PARKER — There are things that a golf course designer is innately aware of when it comes to his creations, matters like contours and shot placement.
And then there are issues like Monday at Colorado Golf Club, when a steady wind, gusting in excess of 50 mph, had Ben Crenshaw scratching his head.
“There weren’t a lot of days like this when we built it,” said Crenshaw, co-designer of the course that’s hosting this week’s Senior PGA Championship. “You hope that it wouldn’t play this tough during the tournament.”
Tough would be a mild description for the conditions on display. As PGA of America officials joked nervously, comparing the gale-force winds to a hurricane that rolled through Kentucky during the 2008 Ryder Cup, at least one television tower on the CGC course was toppled. Little wonder then that the few hearty souls who dared venture — however briefly — onto the 7,490-yard track literally struggled to maintain some semblance of balance while trying to swing a club.
Barely two years in existence when it was awarded the championship, CGC officials and the PGA have talked of this event being a test to determine whether the facility is capable of hosting other major tournaments. As he walked along the back nine Monday, Crenshaw said he wasn’t sure that the windy day was the type of impression he was looking for. It’s just one more measure of anxiety as he wondered what sort of mark the layout would make with his peers on tour.
The only other design of Crenshaw and partner Bill Coore to host a professional event is the PGA Tour’s season-opening SBS Championship at the Plantation Course at Kapalua in Hawaii. This week is the first major championship to be played on one of the duo’s designs.
“There’ll be lots of discussions this week about interpretation. These guys have played all over the world and they have a fine eye,” Crenshaw said. “They’ll point out some things that maybe they like or dislike, that’s to be expected. Hopefully, the weather will calm down so they’ll have more fun playing it.”
As the week begins, there are players, such as Fred Couples, who are expected to perform well here. Others hope they can catch lightning in a bottle, as was the case last year for Michael Allen, who won a senior major after going without a victory in more than 300 events on the PGA Tour.
But chances are that no one is bringing the same mind-set into the tournament as Crenshaw. A major championship is supposed to be a difficult test — any player knows that. But the inner-designer doesn’t want things to be so taxing here “that they have a terrible time playing.”
And, although he doesn’t live here, like Mark Wiebe or Dale Douglass or any of the other Coloradans in the field, in some ways Crenshaw is “hosting” the party. But, not unlike the high school senior inviting friends over for an end-of-the-year blast, there’s still a parental specter hovering about.
The way the course plays this week, from pin placements to yardages, is under the auspices of the PGA of America. One of the things the organization has done, for example, is “pinch” the fairways on some holes by as much as 10 yards.
Crenshaw admits that wouldn’t have been his preference.
“I would have left them wider. When you have this much altitude, the course and the contours of the greens take care of a lot of the challenges, no matter how far you hit the ball,” he said. “You don’t want to make it too penal, and with this wind, you need width. These greens will shrink up real quick in a breeze.”
But the PGA of America has put on 70 of these things and Crenshaw knows it’s all part of the process, and particularly for a nascent course that has aspirations of becoming a regular part of the organization’s major championship rotation.
This year, the fairways are tightened; maybe next time the tees on the drivable 326-yard, par-4 14th are moved up 30 yards on Sunday afternoon, the better to inject a drama into the final round.
The thing is, at this point, no one really knows exactly what the 3-year-old course truly has to offer, and in that sense, Crenshaw will be one of many onlookers anxious to see what it takes for Colorado Golf Club to reach its full potential.
“The course has to grow, things have to settle out a bit. Experience, the way people play it, you have to see what happens,” he said. “It takes time and this course is brand new, but what you want to see is interest. What do people think of it all? Do they want to play it again? This will be a great test for the club.”
Anthony Cotton: 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com
