Saratoga’s Joseph Bramlett fell victim to errant tee shots and the penal rough at Vancouver, British Columbia’s, Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club today, following his 1st round 77 with a 5-over 75 to miss the cut by 8 strokes.
Bramlett found the rough on 10 of 18 holes today, carding 6 bogeys against 1 birdie. The disappointing result in Vancouver comes on the heels of Bramlett’s best finish to date on the PGA Tour, T-18 at the Viking Classic in Annandale, MS.
A number of players in the field at the RBC Canadian Open have questioned the severity of the rough cultivated by Shaughnessy G&CC course superintendent Rob Barr and his grounds crews – among them World #1 Luke Donald, of Great Britain, who posted the message “…thinking about swapping out my 3-iron for a sickle! Rough is deep!!” on his Twitter account after his round in Wednesday’s pro-am. Donald, who is known more for the precision of his game than for length off the tee, squeaked under the +4 cut line with one stroke to spare, posting rounds of 70 and 73 for a 143 total.
Two other players who have spoken out about the severity of the rough at Shaughnessy, Australian Geoff Ogilvy and Paul Goydos, of Long Beach, managed their games well enough to finish the second round with total scores under par.
Ogilvy, who shot 70-68 in the tournament’s opening rounds, says that long grass is his least favorite hazard. He is tied for 5th with 6 other golfers going into the weekend, among them the PGA Tour’s 2010 Rookie of the Year, Rickie Fowler, and Canadians David Hearn and Adam Hadwin – who are carrying the flag as the only Canucks in the top 20 going into weekend play at their national championship.
Paul Goydos, who is known as one of the best quotes on the PGA Tour, said today, “…you land your ball in the fairway and two-bounce it into the rough and you can’t find it – that’s little bit rough.”
Goydos, a 47-year-old Tour veteran with two victories to his credit since gaining Tour privileges in 1993, is another short but accurate driver – he is ranked 184th among Tour pros in driving distance, 20th in driving accuracy. He posted two under-par rounds, 68 and 69, and goes into the weekend in 3rd place with a 167 total score, one stroke back of co-leaders Chad Campbell and Michael Thompson.
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