CINCINNATI, OHIO | The reviews are in and they are almost all the same. Great golf course. Ridiculously wet.
A lot of players saw the Kendale Course at Kenwood Country Club for the first time on Wednesday, one day before the opening shots of the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G. More than few will play at least one nine blind on Thursday as the course has taken on an average of an inch of rain a day for the last week. Pro-ams were shortened to nine holes, and the course was closed for practice much of Monday and Tuesday.
Even so, the praise has been near universal.
“It's a beautiful golf course. It's just a shame it's so wet,” Jessica Korda said. “We'll see what's going to happen because they haven't been able to go out there and cut the grass in a couple days. But it is a beautiful golf course. There are so many run-offs behind the greens. You can really see that this place would be a really fun place to play and a really good test.
“Normally you would be playing maybe an extra practice round and paying a lot of attention. With how soft it is the ball ends up exactly where you hit it, sometimes in its own mark, so obviously that changes (things) a little bit.
“I will not get to see one of the nines. It's been raining and obviously closed, so we haven't been able to see one of the nines. That's where you and your caddie get together and use a yardage book and just play it by ear. It's going to be the same for everyone.”
Those who haven’t seen all the holes are in for some pleasant surprises. Originally designed in 1930 by Bill Diddel, Kenwood CC has 36 holes squeezed into just under 350 acres. As tight as that sounds (and there are plenty of crisscrossing and parallel holes), the layout flows beautifully, in part because of the rolling terrain, with views of downtown Cincinnati in the distance, but also because of the old-growth tree inventory. It’s an arborary wonder with sycamore and walnuts lining the corridors like sentries.
“It's really, quite a fun track,” said Minjee Lee, winner of the Rolex ANNIKA Major Award who currently leads in the LPGA Player of the Year race.
Lee has won on two classic designs this year, the Cognizant Founders Cup at Upper Montclair Country Club in New Jersey, a Tillinghast design dating back to 1928, and her U.S. Women’s Open victory came at the Donald Ross’ classic Pine Needles.
On Wednesday, Lee ran into Judy Rankin, who is making an appearance for Golf Channel’s coverage. “You know I played my first U.S. Women’s Open here,” Rankin told Lee. That was back in 1963 when a young Rankin roomed with eventual winner Mary Mills.
Lee was impressed by that tidbit, just as she was of the course itself. “There is a mixture of short holes and long holes,” she said. “I know it's playing a little wetter right now, but hopefully as we get along through the week and it will dry out a little bit more. I think the courses that I have won at have been ball-striker's golf courses, more like second-shot courses. The stronger part of my game is my iron play, so I think that that really complements this golf course as well.”
Brooke Henderson agreed. “It’s really a great routing. Everything is right in front of you,” the Amundi Evian Champion said after seeing Kenwood for the first time.
“The bunkers are definitely a penalty, so you need to avoid them,” said Sei Young Kim as she waited to tee off on the par-4 15th on Wednesday. “And it’s a bit of an optical illusion in places. The bunkers are big, so they look closer than they are.”
Superintendent Pat Carroll smiled when he heard those comments. “The bunkering shapes the course and gives you a pathway to play,” he said. “We have a lot of holes where the fairways cut in behind the bunkers, so you have options in terms of taking some of them on.”
Carroll and his staff have been working overtime to get Kenwood ready despite 5.4 inches of rain in the last five days. He has 46 staffers and another 15 volunteers out with blowers, rollers and mowers doing everything in their power to get the place ready. It will play soft – “All my tee shots plugged,” Chella Choi said. “That left me with a lot of hybrids into these greens.” But that doesn’t mean it won’t be a challenge.
“The layout is great,” Fatima Ferndez Cano said as she prepared to hit her third shot on into the par-5 12th on Wednesday. “I hope it dries out some so we can see it the way it’s supposed to play.”
No matter the conditions, players understand what a gem they are playing. And all of them look forward to coming back and seeing Kenwood for years to come.
)
)
)
)
