Wanamaker Is A Second Shot Course

GNN blogger Kyle German heads for Florida on Thursday to defend his Titleist and FootJoy Canadian PGA Club Professionals Championship at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, beginning next Monday. He says the Wanamaker Course presents a good test for anybody looking to come home with the 2009 national championship.

We’ll get in on Thursday night and we’re going to play near Fort Lauderdale before heading up to Port St. Lucie on Friday night, where we’ll play Saturday and Sunday at the Wanamaker Course before the tournament starts.

It’s definitely a second shot course. If you’re hitting your driver well, there’s enough room to get in good position, but there’s trouble if you’re not hitting well off the tee.

The greens are undulating. There are a lot of fall-offs, so if you miss the green, you’ve got tough up-and-downs.

I remember last year, there were some pin placements that were tricky, to say the least. The wind last year made the pin positions tougher, but you had to control your irons into those greens distance-wise.

I remember looking at the scores from the first stage of PGA Tour qualifying school in October at the Wanamaker Course. There was either no wind or those guys are really good because the top finisher came away at 22-under.

We were in the playoff last year at three-under and 22-under just wasn’t out there with the wind, so I’m assuming the weather was better at Q-School.

It’s a good golf course. You’re hitting all of your clubs and there’s ample trouble if you’re not striking well. There are some great holes out there. The par threes are all really good. The par fives, and this is weird, but I only went for a couple over the three days last year.

I went for the first hole because it was downwind, so I went for it twice and I think I went for 16 once. I was mostly laying up on the par fives and using my wedge game to my advantage.

There were certain holes that really fit my eye well, but other holes that were a little sketchy. For example, the 15th is a par four, dogleg right. I’ve played it five times now and I’m still not really too sure about what to do off the tee, but there are certain holes I get up to and I just feel so good.

Eight is a short par four with a really tight driving area. I hit three wood off the tee all three days last year and I’ve never hit three better three woods.

The thing I like about the Wanamaker is that you’re hitting all kinds of shots. There’s a really good variance of holes – you don’t just play the same hole over and over again.

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