Cherry Hills Village – Karen Stupples stood on the practice tee at Cherry Hills Country Club on Monday launching drives into the thin, dry, mile-high atmosphere.
Drives that normally travel about 265 yards at sea level were coming in for a landing about 280 yards away. Playing with that sudden power surge requires adjustments, which was what the golfers were busy doing Monday in preparation for the U.S. Women’s Open, which begins Thursday.
And it’s not simply a matter of proper club selection; it’s a matter of trust.
“The scary shots are when you have to carry the ball over water or over a bunker,” said Stupples, who won last year’s British Women’s Open. “You look at the shot and you think, ‘That sure looks like a long way for this club.’ But you have to adjust and you have to trust your club. That’s where you need a good, strong caddie.”
The PGA Tour makes a regular stop in Colorado every year, so the world’s best male players get accustomed to playing at mile-high altitude. Not so for the women, who do not have a regular tour stop in Colorado. However, the LPGA players did get a sampling of altitude golf in March when the tour returned to Mexico for the first time in more than three decades. The tournament was at the Bosque Real Country Club, perched atop a hill high above Mexico City – elevation 7,400 feet.
Annika Sorenstam, who has won the first two legs of the Grand Slam, also won in Mexico City, shooting a 4-under-par 68 on the final day to overtake Australian Karrie Webb and win by three strokes. Webb said Monday the Mexico City altitude affected her and much of the field, but she doesn’t think it will be as big a factor this week.
“I really haven’t felt it much since I got here, I think because the air is a lot clearer here than in Mexico City,” said Webb, who owns six major titles. “And because we were higher in Mexico City, you were short of breath a little bit. Plus, that course was really hilly, where this is not that bad.”
But major adjustments are necessary as the 156-player field prepares for the most prestigous tournament in women’s golf. Several caddies indicated Monday they would use a similar formula to help decide which club to use. They estimate a ball will travel about 3 percent farther for every 1,000 feet above sea level. That means a typical shot at Cherry Hills will carry about 15 percent farther than the same shot at sea level.
In a game that requires precision, players and caddies are spending practice time trying to figure out the exact distance for each club at altitude.
“I think it’s club-to-club thing, so you have to get used to it,” Stupples said. “I don’t know yet how it’s going to affect me here in Denver, but I know how it affected me in Mexico City.
“There were some 400-yard par-4 holes where we were hitting 6-irons off the tee and 8-irons to the green. It was a strange thing to deal with. But I think we will adjust and we’ll be fine. That’s why we’re all here early, playing on a Monday, to learn as we go along.”
Webb said she and her caddie are using the practice time to make adjustments for altitude, wind direction and elevation changes.
“Suppose you have an approach shot that’s 157 yards to the pin,” she said. “After we take into account everything, it might play like 135 yards. That’s the number I’ll play, that’s the number I have to trust.”
The players have been given many other tips to deal with altitude, such as drinking plenty of water and slathering on the sunscreen.
But swing guru and coach David Ledbetter, who is working with 15-year-old sensation Michelle Wie, said players can’t let the altitude psych them out.
“I think it’s a fallacy to think you have to change your golf game when you come here,” he said. “Of course you have to calculate that when you figure out your yardages, but it doesn’t take too long to do that. But it is an adjustment, and that’s what these practice rounds are for. That’s where experience will help. I think the upper-echelon players will adjust very quickly.”
Staff writer Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-820-5459 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
