Trevor Immelman, 2008
“If we just had to put the golf course in a bubble, so to speak, I think the golf course itself won’t play all that differently. They have ways to be able to control from an agronomy standpoint the types of moisture and exactly what’s going on.
The massive wild card is going to be Mother Nature. You look at the average temperatures in April, you’re looking at the 70s. You’re looking in November, it’s in the lower 60s. And so that change in temperature along with the possibility of that northerly wind that can blow is going to be the big difference.
So many things are going to — holes are going to play differently. The 1st hole is going to play a lot longer. You look at 17 and 18, you’re going to be coming into some kind of breeze. And I think the biggest difference from a playability standpoint is you look at the par-5s, three of the four par-5s with a northerly wind will have some kind of breeze into, and so maybe not the same amount of birdies and eagles as what we’re used to when we have nice warm weather in April.
But then on the flip side, you’re going to have some of the other traditionally tougher holes that are going to have some help from that northerly wind. You’re looking at the hardest on the golf course last year was the 5th hole. That’s now going to have the chance to play downwind. Nos. 10, 11, 12, so that start of Amen Corner, that’s all going to be coming downwind, so those holes may play a little bit shorter.
But all in all, I do think playing it in November, and I’ve done that many times, the scoring won’t quite be as low as what we’re used to over the last few years.”