It was a common refrain among the pros who paraded through the interview area Thursday after wrapping up their opening rounds at the World Wide Technology Championship. Asked their impressions of the El Cardonal course at Diamante, hosting the tournament for the first time, and the responses almost inevitable include the following words: second-shot course.
“I think the fact that the fairways are generous kind of
emphasizes the second shots,” said Cameron Young, who shot a seven-under 65 in his first round on the PGA Tour since August’s BMW Championship. “The greens are very dramatic, so you have to pick your spots and pick your landing areas really well. So that’s fun for me. I feel like you get to shape shots and use slopes around the greens. And the fact that it’s not super tight is kind of nice, just especially having not played in a while.”
Tiger Woods, the 15-time major winner who built the course with this TGR Design, acknowledged that was the intent. He was more than willing to give players space to maneuver off the tee while asking them to be in certain areas in order then to hit their approach shots into the right spots on the greens to be able to score.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
