OT: Travelers Championship 2023

[05Alum]

That's nuts (in a good way)! Tickets aren't cheap.

Just heard Thursday Saturday Sunday sold out. Per Channel 3.

Channel 3 may have been wrongly referring to the hospitality ticket options, many of which ARE sold out. You can still get normal grounds tickets, for any day.

Tickets

travelerschampionship.com

 

[HuskyHawk]

A little UConn representation

 

[UconnPT2007]

The Travelers is the second highest attended event on the PGA tour after the Waste Management Open. Something to be very proud of especially given its spot on the calendar (the week after the US open).

The course is fine the way it is. It’s never going to host a major but it’s one of the few courses where any type of player (bomber, wedge expert, iron specialist, etc) can win. Par 70, 4th shortest course on the calendar. The winning score is usually -14 to -18 so you have to be able to make birdies. The cut will be 2 or 3 under easily - especially if the rain softens the greens. We could see some really low scores and possibly a winner at -20 given the talent of the field.

 

[MJKI]

Course is toothless right now, but I dont actually mind it. Keegan flirting with another 58 here. Theegala is so damn fun to watch, if that guy could hit a driver he would be top 10 in the world (as is hes like 20th)

 

[Chin Diesel]

If were going in person, I'd spend some time watching Austin Eckroat.

Young kid from Oklahoma St who is going to win a bunch on PGA Tour.

Austin Eckroat 2024 Golf Tournaments Played - ESPN

View the 2024 golf tournament results for Austin Eckroat on ESPN. Includes tournaments played, final position and earnings.

www.espn.com

 

[Dove]

A little UConn representation

A mashed potato slice is his all-time fave? That is so out of bounds.

 

[Waquoit]

A mashed potato slice is his all-time fave? That is so out of bounds.

Perhaps he got the hankering from Willi Pizza.

 

[uconnfan68]

A mashed potato slice is his all-time fave? That is so out of bounds.

With BACON!!! That makes everything better!

 

[EZPass]

Have gone many times. Best in memory is the Spieth hole out. What a tournament.
I love starting at 8 in the morning in the grandstands watching the par 3 for a few hours, and then heading to 10. You can sit pretty close to the run off on 10 and get a great view of just a really cool hole. Turn around, you can see the shots into the downhill 11th. Stay there until the final groups are around 7/8, and make your way to the back of 13/tee box 14. 13 is a great golf hole, not a huge window to hit your drive into and then a risk/reward shot in that everyone can go for in 2. Have seen many a balls hit over the green and then having to chip downhill to a sloping green that brings the water into play is always fun. When the leaders make the turn, I like to head to behind 16 where you can see the 15 tee shot (SHAVE THE LEFT ROUGH), 16th hole, and 17th tee shot. 18 is a meh hole, balls funnel to the same spot always, so I just go there when the final group passes 16 since 17 doesn't have a great viewing spot.
Overall, it’s an excellent course for watching golf. Exponentially better than LACC, and the viewing experience both on TV and in person will be leaps and bounds better than last week.

@8; good tip Sir

 

[Umami Zen]

So.. KB wins..In his interview with Amanda..Shouts out to New England junior golfers and gives them props for being good despite the fact that they can only play 6-7 months a year because of the snow/bad weather.. Like him as a kid.. Can any of you guys relate?? Thought it was a pretty cool statement on National TV

 

[XLCenterFan]

So.. KB wins..In his interview with Amanda..Shouts out to New England junior golfers and gives them props for being good despite the fact that they can only play 6-7 months a year because of the snow/bad weather.. Like him as a kid.. Can any of you guys relate?? Thought it was a pretty cool statement on National TV

Love it when people win and give props to their town/state/region. Saw Clingan today. Kid is famous now.

 

[mauconnfan]

Happy for Keegan great for New England. Also really happy Patrick Cantlay crapped himself his last 3 holes or things could have gotten ugly!

 

[05Alum]

'Technology has passed this course by': Rory McIlroy calls TPC River Highlands obsolete - Yahoo Sports

After an 18 under at the Travelers Championship, Rory McIlroy was unimpressed by TPC River Highlands, saying "technology has passed this course by."

sports.yahoo.com

I don't disagree with anything Rory said, but as him being "the face" of the tour these days I am wondering how much weight these comments will have as it relates to the event's status and placement next year when the schedule is finalized.

I personally think the course is now setup to be a perfect Champions Tour venue, as much I as hope that DOESN'T happen.

 

[JT-55]

Travelers Exec believes golf tournament to stay elevated event

The Travelers Championship likely will remain as a designated event on the PGA Tour with a no-cut field of no more than 80 players.

www.ctpost.com

Hopefully Rory's comments don't carry to much weight and Travelers can maintain the elevated event status. Some interesting tidbits in the article about what the future of an elevated event could look like.

 

[wingsfan055]

Gee, thanks Rory for blasting the course after we were such good hosts. Didn't stop him from choking down the stretch with missing makeable putts and poor wedge play on very soft conditions. Biggest choker in golf the last decade. Unfortunately, his comments will carry a lot of weight and they'll remove this course from being mandatory.

 

[Chin Diesel]

'Technology has passed this course by': Rory McIlroy calls TPC River Highlands obsolete - Yahoo Sports

After an 18 under at the Travelers Championship, Rory McIlroy was unimpressed by TPC River Highlands, saying "technology has passed this course by."

sports.yahoo.com

I don't disagree with anything Rory said, but as him being "the face" of the tour these days I am wondering how much weight these comments will have as it relates to the event's status and placement next year when the schedule is finalized.

