Still, players enjoying challenge of Aronimink
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – In a practice round Tuesday in preparation for the AT&T National, Tiger Woods demonstrated what Aronimink Country Club will be about this week: long, thick rough.
After hitting two booming drives virtually to the same spot on the 6th hole, Woods found one on the edge of the fairway and the other just off. From approximately 50 yards out, Woods hit both balls to the same spot on the green. The approach from the fairway stopped on the second bounce five feet from the pin. The shot from the rough squirted 60 feet past and nearly off the deep green.
PGA legislation against high-spinning irons has not had the cataclysmic effect many pros predicted. This week, however, with the rough up, players may miss their old square-grooved wedges.
“The rough is six inches thick,” Robert Garrigus said. “They’re raking it into us, which is kind of stupid. I kind of laughed. Yesterday I hit a shot from 100 yards that didn’t even get to the green. I was like, ‘This is going to be a lot of fun this week.'”
But lush also has its advantages, according to the long-hitting Garrigus.
“This golf course is unbelievable,” he said. “The greens are perfect. The fairways are like walking on carpet. I kind of joked with my caddie yesterday [that] I could have played the last eight holes with my shoes off.”
With many players getting their first look at the 82-year-old Donald Ross masterpiece west of Philadelphia, most have been effusive in their praise. With wide, tree-lined fairways, undulating greens and lots of elevation change, Aronimink has much in common with its AT&T National predecessor, Congressional Country Club, which gave up the event for two years as it prepares to host the 2011 U.S. Open.
“It’s going to be a very difficult course, and that’s what I like to see,” Woods said. “This is a golf course that has hosted major championships. There’s no reason we can’t play it tough.”
The last time the Philadelphia area had a regular PGA Tour event was 2002. Commissioner Tom Finchem addressed the Philadelphia question Wednesday.
“We’re back here next year, and after that we’ll look for opportunities,” Finchem told reporters. “But certainly this is a market we’d like to play in longer term.”
Finchem suggested that Aronimink could facilitate the process by agreeing to host an event each year. Depending on the date, it could be an attractive draw for players.
“It’s got a major championship feel here,” Garrigus said. “I was telling everybody you could hold a U.S. Open here tomorrow. You don’t even need to do anything to the place.”
