“It’s called East Lake and the land on which it sits is the same. From there, everything else is different”. These are the words of Xander Schauffele, undoubtedly one of the most authoritative voices to speak about the Atlanta course, host from this Thursday of the Tour Championship, the grand finale of the FedEx Cup.
The most significant novelty this year is the course. It has undergone such a deep renovation that some speak of transformation. It was turned upside down the day after the tournament ended in 2023 and the works have lasted a year. The architect Andrew Green, author of the restoration, among others, of Oak Hill, venue of the PGA Championship a year ago, has been in charge of leading the project. “The grass is new, the greens are new, the bunkers are new… not even a tree that I used to use as a reference for shots from the tee remains. It’s a completely new and different course,” adds Schauffele.
The reality is that the reception among professionals has been rather cold. There is more suspicion than expectation about the changes. The Tour Championship has been played at East Lake since 2004. There are many who already knew practically every fourth street and centimetre of green. It is not easy to adapt or get used to such an abrupt modification. “If you ask me if I would have stood in front of the excavators to stop the works, I would openly tell you yes, and my caddie even more so,” Schauffele said this Tuesday.
For now, it is risky to conclude whether the changes have been for better or worse. Time is needed. Among other things because the work is still fresh. The last piece of turf was laid in June. Everyone agrees on the greens: they are hard as rocks, something that is usual when new ones are put in. They need time to settle. “From the rough it is impossible to stop it on the green unless you have a board behind to bounce off, even with a lob wedge,” says Xander. “This week we are going to need shots with a lot of height to have any chance of stopping it on the green,” adds Scottie Scheffler, Number One in the world and the FedEx Cup.
One of the most evident visible changes is around the green. The Bermuda rough has been replaced by escape areas. In short, it offers more possibilities for approach. In any case, the most important thing this week, precisely because of how the greens are, is to be on the fairway. For this reason, many consider hitting the 10th fairway from the 18th tee. “It’s a safer shot and gives you more options afterwards to look for the green,” Scheffler assures.
Another demonstration of the excessive hardness of the greens. The architect Andrew Green himself confirmed this Tuesday that the back tees will not be able to be used on holes 9 and 15, both par 3s. Basically because with such a long club it would be impossible to stop the ball. In this sense, Scheffler goes a little further. “I think we are going to use very few back tees this week”. The other big novelty is hole 14. It has been converted from par 4 to par 5. There, in theory, the players have been given a breather.
Viktor Hovland, reigning FedEx Cup champion, also has a reserved opinion. “I was very surprised when I got to the 1st tee. It’s all new. Every hole changed. It’s nothing like it. Honestly, I liked it better before,” says the Norwegian emphatically. In his opinion, a course with the history of East Lake did not need these changes. “It’s more like a Major course and I don’t think it needed it. It’s longer and harder,” he points out.
Andrew Green’s goal with the changes was to return East Lake to the essence of Donald Ross‘s 1915 design. To do this, he used an aerial photo from 1949. “The idea was to restore the course to the way it looked when Bobby Jones played here,” says the man responsible for the transformation. And East Lake, located where the Atlanta Athletic Club used to be, was where the legendary Georgia lawyer and father of the Masters of Augusta learned to play.
We will see what time says about East Lake. For now, more doubts than certainties, although there is always a positive way to see it:
– Schauffele: “I’ve shot the lowest score here three times and won the tournament once, although I’ve never won the FedEx Cup. Maybe they decided to change to see if I can finally win it”. This year he arrives in second place, his best position ever before the Final.
– Scheffler: “I really liked the old East Lake, but for one reason or another I never managed to bring out my best game, so I’m convinced that these changes will suit me”. Scheffler arrives first in the FedEx at the Tour Championship for the third consecutive year.
These last two reflections show that we all have the ability to choose our way of thinking.
