Black Desert Resort in Utah will host the PGA Tour’s inaugural Black Desert Championship this week.
RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Put up by way of Getty Photos
PGA Tour execs are dealing with numerous challenges at this week’s Black Desert Championship, which would be the event’s debut. From amassing FedEx factors for subsequent 12 months, to making an attempt to earn one final large payday, they’ve their arms full.
In addition they face an impediment they aren’t used to: enjoying a brand new event course for the primary time.
And it isn’t simply any outdated parkland course. Black Desert Resort’s Tom Weiskopf-designed course seems in contrast to every other course performed on Tour. The 18-holer is positioned within the Utah desert. Fairways and greens are lined with black lava rock, with pink mesas surrounding the format and the snow-covered Rockies looming within the distance.
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It’s additionally a excessive elevation course, coming in at round 3,000 toes.
All of those notable qualities in regards to the course are forcing Tour execs to organize otherwise than they normally would, as Patrick Fishburn and Zac Blair defined of their pre-tournament press convention on Tuesday.
Blair, who had by no means performed Black Desert earlier than this week regardless of being from Utah, first famous its gorgeous magnificence.
“Clearly actually fairly. The surroundings out right here is fairly insane. I believe it’ll look superb on TV and every little thing like that,” Blair shared. “Fairly to type of see what the scores are like and what it performs like in event situations.”
Fishburn defined the issues introduced on by the course’s excessive altitude, which the Utah native has expertise contending with after rising up within the state.
“Taking part in at altitude is certainly completely different for certain. I grew up in Ogden [Utah], enjoying Ogden Nation Membership, which might be 4,000 toes elevation and we’re most likely 3,000 right here. The ball simply does various things,” Fishburn stated earlier than noting one other hurdle to contemplate: anticipated excessive temperatures. “With the warmth this week, there’s simply numerous various factors. If you happen to’re perhaps not used to that it’ll trigger just a few extra calculations happening within the mind, which for me personally, much less calculation is healthier.”
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Each gamers additionally defined that accuracy off the tee will likely be important given the problem offered by the lava rocks strewn in every single place you look on the course. Blair famous that it could doubtless preserve many gamers from hitting driver off the tee, although not essentially him as a consequence of his lack of distance.
“I don’t hit it very far so lots of people have talked about not with the ability to hit numerous drivers,” Blair joked. “I type of felt like may hit numerous drivers. I’m the shortest participant on the tour, so…”
In line with Blair, a shot into the rocks this week primarily equals a misplaced ball.
“I believe simply the way in which all of the lava rock is and it’s not hazard, simply type of misplaced ball, it’s probably not like the rest. So it’s type of some locations you may go and is likely to be hazard otherwise you may go to Arizona and hit it within the desert and you’ll nonetheless discover it and chip it out,” Blair stated. “Right here, you’re not going to search out it more often than not. Particularly within the rocks. So I believe it’s very distinctive, very completely different. Persons are all type of seeing it and studying it for the primary time.”
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He continued: “However there’s loads of room to play on the market. It’s not prefer it’s tremendous tight far and wide. They’ve given us loads of house to hit driver or something off the tee. Simply bought to maintain it out of the rocks.”
However Fishburn did point out one benefit newer execs can have this week with everybody enjoying the course beneath event situations for the primary time, versus most Tour programs that veterans have years of expertise enjoying.
“Taking part in towards guys which were round these items for ten, 15 plus years. You recognize, you attempt to make up what you possibly can in just a few days,” Fishburn stated. “So this week coming, haven’t seen the course, performed it just a few occasions, really feel like it will likely be a degree enjoying discipline with that at the least. Then enjoying in Utah, having the expertise I do enjoying in Utah, simply hopefully one thing that that helps me.”
Followers and gamers alike will get the primary have a look at the tournament-ready Black Desert course when the first group tees off on Thursday at 9:40 a.m. ET.
