First, the scoring average. TPC San Antonio is a much more challenging course than LaCantera, and having a more challenging course certainly attracts more higher-profiled players. For LaCantera, on a calm day, the scoring average is usually 2.5 strokes under par and a windy day it is close to even par but still under par. For TPC San Antonio, on a calm day the scoring average is right around even par, and on a windy day it is usually 2 strokes OVER par. As a matter of fact, this year's event, Friday's scoring average was 3.3 strokes over par.
Second, the natural landscape. This is a very scenic golf course with them keeping all the natural vegatation which borders the fairways. The natural vegetarion, i.e. the native area, if your ball lands there it's quite difficult to hit your ball out. (Just ask Kevin Na who shot a 16 on the 9th hole!) So besides the beauty, the natural landscape also provides lots of challenge for the players.
Thirdly, the designs of the greens and its surrounding hazards. The greens have lots of slopes and undulations that can make putting and short game very difficult, especially in windy conditions. That is something that LaCantera Golf Club severely lacked, resulting in super-low scores every year they play the event.
Fourth, this is a very environmentally-friendly golf course. It's one of the most "green" golf courses. The reason being is because the course takes place at a natural area with a lot of wildlife. Instead of removing the natural habitat by clear-cutting the property and rebuilding the whole place, they perserved a lot of natural areas. Also, they didn't waste any water by making man-made water hazards. The water hazards (there's only 2) are natural.
Now I'll have an almost hole-by-hole analysis, commenting on all of the holes there.
My first comment is regarding Holes 2 and 7. These two holes share the same green but the pin location for Hole 2 is about 50 yards away from the pin for Hole 7, seperated by a large bunker. The 2nd hole is a great Par 5 with quite a narrow entry to the green with a pot bunker guarding the front. The 7th hole is a great Par 3 with the large bunker in play left, and lots of mounding right, making it difficult to save par if you miss the green.
Here's a crazy thought: What if the 2nd hole pin location was located at the section of the 7th green, and the 7th hole pin was located at the section of the 2nd green? Here are pictures of where the holes would look like, with the red arrow pointing to where the pin would be.
One thing I didn't understand is why they moved up the tees for the 7th hole 3 out of the 4 days. The hole would have played much more difficult with the tees moved way back.
Ditto for the 3rd hole which the PGA never moved back the tee in any of the 4 days. Despite its scorecard yards of 213 yards, it played only 150-170 yards. This is the hole with a huge lake guarding the green. Unfortunately, with the tees moved up, the lake is hardly any threat for the players. Very few people landed their balls in the water.
The 13th hole is a long par 3, 244 yards, with a difficult green and chipping area, so it's understandable why they often moved the tees forward, usually to about 210 yards.
The 16th is the last par 3, and it replicates the design of Riviera's 6th hole, with a bunker that sits in the middle of the green. It's a fun, quirky little hole. It's an easy hole with no wind, but can be quite testy when the winds are blowing. Its pin locations are either in front of the bunker, left of the bunker, or right of the bunker.
Here's a crazy thought: What if...they had the pin location BEHIND the bunker? Boy, what a brute that hole would be! Here's the picture above,with the red line pointing my desired hole location. Man, if the hole location were there then this would be my favourite hole of the golf course by a landslide!!!!
The other par 5's on the course are holes 8, 14, and 18. 8 is a 604 yard par 5 that usually plays into the wind, so it's a three-shot hole for almost all the players. The green on this hole is also tricky, making it one of the more difficult par 5's on the PGA Tour.
14 played as the easiest hole on the course for both 2010 and 2011. It's the shortest par 5, 567 yards, in which most players would be able to reach in 2. However, the fairway is rather narrow with native areas on both sides, so if you do miss the fairway, it's possible to make a bogey.
And 18 is a great risk-reward hole with a creek guarding the front of the green. However, because it's a long par 5, playing 591 yards, most players choose to lay up unless it plays downwind. But even if you lay up, it's not a guaranteed par. The green can have quite a few tricky hole locations. 2010 winner Adam Scott made a bogey on the hole of the tournament in the final round. And 2011 winner Brendan Steele had to hole a 7 foot putt to save par to win.
Now, those were the Par 3s and Par 5s of the course. Now here's my comments on the Par 4s:
I really love the 11th and 12th holes. Both of them are rather short at 405 and 410 yards respectively, but they can be really testy, so if you make a mistake you can easily bogey the hole.
The fairway bunker smack in the fairway on Hole 11 provides players with tons of different options off the tee. And the second shot is hit to a green well-guarded by a deep bunker front of the green and difficult chipping areas to the sides.
Hole 12 is a hole often played into the wind so it plays slightly longer than its yardage. It was one of the toughest holes for both 2010 and 2011. It has a narrow fairway flanked by hazards so you're in big trouble if you miss it. The green is protected by 2 big bunkers, one on each side, and a very tough chipping area if you miss it long. And it has one of the most undulating greens on the course.
Hole 9 is an absolute beast of a Par 4, playing at 474 yards and often into the wind. It's that hole in which Kevin Na made a 16 in the first round of the 2011 tournament. So yes, you could indeed get in big trouble if you miss the fairway. And the greenside rough can be very nasty so if you miss the green you have a tough chip. Despite it being the only hole on TPC San Antonio without a bunker, it is a great hole with lots of teeth.
The other Par 4s with noticeable difficulty are Holes 1, 4, and 15. Each of them are also quite long, playing at 454, 481, and 464 yards, respectively. These three holes provide very few birdies, especially if it's windy.
And then there are the two drivable Par 4's. The 5th and 17th holes. I'm not particuarly a fan of those two holes because they're kind of ...gimmicky. A drivable Par 4 is only fun when if you hit an errant drive you have a VERY little chance of making birdie and even have a risk of making bogey. These two holes are anything but the case. We've seen so many players miss the green and easily get up-and-down for birdie. Players are almost guaranteed to make par unless you badly screw up the pitch shot, or if your drive ends up in the native area, which wouldn't happen unless your drive is so errant it is 50 yards off line.
Another thing about these two holes is that they are almost identical in design. They're 342 and 347 yards respectively. And they each have a large bunker short-right, a chipping area right, and a large bunker(s) left of the green. Why make a duplicate copy of a hole?
Last but not least, the 6th and 10th holes. They're 403 and 447 yards, respectively, and they're rather nondescript. The two holes are decent but they don't have any really special features worth commenting on.
So there you have it. A detailed analysis of TPC San Antonio.
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