2023 The Open at Austin presented by Lone Star Disc

[glassila]

This should probably go in the rules thread but...
After the cameraman was hit there was a +20 minute delay. A few of the players were playing catch to stay warmed up which I assume an official said was OK.
What I thought was iffy was when the camera showed Eagle practice putting from about from where his lie was (40-50 feet through trees).

If that is allowed would players be able to throw warmup throws from the tee or whatever their lie was during the delay? (Ezra was faced with a touchy approach during the delay and missed his shot when play resumed)

 

[Ryan P.]

He hated 18 also because he has a "perfect" drive, and had no approach to the green.

To me it looked like he just fluffed his approach shot, didn't turn it enough and put it OB left.

Just watched Gatekeeper R1. Not exactly sure what Paul had that much to be pissed off about. He missed quite a few putts on front nine (no fault of the course) and even got a freebie on 15 after shanking the forehand but rolling to an easy putt.

Sure, #17 has about twice as many saplings that there needs to be, but Paul f@+€&ed up on his own.

And I guess the green on #18 is kind of stupid but 3 of his cardmates didn't feel the need to fade OB left on the approach.

Course looked rough and a bunch of hard to score on par 3s but all this talk made me expect a roaring dumpster fire. It was nowhere near as bad as it sounded. 12 was a little random I guess and 14 looked dumb on the map but I dont thinks its any worse than any of the other filler holes on tour where the only challenge is to put it inbounds.

Paul said he had a "perfect" drive on 17, not 18. And he did; he found a line that no one else took that put him 80' further down the fairway than anyone else I saw. However, since there are so many saplings he had almost no line. I do think the designers didn't foresee him doing that and therefore left as many saplings as they did. If they're around, I'd love to hear their thoughts on it, but I don't think they are.

 

[Ryan P.]

I like a lot of the decisions that players have to make on this course as I see it. There's a lot of nuance to decision making. However, since it's a new course, good decisions + good execution aren't quite as rewarded as they might could be. I'm thinking of hole 4 and 17's sapling-lined tunnels.

Like I said though, I think the design of the course is fairly solid. Lots of options and nuance to those options.

 

[KillerDiller]

Rick took a DNF with three holes to go. Does anyone know what happened?

 

[foxdawg10]

Paul said he had a "perfect" drive on 17, not 18. And he did; he found a line that no one else took that put him 80' further down the fairway than anyone else I saw. However, since there are so many saplings he had almost no line. I do think the designers didn't foresee him doing that and therefore left as many saplings as they did. If they're around, I'd love to hear their thoughts on it, but I don't think they are.

Paul had a ridiculous bogie save on hole 17 yesterday.

He laid up 70 feet off the tee, then tried going spike hyzer over everything, missed OB right, then put his approach from the edge of the woods over everything to within 20 feet. Words can't do it justice.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Nice finish for Simon with his new bag and sponsor.
This ought to strengthen Buhr's next move.

 

[Streets]

Rick took a DNF with three holes to go. Does anyone know what happened?

Lingering effects of Lyme disease is always a safe bet with Ricky

 

[nothinbuttree]

Paul had a ridiculous bogie save on hole 17 yesterday.

He laid up 70 feet off the tee, then tried going spike hyzer over everything, missed OB right, then put his approach from the edge of the woods over everything to within 20 feet. Words can't do it justice.

His 2nd shot on 17 today was just as incredible. He tried a crazy sky anhyzer from the tee, it hit something and ended up like 70' from the tee. He then threw a crazy skip shot over the OB cart path and it skipped to 25'-30', where he of course missed the putt.

Overall, I am probably in the minority but I liked the course. Forced players to throw shots they usually don't throw, and be happy sometimes to just get to circle's edge. Ground play seemed a very important element, and there were many holes with a risk/reward piece. I would like to see this one stay at least one more year.

 

[BuiltTooLong]

Rick took a DNF with three holes to go. Does anyone know what happened?

It's the Curse of Ari.

 

[KillerDiller]

It's the Curse of Ari.

Woo! Woo!

 

[DanJon]

ive been smoked by discs a few times and even thrown by rec players they hurt

i couldnt imagine takin one from eagle grenade style

ive also seen others take lighter hits and start spewing blood

i hope they are ok

I got hit in the forehead by Gurthie while spotting, didn't get knocked out (definitely got knocked down though) and got interviewed right after.

