BREAK POINT The 233-yard behemoth over water at Cypress Point, No 16, comes when matches are most tense.
course. With these in mind, let’s exam- ine how Bethpage will measure up.
This year’s Walker Cup (Septem- ber 6-7) was hosted by Cypress Point for the first time since 1981. Generally considered too short for professional tournaments (Cypress Point last host- ed the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 1990), it relied on wind and tempting hole setups to flummox today’s long- hitting amateurs. Whether for a Ryder Cup or Walker Cup or any other elite-level competi- tion, you need five design and setup elements to make a great matchplay
can take advantage of lengthy par 5s and monster par 4s is a critical factor in pairings. Bethpage rates highly in this re- gard demanding length and precision with three par 4s measuring over 500 yards (not counting the 484-yard 15th, the hardest hole in each of the three previous majors) and fairways that dogleg and pinch in landing zones. In fact, the Black combines the difficult driving aspects of the two previous European host clubs on which the
LENGTH Prodigious distance isn’t always neces- sary to produce entertaining and com- petitive matches, but a certain amount of length is needed at the elite level if driving the ball well is to be as deter- minative in winning and losing as the other aspects of the game. As match- play is often about matchups (in singles and in teams), identifying players who
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 61
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