The Course Report
Caves Valley G.C.
About Caves Valley G.C.
The FedEx playoffs continue as the PGA Tour is headed to Owings Mills in Maryland for the BMW Championship. This course has never appeared on the PGA Tour rotation, and we are looking at an interesting setup.
The course is long, but it really isn’t that difficult. There is a lot of open space off the tee, and as far as most can tell, the rough hasn’t been gorwn out to thickness that anyone would really think of as challenging. Big hitters will have an advantage here simply because they will be able to attack pins from the fairway with scoring irons.
Jordan Spieth has played here several times, and has mentioned that the key to paying well is dominating those first few holes. Once you get to the back 9 some more challenging holes come into play.
There are trees out there. If any golfer hits it wayward enough they are going to be in a lot of trouble. The par 3’s have a lot undulation, and pin placement is going to dictate how the pro’s appraoch the shorties.
The BMW has always been one of my favorite events as it often lands in Illinois every other year. Needless to say, I’ve been to a ton of them. They always tend to allow players to score low, with the loan exception being last years event at Olympia Fields where the wind simply destroyed the entire field.
Many will immediately look at the best players in the world and believe they have the best chance to win here. Yet, I’ve always been a firm believer that an easier course allows a much more competitive tournament in which any player can come out victorious.
The biggest nugget about this course is that it feels as if you’re on two differnt designs. Both the front and back 9 are designed differently as they have aspects of a links style course and then reverts to a more American style with tree lined fairways. The smaller greens might come into play this week, and any player struggling with their approach game could have difficulty scoring.
Architect: Tom Fazio
Greens: Bentgrass Greens
Green Size: 5,200 sq. feet (small)
Stimpmeter: 12 to 13 – Average to Fast
Length: 7,542 – Par 72
Water Hazards: 5 come into play
Weather Forecast
Past Winners
The winds were violent as Rahm won the tournament in a playoff with Dustin Johnson.
Rahm won with a score of -4, the lowest score at the BMW in recent memory, and did it in amazing fashion as he nailed a 65-foot putt to claim the victory.
He entered Sunday with a six-shot lead, and never looked back.
This victory ended Thomas’ 12 month stint without lifting a touranment trophy. Thomas delivered big shot after big shot at this BMW.
This was Bradley’s first win in 6 years. In the end, Bradley shot a 6-under 64 to tie Rose at 20 under for the tournament.
In the playoff, Badley eneded up needing a par to seal the victory, and what was set up to be an exciting finish became a mundane par putt to allow Bradley the tournament title.
Conway Farms was kind to Leishman as he went wire to wire capturing the win at the BMW Championship.
Leishman was a scoring machine all tournament. All four rounds were in the 60’s, and everything simply was clicking for the Australian. Rose and Fowler finished in second, five shots back.
It took a 3-man playoff, but Johnson beat Louis Ossthuizen and Marc Leishman by shooting a 15, 1 under in a four hole playoff.
Johnson was a surprise win as just the week before his prep came in Illinois at the John Deere Classic. This was Johnson’s second major win, and his first Claret Jug.
Entering with a six-stroke lead over the field, McIIroy went from dominant to just hanging on. Still, no golfer ever got withing two strokes the entire day, and he held his composure despite struggles off the tee and on the greens.
In winning, McIIroy became the seventh wire-to-wire winner in Open Championship history.
After winning the Scottish Open the week prior, Mickelson birdied four of the last six holes and became the Open Champion.
To this point, Phil had come close to winning, but had often doubted his abilites on links style courses.
Els began Sunday 6 shots back, but still clinched the vicotry after Adam Scott imploded.
Els’ 68 was a comeback of epic proportions when you consider the fact that Scott was still winning by 4 strokes on the 15th tee.