this is probably more info than anyone wants to know
I copy/pasted a portion and a link if you want to view the rest
The "West Coast Swing" starts with the American Express in the Palm Springs area before moving not too far southwest to San Diego for the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. The final stop will be in Northern California at another well-known venue in Pebble Beach.
Aside from each event being in California, the common theme of these tournaments is multiple-course rotations. Additionally, The American Express and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (as the name suggests) include a pro-am element where golfers play with "celebrities" for the first couple of days.
Going all the way back to the 1960s, The American Express carries with it a long history of names and formats.
In 2012, the tournament switched to a traditional 72-hole (4-round) competition. The American Express maintains a pro-am element over the first three days, which doesn't have much of an impact on the event aside from making the first three rounds take a bit longer. They may also make the pins slightly more accessible and the overall set-up easier to account for the amateurs playing.
The entire field rotates through three different courses over the first three days with a regular cut coming after 54 holes instead of 36.
The final round on Sunday takes place at the PGA West Stadium Course, which makes it the one course that golfers play twice if they make the 54-hole cut. Historically, the Stadium Course is the only one of the three with ShotLink set up.
There's also a giant 19-foot bunker (seen below), an island green surrounded by rocks, and Jon Rahm calling this tournament an [expletive] putting contest a year ago. Altogether, The American Express is a pretty unique stop on the PGA Tour.
In other words, the conditions are normally perfect for scoring.
In 2020, all three courses ranked in the top six of the easiest courses in terms of scoring on the PGA Tour. In fact, the Nicklaus Tournament Course and La Quinta CC played as the two easiest courses on the entire schedule that season.
All three courses play as Par-72s that aren't particularly long. Each course offers four reachable Par-5's that golfers need to take advantage of and score on to keep pace with the field.
As the scorecards below show, there are multiple Par-3s that play 190+ yards long and pose some difficulty to the players.
Here's a quick snapshot of each course:
La Quinta Country Club (Par 72)
The "West Coast Swing" starts with the American Express in the Palm Springs area before moving not too far southwest to San Diego for the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. The final stop will be in Northern California at another well-known venue in Pebble Beach.
Aside from each event being in California, the common theme of these tournaments is multiple-course rotations. Additionally, The American Express and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (as the name suggests) include a pro-am element where golfers play with "celebrities" for the first couple of days.
Going all the way back to the 1960s, The American Express carries with it a long history of names and formats.
In 2012, the tournament switched to a traditional 72-hole (4-round) competition. The American Express maintains a pro-am element over the first three days, which doesn't have much of an impact on the event aside from making the first three rounds take a bit longer. They may also make the pins slightly more accessible and the overall set-up easier to account for the amateurs playing.
The entire field rotates through three different courses over the first three days with a regular cut coming after 54 holes instead of 36.
The final round on Sunday takes place at the PGA West Stadium Course, which makes it the one course that golfers play twice if they make the 54-hole cut. Historically, the Stadium Course is the only one of the three with ShotLink set up.
There's also a giant 19-foot bunker (seen below), an island green surrounded by rocks, and Jon Rahm calling this tournament an [expletive] putting contest a year ago. Altogether, The American Express is a pretty unique stop on the PGA Tour.
In other words, the conditions are normally perfect for scoring.
In 2020, all three courses ranked in the top six of the easiest courses in terms of scoring on the PGA Tour. In fact, the Nicklaus Tournament Course and La Quinta CC played as the two easiest courses on the entire schedule that season.
All three courses play as Par-72s that aren't particularly long. Each course offers four reachable Par-5's that golfers need to take advantage of and score on to keep pace with the field.
As the scorecards below show, there are multiple Par-3s that play 190+ yards long and pose some difficulty to the players.
Here's a quick snapshot of each course:
La Quinta Country Club (Par 72)
I copy/pasted a portion and a link if you want to view the rest
The Starter - The American Express | Underdog Network
Golf news and updates for The American Express 2023. Follow Underdog Golf for more.
underdognetwork.com
The American Express (January 19th-23rd, 2023)
- La Quinta Country Club, PGA West (Pete Dye Stadium Course), PGA West (Nicklaus Tournament Course) - La Quinta, California
- Event #12 of the 2022-23 FedExCup Regular Season
- Full-Field Cut Event (after 3 days!)
Overview
The American Express opens up the PGA Tour's "West Coast Swing."The "West Coast Swing" starts with the American Express in the Palm Springs area before moving not too far southwest to San Diego for the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. The final stop will be in Northern California at another well-known venue in Pebble Beach.
Aside from each event being in California, the common theme of these tournaments is multiple-course rotations. Additionally, The American Express and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (as the name suggests) include a pro-am element where golfers play with "celebrities" for the first couple of days.
Going all the way back to the 1960s, The American Express carries with it a long history of names and formats.
In 2012, the tournament switched to a traditional 72-hole (4-round) competition. The American Express maintains a pro-am element over the first three days, which doesn't have much of an impact on the event aside from making the first three rounds take a bit longer. They may also make the pins slightly more accessible and the overall set-up easier to account for the amateurs playing.
