple 3 T2 (THE PLAYERS) Joaquin Niemann Valero Texas Open 1 6th (VTO) Andrew Putnam Multiple 2 T8 (VTO) Ben Crane Valero Texas Open 1 T11 (VTO) Martin Laird Multiple 2 T7 (Zurich Classic) Richy Werenski Valero Texas Open 2 T11 (VTO) Aaron Baddeley Valero Texas Open 1 T16 (VTO) David Hearn Multiple 2 T10 (Zurich Classic) Grayson Murray Valero Texas Open 1 T16 (VTO) Vaughn Taylor Valero Texas Open 1 T16 (VTO) Denny McCarthy Valero Texas Open 1 T20 (VTO) Johnson Wagner Multiple 2 T13 (WFC) Aaron Wise Wells Fargo 1 T2 (WFC) Peter Uihlein Wells Fargo 1 T5 (WFC) Sam Saunders Wells Fargo 1 T9 (WFC) Talor Gooch Wells Fargo 1 T13 (WFC) Joel Dahmen Multiple 2 T16 (WFC) Greg Chalmers Multiple 2 T10 (Zurich Classic) OTHER SIGNS OF CONFIDENCE
Golfers who competed at THE PLAYERS and are entered this week.
Golfer MC MC Cody Gribble (T30) John Huh Harris English Rory Sabbatini (T30) J.J. Spaun Martin Flores Billy Horschel (T37) Robert Garrigus Bill Haas Jordan Spieth (T41) James Hahn Hideki Matsuyama Branden Grace (T46) Ryan Armour Patrick Rodgers Beau Hossler (T46) Russell Knox Michael Thompson Kevin Na (T46) Scott Piercy Dominic Bozzelli C.T. Pan (T46) Hudson Swafford Ben Martin Kevin Tway (T46) J.B. Holmes Geoff Ogilvy Martin Laird (T57) Anirban Lahiri Derek Fathauer Marc Leishman (T63) Satoshi Kodaira Michael Kim Tyrone Van Aswegen (66th) David Lingmerth Rod Pampling J.J. Henry (T67) Vaughn Taylor Brandt Snedeker Sergio Garcia (T70) Blayne Barber Sung Kang Brian Gay (MDF) Chad Campbell Ryan Blam (MDF) Keith Mitchell (MDF) Nick Taylor (MDF) -
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