POPPY HILLS AND POPPY RIDGE NEWS
Poppy Hills Wins Over the Pros W
orld Golf Hall of Famer Colin Montgomerie never
got the chance to play the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am or Poppy Hills during his PGA Tour career. He won’t miss the Champions Tour’s First Tee Open as long as it is co-hosted at Poppy Hills. “This is a hell of a track,” said
Montgomerie, who hit every fair- way during a bogey-free 68. “We’d love a three-round event at Poppy Hills, if the NCGA is interested in sponsoring it. I loved it.” The Europeans in the fi eld were
particularly fond of Poppy Hills. The four Europeans who competed at Poppy Hills during the opening round on Friday combined to shoot
Poppy Hills Head Professional Cole Handley (left) and General Manager Brad Shupe (middle) with new course record holder Olin Browne
Montgomerie, Maggert, and Watson Love the New Look, and So Does Browne After Record 65
13 under—Swede Jesper Parnevik grabbed the lead with a 5-under 66, while Scottsmen Montgomery and Sandy Lyle fi red 68s, and English- man Roger Chapman added a 69. “Poppy is a more linksy style with the waste bunkers,” said Jeff Maggert, who won two Champions Tour majors this season, including the U.S. Senior Open at Del Paso CC. “I like it. I think the redesign turned out really well.” Five-time British Open Cham-
pion Tom Watson, who made a valiant run at winning this year’s First Tee Open before ultimately fi nishing one stroke behind Esteban Toledo, also approved of a Poppy Hills course he was seeing for the
fi rst time since his playing days on the PGA Tour. “The look of the golf course is
very pleasing to the eye with the waste bunkers,” Watson said. “I like that a lot.” Poppy Hills was also pleasing to
the eye of 2011 U.S. Senior Open Champion Olin Browne, who set a tournament record with a 6-under 65 on Saturday, sinking four birdies and holing out for eagle on No. 10 to shoot a 6-under 65. Jonathan De Los Reyes also shot a competitive 65 at the fi nal round of this year’s NCGA Stroke Play Championship. “I made one rainmaker of a putt
on No. 6 and I hooped a wedge on No. 10,” Browne said. “When you do those kind of things, you turn what is a decent day with a 68 into a 65.” Lyle’s 68 was also aided by a hole-out for eagle on No. 4. Poppy Hills played to a two-day
stroke average of 72.475, or nearly a shot and a half over par. Pebble Beach’s stroke average was 72.298, or a little more than a quarter of a shot over par. No. 8 played as the toughest hole
at Pebble Beach (0.248 strokes over par), but Poppy Hills had fi ve holes play more diffi cult. Only one birdie was recorded
on No. 5 (0.531 strokes over par), and just two were made on No. 1 (0.469). No. 12 (0.358) ranked as the third toughest hole, followed by No. 8 (0.296) and No. 15 (0.259). There were 12 holes that played over par. The four par 5s at Poppy Hills
played as the course’s four easiest holes: No. 18 (-0.432), No. 9 (-0.247), No. 4 (-0.136) and No. 10 (-0.074). The par-4 No. 14 and par-3 No. 11 also played under par for the pros. On Saturday, there was just one
birdie picked up on Nos. 1, 5, 8, and 17. Dan Forsman also aced the 217-yard No. 15 with a 3-iron. “Poppy reminds me a little bit
of Pinehurst and a little bit of Pine Valley in many ways,” Montgomerie said. “This is an excellent course.”
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NCGA.ORG / FALL 2015
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