The Official 2018 Dell Technologies Match Play Preview!
Prepare to see that image a lot folks. People LOVE that bridge and for good reason. I’m a huge bridge guy and this is a great bridge. Not too gaudy, just classy enough to make you say, “Yep, that’s a nice bridge.” It’s about as Austin of a bridge as one could imagine. If you took an alien who’d never seen a bridge and said, “draw Austin bridge,” they’d draw that bridge. Thing just screams Austin.
The Event
The M.O. here is simple — it’s match play and we love match play. It’s different, it’s what you play with your pals, and it pits guys mano a mano in a sport that 99.99% of the time pits player vs the golf course. A few years ago the event moved from Arizona to Austin and it’s been a great success.
RIP old days though.
New format the last few years too. Works like this: 16 pods of 4, round robin, the man with the best record from each pod advances to Saturday’s sweet 16. My bracket is attached later on in the blog.
Let’s get to the best part.
The Track
This golf course is fucking AWESOME. It plays firm, fast and allows guys to bounce and roll the rock all over the joint. HUGE drives, crazy bounces, utilization of slopes. It’s a blast.
Austin Country Club is a 7,086 yard, par 72 Pete Dye design. It’s got tons of unique and interesting holes: tricky par 3s, short par 4s, reachable par 5s, and everything in between. It’s just a GREAT match play course — incredibly fun to watch.
Look at some of the things DJ did to this place last year.
Annnnd here’s ProTracer porn if you’re so interested.
Notable Holes
12th, par 5, 535 yards
Easily my favorite hole on the course. Yes it has the bridge and you guys know I love the bridge. But beyond that, it’s such a fun tee shot to watch guys hit. They were blasting some 400+ last year. If hit well, guys are in a go-for-it situation that demands a hell of a shot. Anything flirting left is water; anything bailed out right makes a birdie tricky.
13th, par 4, 305 yards
Obviously reachable for just about everyone depending on wind directions. They’ll move the tees around to slightly different yardages, but we’ve seen a lot of players just pump it over the green and into the grandstands behind it. They basically serve as a backboard from which guys get either bounces or free drops, and it takes the water short out of play.
Fun hole in the middle part of the back nine. See who’s got the cojones.
17th, par 3, 135 yards
It’s a staple of many universally loved course to have a strong, short par 3. This is Austin CC’s that. With such short yardage and an elevated tee, you’ll see guys throw it in tight here, but also see a loose swing or two cost some guys at huge moments.
We’ve seen everything from clutch birdies to crushing doubles here over the past couple years. Expecting more of the same.
18th hole, par 4, 368 yards
When you’re previewing a match play event, you have to preview the 18th. Any match that comes down to this hole will be looking for some dramatic birdies to finish. At under 400 yards, it’s a getable hole… especially with this view on players’ approach shots.
Inviting. Last year, Rahm drove it just over this green in the finale but couldn’t get up-and-down to push DJ to extra holes. Can’t wait to watch both heroics and heartbreak here.
Clubhouse
I just took the online tour — it may not look like much from the outside, aka it kinda looks like someone’s house, but the dining room is eloquent, there’s a pool, and there’s even marina access to the lake. Good stuff.
Austin CC Clubhouse Grade: 7.6.
The Field
It’s the top players in the world minus a handful who chose to skip: Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler, Adam Scott, Brooks Koepka (injured, also will miss the Masters).
Let’s get to predictions.
Predictions
I don’t know how you can read this tweet and not bet on DJ.
Coverage
Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern)
Wednesday-Friday: Golf Channel, 2-8 PM
Saturday: Golf Channel, 10AM-2PM; NBC 2-6 PM
Sunday: Golf Channel, 10AM-2PM; NBC 3-7 PM
Final Thoughts
Oh snap.
Enjoy the match play.