I personally think the course is now setup to be a perfect Champions Tour venue, as much I as hope that DOESN'T happen.

I brought up some of this stuff earlier about making the course more robust.

You can make the greens trickier by adding more hills and humps and running off more missed shots.

I would extend 10 to a Par 5, Make 11 a bit longer, and move tees back on 12 and 14. Add one stroke and about 180-200 yards. It's not just the added yards, it meams making them hit driver more often instead of 3-woods and long irons. More driver means less accuracy and more shots out of the rough which turns birdies in to pars.

I think it would be awesome if they could move 13's tee across the rail road track and add about 40-50 yards to thst hole as well.

I like 15/16/17 but 16 can use another 15-20 yards. Make them hit 5-6-7 iron instead of 8's and 9's.

Fialnally, do something about #9. Gotta do something to make cutting thst dog leg a major no no.

Truth be told, scores on Sunday were respectable but when the course is soft and wind is dead, everyone goes low.

 

[MJKI]

I brought up some of this stuff earlier about making the course more robust.

You can make the greens trickier by adding more hills and humps and running off more missed shots.

I would extend 10 to a Par 5, Make 11 a bit longer, and move tees back on 12 and 14. Add one stroke and about 180-200 yards. It's not just the added yards, it meams making them hit driver more often instead of 3-woods and long irons. More driver means less accuracy and more shots out of the rough which turns birdies in to pars.

I think it would be awesome if they could move 13's tee across the rail road track and add about 40-50 yards to thst hole as well.

I like 15/16/17 but 16 can use another 15-20 yards. Make them hit 5-6-7 iron instead of 8's and 9's.

Fialnally, do something about #9. Gotta do something to make cutting thst dog leg a major no no.

Truth be told, scores on Sunday were respectable but when the course is soft and wind is dead, everyone goes low.

I would extend 10 if possible but making it a par 5 does no help for the argument. It should be a much more stout par 4. Same with 1, 2. Guys shouldn’t have flip wedges into multiple 4s. Shave the rough on 15 to make anything left run into the water. Throw a center line bunker at 230-245 on 17 to make the tee shot more than a throw away. Let the tree on the left overhang more on 18 to avoid the bomb and gauge a bit and force a right to left shot shape.

 

[Punkbo]

As much as we don’t want to hear it, Rory is 100% correct. Even the pros don’t want a birdie fest. The course needs to be more challenging. Certainly lengthening the course without changing the par-70 layout would be a good start. But the biggest issue is the rough. The Tour doesn’t allow the course to grow out the rough for regular Tour events. Therefore, the rough is not nearly punitive enough for the world’s best players.

 

[Waquoit]

Golf is a bit like NASCAR these days. The technology has overwhelmed the playing area and has hurt the competition. The GHO/Traveler's has always had to fight off it becoming a birdie-fest. I'm sure they are brainstorming as we speak.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Golf is a bit like NASCAR these days. The technology has overwhelmed the playing area and has hurt the competition. The GHO/Traveler's has always had to fight off it becoming a birdie-fest. I'm sure they are brainstorming as we speak.

Again, Sunday wasn't too bad.

Bradley -2
Harman -6
Blair -8
Cantlay -3
Reavie +1
Scheffler -5
McCarthy -3
McIlroy -6
Min Woo Lee -3
JT -3
Connors -4

Those numbers aren't out of line with many other tournaments, including major championships.

The Thursday and Saturday scoring was were the course was defenseless. Soft fairways kept tee shots in the short stuff and iron shots in to the green, even from the fairway rough, stuck.

 

[Waquoit]

Again, Sunday wasn't too bad.


The Thursday and Saturday scoring was were the course was defenseless. Soft fairways kept tee shots in the short stuff and iron shots in to the green, even from the fairway rough, stuck.

I felt that this year was a bit of an anomaly with the 72 hole score.

 

[Umami Zen]

So Rory hits a 385 yd tee shot on 18 on Sunday.. Half wedge into green ..And pars the hole. Says course is obsolete because technology has passed it by.. Is a designated tournament per PGA.. One of the few complaints I heard.. If TPC wants to challenge the field more.. Better start buying real estate around the course when and if it becomes available for specific expansion. Considered one of the favorite Tour stops by players.

 

[Chin Diesel]

So Rory hits a 385 yd tee shot on 18 on Sunday.. Half wedge into green ..And pars the hole. Says course is obsolete because technology has passed it by.. Is a designated tournament per PGA.. One of the few complaints I heard.. If TPC wants to challenge the field more.. Better start buying real estate around the course when and if it becomes available for specific expansion. Considered one of the favorite Tour stops by players.

As far as real estate, do this. Move the path of field road to the west on the empty lot where there's parking by about 100'. Move the 9th tee to the current southwest corner of Field Rd and Golf Club Rd. extending #9 about 50 more yards back from the current tree.

Added benefit of having some more grass for fans around the current 8th green and a new 9th green tee area.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Another crude drawing.

#10 extend it to become a true dog leg left and add some yards to it. Then, take #11 and instead of playing 14 yards downhill and be a wedge or 9-iron, flatten it out and reverse the direction. That frees up 30-40 yards to make 12 a longer par 4 where more players have to hit driver instead of laying up.

Just need to re-route a maintenance road along the north edge of the property.

Obviously not drawn to scale bu there is plenty of room in those woods to re-make 10-12. Make it Cromwell's version of Amen Corner for all I care.

 

[nadav]

Interesting, Chin. They need to do something, seems like.