The DLF Golf and Country Club in New Delhi, host from this Thursday of the Hero Indian Open, is not a particularly short course. In fact, with its 6,782 meters from the back, it is one of the longest of the European circuit season so far, one meter more than the Laguna National in Singapore last week, and just a handful of meters less than the Majlis course in Dubai. However, the driver is practically a luxury item. It is used very little, to the point that there are players who are not even going to put it in the bag.
This is the case of Adri Arnaus. The golfer from Moià faces this course for the first time this week. On Tuesday he played nine holes and walked the other nine with his caddie, Jordi Panés, a professional and good friend of Adri, who this week replaces the usual Javier Erviti. After that first inspection, they decided to play the ProAm on Wednesday without a driver and realized that they did not miss it at any time. Therefore, unless there is a lot of wind and the situation changes, Arnaus will play the Hero Indian Open without a driver.
He explained this to Ten Golf. “As you already know, this year I am playing with five wedges in the bag, so depending on the week, my configuration of long clubs is driver, 3 wood and 3 iron or driver, 2 iron and 4 iron. In each tournament, depending on the design and conditions of the course, I use one combination or another. However, here we have seen that the driver is not worth it. For what I have to do from the tee, the 3 wood, the 2 iron or the 4 iron are enough for me, and if I take out the driver I have the danger of crossing, so in principle we are going to play without a driver”, he explains.
As we say, the course in India is not exactly short, but its design encourages little to hit the driver. It is very narrow and there is a lot of danger off the fairway. Therefore, Adri is going to play this week with the 3 wood, the 2 iron and the 4 iron. It is one of the advantages of having the hit of the Catalan golfer. He can afford that luxury. Surely, he will not be the only one.
Another Spaniard like Ángel Hidalgo, who does not have the distance of Arnaus, is going to hit the driver on some holes, but they can be counted almost on the fingers of one hand. The danger is much more than the benefit obtained.
In any case, it is a very special circumstance. It is not common to see a professional golfer playing without a driver in the bag. It is not the first time, but it is far from being a frequent thing.
The Hero Indian Open, a peculiar week where there are, with unique local rules such as relief without penalty for peacock footprint, starts this Thursday with six Spaniards in contention: Rafa Cabrera Bello, Sebastián García Rodríguez, Alfredo García Heredia, Adrián Otaegui and the aforementioned Adri Arnaus and Ángel Hidalgo.
