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Are LPGA Courses Too Long?

Sean

Sean

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I watch a lot of golf, including the LPGA Tour. One thing I've noticed is that unlike the PGAT, you see the women hitting hybrids and sometimes fairway woods into par 4's/3's with much more frequency than the men. In addition, while most par 5's can be reached in two on the PGAT, such is not the case on the LPGAT.

Anyway, I just got to wondering if their courses are set up a bit long.
 
No.

And if they shortened them, they’d soon be destroyed with the distance that is coming to the ladies game.
 
Not based on scores. 🤷‍♂️

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No, they are too short
 
I don’t think them hitting hybrids is a reflection of the course being too short. @willplaysgolf is a long hitter and I believe he carried down to a 5 or 6 hybrid at some point. For some a hybrid gets them their preferred ball flight and gapping
 
Jtubb17 said:
I don’t think them hitting hybrids is a reflection of the course being too short. @willplaysgolf is a long hitter and I believe he carried down to a 5 or 6 hybrid at some point. For some a hybrid gets them their preferred ball flight and gapping
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There’s a TON of truth to this. They’re more receptive to hitting a hybrid in that spot because it hits the window they want, and they’re not egomaniacs like the men haha
 
Way less ego than us! I’m so guilty 😂
 
Jtubb17 said:
I don’t think them hitting hybrids is a reflection of the course being too short. @willplaysgolf is a long hitter and I believe he carried down to a 5 or 6 hybrid at some point. For some a hybrid gets them their preferred ball flight and gapping
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Yup and potentially less ego in the women’s game so they don’t hesitate to put more hybrids in play
 
@Wildcat @mtbloco and I spent a morning watching the ladies on (then) Symetra Tour at Sewailo. Those ladies were piping the ball into par 5s in two that most of us come up woefully short on. And that's not even the Big Show. I think the ladies handle themselves pretty well, IMO.
 
I don’t watch much LPGA but I have never thought the courses were too long.
 
I see the ladies stretching more to 66-6800yds as their course average more than getting shorter.

I don’t know if they need to hang out around 7k yet.. But I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s a talk one day.
 
MWard said:
I see the ladies stretching more to 66-6800yds as their course average more than getting shorter.

I don’t know if they need to hang out around 7k yet.. But I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s a talk one day.
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I know it was Vegas and it was super firm and fast but Lexi held her own there.
 
They may be coming in with hybrids, but when you see the proximity it really doesn’t matter. They are consistently closer than we hackers wedges.
Those women can golf their ball.
 
As someone that watches a good bit of LPGA action, I don't believe the courses they play on are too long. Their bag setups are much different than those on the PGA Tour and the ladies are making some impressive distance gains just as the men have.
 
Templet0n said:
I know it was Vegas and it was super firm and fast but Lexi held her own there.
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The yardage bump helped for sure. I thought she had a chance there with her second 9 to go man.
 
MWard said:
The yardage bump helped for sure. I thought she had a chance there with her second 9 to go man.
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I was hoping. Thursday did her in.
 
I don't think they're too long, with the distance we're seeing on the LPGA Tour now. Their scoring averages certainly don't show that they're being overwhelmed by the length of the courses.

If the question was "are the women's tees at most courses too long for average amateur women golfers?", I'd emphatically say yes.
 
The tournament scores , and their relative skill level … l think more than enough evidence to suggest no .

Hybrid popularity isn’t confined to the ladies tour .

They do play , around the world moreso also than the PGA . Which introduces greater variety of courses and grass and climatic conditions .
 
Canadan said:
I don't know enough about the length to have a strong perspective on it. What makes you think they are too long?
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What I said in my original post...you see the women using hybrids/fairway woods into par 4's a lot more than the men, and many of the par 5's are unreachable in two.
 
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