Hosting its first PGA Tour event ever, Cricket has shown a little bit of everything this week. It took a beating to start the week, with light winds and soft greens on Thursday leading to a first-round scoring average more than three shots under par. But more difficult conditions led to an over-par average on Friday and Saturday, while Sunday’s more difficult setup led to one less than a shot under par.
That was all despite playing just around 7,100 yards on the scorecard, some 200-300 yards shorter than a typical PGA Tour setup.
“Look at this Cricket Club course,” Lucas Glover told our Michael Bamberger. “You have a pitch-shot par-3 where the cover is a 100 yards, you have a 250-yard uphill par-3 where one side is death and you have two par-3s that are in between Four different clubs. Look at the second hole [the ninth for member play, a short, right-curving par-4]. I played it was a 5-wood and a sand wedge. Wyndham Clark, longer than I am, hit driver right up to the green. We both made 3s. The architect gives you so many choices. At Quail Hollow, we’ll all be hitting it to pretty much the same place.”
Most people would pay hundreds of dollars to play a course like this. But this week, the pros are getting paid to play it. And quite handsomely.
Jack Hirsh is the Associate Equipment Editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his high school golf team and recently returned to the program to serve as head coach. Jack also still *tries* to remain competitive in local amateurs. Before joining GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but also producing, anchoring and even presenting the weather. He can be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.