The entire field rotates through three different courses over the first three days with a regular cut coming after 54 holes instead of 36.
The final round on Sunday takes place at the PGA West Stadium Course, which makes it the one course that golfers play twice if they make the 54-hole cut. Historically, the Stadium Course is the only one of the three with ShotLink set up.
There's also a giant 19-foot bunker (seen below), an island green surrounded by rocks, and Jon Rahm calling this tournament an [expletive] putting contest a year ago. Altogether, The American Express is a pretty unique stop on the PGA Tour.
The Courses
The combination of PGA West courses and La Quinta Country Club often gets referred to as desert golf or "dome" golf. This points to the desert-like agronomy and general openness of these courses, but also the idea that there's typically not much wind to impact play.In other words, the conditions are normally perfect for scoring.
In 2020, all three courses ranked in the top six of the easiest courses in terms of scoring on the PGA Tour. In fact, the Nicklaus Tournament Course and La Quinta CC played as the two easiest courses on the entire schedule that season.
All three courses play as Par-72s that aren't particularly long. Each course offers four reachable Par-5's that golfers need to take advantage of and score on to keep pace with the field.
As the scorecards below show, there are multiple Par-3s that play 190+ yards long and pose some difficulty to the players.
Here's a quick snapshot of each course:
La Quinta Country Club (Par 72)
- 2022 Scoring Average: 69.917 (24.50% birdie-or-better)
- 2021: Not used in rotation
- 2020 Scoring Average: 69.177 (26.62% birdie-or-better)
- 2022 Scoring Average: 70.256 (24.93% birdie-or-better)
- 2021 Scoring Average: 70.949 (22.61% birdie-or-better)
- 2020 Scoring Average: 69.235 (28.35% birdie-or-better)
- 2022 Scoring Average: 70.571 (25.17% birdie-or-better)
- 2021 Scoring Average: 70.809 (22.86% birdie-or-better)
- 2020 Scoring Average: 70.364 (24.73% birdie-or-better)
The American Express (January 19th-23rd, 2023)
- La Quinta Country Club, PGA West (Pete Dye Stadium Course), PGA West (Nicklaus Tournament Course) - La Quinta, California
- Event #12 of the 2022-23 FedExCup Regular Season
- Full-Field Cut Event (after 3 days!)
Overview
The American Express opens up the PGA Tour's "West Coast Swing."The "West Coast Swing" starts with the American Express in the Palm Springs area before moving not too far southwest to San Diego for the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. The final stop will be in Northern California at another well-known venue in Pebble Beach.
Aside from each event being in California, the common theme of these tournaments is multiple-course rotations. Additionally, The American Express and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (as the name suggests) include a pro-am element where golfers play with "celebrities" for the first couple of days.
Going all the way back to the 1960s, The American Express carries with it a long history of names and formats.
In 2012, the tournament switched to a traditional 72-hole (4-round) competition. The American Express maintains a pro-am element over the first three days, which doesn't have much of an impact on the event aside from making the first three rounds take a bit longer. They may also make the pins slightly more accessible and the overall set-up easier to account for the amateurs playing.
The entire field rotates through three different courses over the first three days with a regular cut coming after 54 holes instead of 36.
The final round on Sunday takes place at the PGA West Stadium Course, which makes it the one course that golfers play twice if they make the 54-hole cut. Historically, the Stadium Course is the only one of the three with ShotLink set up.
There's also a giant 19-foot bunker (seen below), an island green surrounded by rocks, and Jon Rahm calling this tournament an [expletive] putting contest a year ago. Altogether, The American Express is a pretty unique stop on the PGA Tour.
The Courses
The combination of PGA West courses and La Quinta Country Club often gets referred to as desert golf or "dome" golf. This points to the desert-like agronomy and general openness of these courses, but also the idea that there's typically not much wind to impact play.In other words, the conditions are normally perfect for scoring.
In 2020, all three courses ranked in the top six of the easiest courses in terms of scoring on the PGA Tour. In fact, the Nicklaus Tournament Course and La Quinta CC played as the two easiest courses on the entire schedule that season.
All three courses play as Par-72s that aren't particularly long. Each course offers four reachable Par-5's that golfers need to take advantage of and score on to keep pace with the field.
As the scorecards below show, there are multiple Par-3s that play 190+ yards long and pose some difficulty to the players.
Here's a quick snapshot of each course:
La Quinta Country Club (Par 72)
- 2022 Scoring Average: 69.917 (24.50% birdie-or-better)
- 2021: Not used in rotation
- 2020 Scoring Average: 69.177 (26.62% birdie-or-better)
- 2022 Scoring Average: 70.256 (24.93% birdie-or-better)
- 2021 Scoring Average: 70.949 (22.61% birdie-or-better)
- 2020 Scoring Average: 69.235 (28.35% birdie-or-better)
- 2022 Scoring Average: 70.571 (25.17% birdie-or-better)
- 2021 Scoring Average: 70.809 (22.86% birdie-or-better)
- 2020 Scoring Average: 70.364 (24.73% birdie-or-better)
