Strange wall at the US Women’s Open 2020

The US Women’s Open kicked off on December 10, bringing together 156 golfers. With the roster at maximum and the condition being day shorter than night, the organizers must take advantage of the players to play as much as possible in both first rounds to ensure progress.

So the training ground, 300 yards long, has been split in half to double the capacity for boot needs. Then, the golfer can hit from both ends of the field. But in each section, the practice area is only about 30 yards from the fence (1 yard equals 0.9 meters).

This layout reduces the overall aesthetic and inconveniences golfers’ warm-up habits, including Danielle Kang – golfer who won the major Women’s PGA Championship 2017 in the five LPGA Tour titles. Only the top 3 long-range balls in the American women’s arena this season include Bianca Pagdanganan (284 yards), Anne van Dam (281 yards) and Maria Fassi (280 yards), unable to straighten out when heated with the driver stick.

Initially entering the Champions Golf Club, Kang discovered and thought that the strange fence at the training ground was only temporary. But then she knew it would be there for the rest of the tournament.

“Honestly, I don’t like it because the wall is a hindrance to my own warm-up routine. I usually start with wedges, take up most of the time and end with drivers. Now the fence is almost like that, I have to. find another way, “Kang said Golf Digest on December 8.

The difficulty emerges the wisdom. “I scoured the training ground to find a place that fits my style while not bothering others. Sometimes I step back near functional shacks, sometimes behind a tree,” Kang said of how to handle the problem. personal topic.

In that condition, Kang’s kicks are only 225 yards, while the average has played this season at 258 yards. The American player born in 1992 wants 10-15 yards further in his header and higher ball when he goes green. This intention was limited to the practice field layout for the past few days.

This is the second time in two months, LPGA Tour recorded the shield’s presence at the major event. But this week’s fencing had no effect on results like ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Country Club in October.

At that time, the organizers were customary to erect a large wall with the logo of the sponsoring airline on the green of the 18th hole oasis style. In the final round, Lee Mirim hit the shield in the second shot from the fairway. The ball was stuck at the bottom of the wall in a position that could not hit, so Lee was released a free ball. From the new position, she waved the ball straight into the eagle hole. Without the wall of the logo, the ball enters the water trap and Lee is fined one stroke, with a new strike position further from the target.

That eagle score helped Lee enter the playoffs against Nelly Korda and Brooke Henderson, also at hole 18. Lee won with a birdie point after boldly sticking to a “2 on” – one chip – one putt strategy.

Quoc Huy synthetic