PGA Tour Insider: TPC Boston

(The picture above shows Hole 12. The green used to be to the right just over the hazard kind of in line with the bobcat. They added 80+ yards to the hole.)

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I’m pretty lucky that I occasionally get to go out and play the second stop on the FEDEX Cup Tour; TPC Boston. TPC Boston is located in Norton, Massachusetts. This being the second stop for the playoffs makes this course pretty important to the PGA Tour. For years this tournament was sponsored by Deutsche Bank but their contract ran out and Dell bought it out. So now the tournament will be called the Dell Technologies Championship. I guess for whatever reason some big changes have not only come to the name but to the course as well. Rory won it in 2016 with a score of -15, and the year before that Rickie won it with a score of -15. Clearly the golf course is not too happy about these pros dropping low scores on their course. From what I saw yesterday, they are in for a big awakening.

So let’s start off with the rough. That shit is thick. It’s May and the rough is unbelievable. There is no flyer lies or good/decent lies. If you hit the rough you’re in the rough and you have to muscle it out or lay up. Twice on the par 5s I found my self in the rough and I had to chop a 6 iron out rather than go for the green which was in range of going for it in two. I was able to play at TPC last year before the tournament and I’m telling you there is a huge difference.

Let’s talk about course layout now. Hole 4 on the scorecard says 353 but I promise you it’s not. For the past few years that tee box has been shut down. From the back tee marker it measures 286. This hole is so easy. Good news though, that tee box is now open and it will leave players with a choice on whether to go for the green, hit iron and maneuver around the fairway bunkers and greenside bunkers to a green that is atop a hill with a false front all around the right side. Personally the toughest pin position is the front right. I saw Patrick Reed make a 6 from 5 yards off the green there in 2015.

Now for the big meaty stuff. The front 9 is 100% the easier side and the back 9 is generally strokes harder. Bad news, it just got even harder. Following a 231 yard par 3 they have completely redesigned the 461 yard par 4 12th into a mammoth of a hole. The trees that lined the fairway left are now gone, it is completely open to the 13th fairway. The green used to reside just over a hazard making the approach shot difficult. You also could not miss your tee shot right where you would be stuck on a side hill lie in the rough. Well they removed that green pushed it to the left and added about 80-100 yards of fairway leading to the green. The fairway is also cut in half. Half way down it drops down too rough with a rock wall. This hole has to be playing 520-530 yards as a par 4! TPC must really be pissed!

Finally, we see on hole 13 the trees in the back tee box have been cut down and the trees on the left have been cut down as well. This hole is very open now and missing left is basically dead! There is a bunch of crap left like that rock wall on 12. This is a very intimidating tee shot.

I am so excited that I was able to play this course and see the changes they put in place over the winter. Hopefully you guys enjoyed this little inside news break that not many people have actually reported on.

Written By: Coop (@JCoop2667)