Tommy Robinson's first impression of Sahalee CC in Sammamish, Wash., wasn't all that different from just about anyone who was seeing this course, just east of downtown Seattle, for the very first time.
"A lot of trees," he said with a laugh. "Trees on the right, trees on the left, trees in the middle."
The trees, of course, are the defining feature of Sahalee, which this week is playing host to the U.S. Senior Open, and the course's first line of defense against the best senior golfers on the planet. The course isn't particularly long, at least for touring professionals (it will play to just over 6,800 yards for the Senior Open). The rough, a perennial ryegrass/Poa annua mix, won't be particularly tall or thick (the first cut of rough along the fairways will only be at an inch and a half). The fairway widths are generous (an average of 26 yards across).
Now, the Poa annua putting surfaces will be tricky — they're extremely firm (although others disagreed, Tom Watson said they were "firmer than Pebble" during the U.S. Open) and will run between 12 1/2 and 13 on the Stimpmeter. But it will be the trees and the way they tightly define almost each and every hole at Sahalee that will play the biggest role in determining a champion this week.
"This is as tight a course as I have every played," said Robinson, the superintendent at Ravinia Green CC in Deerfield, Ill., who will tee off in the Senior Open for the second time in three years at 9:15 Pacific tomorrow morning. "The pros, the guys on the Champions Tour week in and week out, just hit it so straight that it might not effect them as much. But for guys like me, it's going to be a real challenge."
The 34-year GCSAA member modestly described his game as "OK" heading into the tournament. He's been playing "once, maybe twice a week" recently, a frequency that didn't increase much even after he qualified for the Senior Open in late June. The three rounds he's played at Sahalee this week is the most golf he's played in some time, Robinson insists.
Still, despite any rust his game might have and the significant challenge Sahalee and its trees will pose over the next few days, Robinson appears up for the challenge, if the 10 holes I watched him play during today's practice round are any indication. Playing with a pair of former major championship winners — Scott Simpson, winner of the 1987 U.S. Open, and Larry Mize, who won the Masters that same year — and fellow amateur Tom Norton, Robinson more than held his own.
Although the driver rarely left his bag from what I could see, he drove the ball wonderfully, routinely out-driving both Simpson and Norton and regularly keeping pace with Mize, who was often hitting driver to Robinson's 3- and 5-woods. Robinson's iron play was even better; his approaches were by far best in class in his pairing and he elicited several loud cheers from the galleries on the back nine for his shots into the green. His putting was so-so — he missed several makeable putts following those dialed-in approach shots — but in the spirit of a pre-tournament practice rounds, the studying of the putting surface and the examination of possible hole locations got much more attention than those initial putting strokes.
But the practice round did offer glimpses of the challenges that Robinson and the rest of the field will face in the coming days. On the 12th hole, a relatively straight par-4 that is normally the third hole on Sahalee's North Course, Robinson's drive hugged the right side of the fairway before kicking about five yards into the rough. The ball was sitting up nicely, but he still faced a dilemma — a huge Douglas fir tree stood between him and the green.
As you can see in the photo on the right, Robinson had plenty of room to the left of the tree to play a fade (left to right) into the green. He also had room for a draw on the right side of the tree, although not nearly as much as on the left. Since he's far more comfortable with hitting a draw, he carefully studied the small gap to the right of the tree while standing directly behind the ball, at one point sighing audibly and tossing his hands into the air as he appeared to contemplate everything that might possibly go wrong if he tried to pull off the shot.
Remarkably, though, none of them did. Robinson hit a beautiful shot through that small gap that landed just short of the green, then hit a pitch shot to within just a few inches of the cup for a kick-in par. It was a well-executed shot that went according to plan, but Robinson knows he'll have to pull it off — and probably several others just like it — when the scores count Thursday and Friday if he hopes to achieve his ultimate goal: making the cut.
"That's the goal," Robinson said. "This is the sixth USGA event that I've competed in, and I haven't been able to make the cut in any of them. So that's what I'm shooting for. Just make the cut and see what happens."
You'll be able to follow Robinson's rounds, as well as the rounds of the other 155 players at this year's Senior Open, through the USGA's website. I'll also be doing my best to provide updates via Twitter (@GCM_Magazine) as I follow Robinson, shot-by-shot, through both the first and second rounds.
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