KARZMER: More options make for better course

This weekend, the PGA Tour is at one of my favorite spots (biased obviously), Jack Nicklaus’s The Memorial Tournament. Hosted at his masterpiece — Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin — The Memorial continually attracts the world’s best players year after year.

Having played the course a number of times, I’m always in awe when I see the way today’s tour stars can play certain holes. Obviously, from a distance standpoint, they can hit shots that most of us could only dream of.

But what I really enjoy is getting to watch them play holes I’m familiar with, and then try to identify their chosen “approach” to each hole.

We all know these guys bomb it off the tee. But what we don’t always get to do is break down their strategic approaches on holes we’re personally familiar with.

And Muirfield Village is a masterpiece when it comes to forcing players to have a specific approach for each hole.

A good topic on its own would be golf course architecture. Personally, one of the most important attributes I consider when deciding how much I like a course is options. Does the course create multiple options and force a player to decide the best way to play each hole? Or does it simply guide participants in a mind-numbing flow of forced-shot after forced-shot?

In my opinion, the more options the better.

And here’s what I mean by that — does a hole force a player to make a decision at any point? If so, that’s an option. It could be a well-placed fairway bunker that forces a player to decide between hitting driver or three wood off the tee. Or a fairway that gets progressively more narrow from tee to green, forcing a player to decide how far to actually hit it off the tee. Or perhaps a water hazard that creates a real risk versus reward opportunity.

A great hole forces a player to think his or her way from the tee shot through the last putt. And Muirfield Village is full of great holes:

The first tee shot where players have to decide whether to hit anything from long iron to full driver.

Four reachable par 5s (three of which have water hazards in play).

The very last hole where players have to decide how far to challenge the hole off the tee and navigate between a series of bunkers on the right and trees and a creek on the left.

Jack Nicklaus has created a course that not only physically, but mentally, challenges its players for 18 holes.

I don’t know that TV color commentators always do a great job of laying out the intricacies of golf holes in a very in depth way. But if you really pay attention to the way these guys play each hole, you’ll be able to tell who’s confident with the driver, what shot-shape players are hitting, who’s hitting their wedges well and, of course, who’s putting well.

Driving, shot—shaping, wedges and putting — all pretty important qualities for another tournament just a couple of weeks away. So enjoy this week’s Memorial and keep an eye out for some will-be favorites for the upcoming U.S. Open.

Jonah Karzmer is a former golf professional who writes a Sunday golf column for The Vindicator. In his spare time he sells commercial insurance and loves getting feedback on his weekly columns via email at Jonah@thekarzmerinsurance.com.