Eventually got stitches that night and was back to volunteer the next day.

Wasn't my first blow to the head though, so ymmv.

 

[Chucker60]

Surprisingly poor day for Kristin; I guess she's human after all.

 

[Jolt]

Strange rounds from Simon, i had to go to bed after the F9 and every day he had droped like a rock down the leaderbord when i went to bed. . . and when i woke up he was back at the top again.

 

[foxdawg10]

Strange rounds from Simon, i had to go to bed after the F9 and every day he had droped like a rock down the leaderbord when i went to bed. . . and when i woke up he was back at the top again.

He tore it up on the back 9 Sunday. They didn't show him much on coverage and then al of a sudden he was in second place.

 

[Ryan P.]

Paul had a ridiculous bogie save on hole 17 yesterday.

He laid up 70 feet off the tee, then tried going spike hyzer over everything, missed OB right, then put his approach from the edge of the woods over everything to within 20 feet. Words can't do it justice.

His 2nd shot on 17 today was just as incredible. He tried a crazy sky anhyzer from the tee, it hit something and ended up like 70' from the tee. He then threw a crazy skip shot over the OB cart path and it skipped to 25'-30', where he of course missed the putt.

Overall, I am probably in the minority but I liked the course. Forced players to throw shots they usually don't throw, and be happy sometimes to just get to circle's edge. Ground play seemed a very important element, and there were many holes with a risk/reward piece. I would like to see this one stay at least one more year.

Yeah, Paul's creativity on hole 17 is why I enjoy watching him. Three rounds, three approaches to the hole that no one else displayed (at least not from what I saw).

I wouldn't say I liked the course, but I think there's some great parts of it. Hole 3's forced hyzer to a green on the side of a hill where the hyzer will inherently skip down the hill away from the basket was cool. It required precision. I liked how pinched hole 6 and 7 were, as it required a very specific shot, and often a good putt. I kinda wish they'd made hole 7 a mirror image of 6. That'd have been really cool, and I think it would show the pros how to play both of them (flipping a hole can sometimes give you a good idea of the ideal way to play it since everyone has different skills going different ways).

 

[Ryan P.]

Also, I find McBeth's complaints about hole 17's approach ridiculous. Hole 11 at the course Paul designed in VA has almost the exactly same approach (albeit on a longer hole). It's a tight tunnel for the last 80' of the hole, about 10' wide, and the saplings are so numerous that if you're in them, the only options are a FH roller or a vertical shot.

Video of him and Sexton playing the hole: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUFlaeRGQic

Timestamp where you can see the tunnel: https://youtu.be/hUFlaeRGQic?t=208

My attempt at embedding the timestamp, which never works for me:

 

[Jolt]

He tore it up on the back 9 Sunday. They didn't show him much on coverage and then al of a sudden he was in second place.

Looks like he went E in the F9 both first and second round...then -2 F9 in the third.

but B9! -5 -6 and -7

 

[foxdawg10]

He tore it up on the back 9 Sunday. They didn't show him much on coverage and then al of a sudden he was in second place.

Looks like he went E in the F9 both first and second round...then -2 F9 in the third.

but B9! -5 -6 and -7

Overall he was 2 down in the front 9 and 18 down on the back 9. He mentioned that in his post round conversations. It seemed like the back 9 is where alot of players scored this weekend.

 

[Jolt]

Overall he was 2 down in the front 9 and 18 down on the back 9. He mentioned that in his post round conversations. It seemed like the back 9 is where alot of players scored this weekend.

F9 looks very hard. . so Austin Turners -7 in R3 F9 is insane

 

[Flick Maniac]

I dunno. I guess im a little like Joey eating the botched up shepherds pie... Whats not to like?

Many great holes in there. Ought to get even better if they keep at it.

Awesome drama. Im trying the "dont get spoiled until jomez/gatekeeper" method this year and as an added bonus it cuts down my social media time so its a win anyway. Probably get dgn once tournaments start at reasonable times.

Wild how everyone from the lead card took unforced errors at different times to take them out of it. Calvin just went full final form to almost bring it all the way back. If he hadnt I wonder has ever the top 4 going into the final round all finished outside of top 4??

Gunna watch gatekeeper later, to see Gannon fireworks as well as local homeboy Heinänen holding his own. Finally got a big sponsor and seems to be cashing it in.