Course Review - TPC Boston and Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club

The second leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs brings us to TPC Boston for the Deutsche Bank Championship that is traditionally played with a Friday start and Monday finish over the long Labor Day weekend.

Originally designed by all-time-great Arnold Palmer, the golf course is set in the gently rolling hills of scenic New England landscape and was updated and remodelled by Gil Hanse in 2007. Lush fairways and Bentgrass greens carved through stands of mature trees, chocolate-drop mounds, wetland areas and almost 100 yawning bunkers come together to form the superb backdrop to a compelling test of golf midway between Boston, Mass and Providence, Rhode Island.

This 6600m par 71 layout is a strategist's delight that is often best played from the green back to the tee in order for the approach shot to be played from the optimum position. The 7th is a 560m monster par 5 with a huge bunker across the entire fairway short of the green that forces either a lay-up and a blind approach to the flag or a long carry towards a usually tight pin placement.

The 430m 12th is the only hole on the course without a bunker, but there is a water hazard tight to the right side of the green. After the quirky 370m 17th that has ridges dividing the fairway, the round ends with a classic risk and reward 490m par 5 that will see quite a few eagle attempts, but a lot of heartache, too.

On the European Tour the caravan arrives in south-west Switzerland for the Omega European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club in the Alpine resort of Crans-Montana that boasts Roger Moore, Sophia Loren and Adam Scott as past or current residents. This 6240m par 71 tree-lined parkland championship design snakes across undulating terrain and was originally laid out in 1928 by Harry Nicholson. Golfing legend Seve Ballesteros updated and redesigned the course in 1999 and it now carries his name.

Perched at 1500m above sea level and blessed with breath-taking scenery, the layout sometimes presents tight driving lines through avenues of trees, and then sometimes bursts out into expansive fairways that feel like open summer pastures. Those same fairways on this picture-perfect golf course double as pistes for skiers from far and wide in the long winter months.

A Golf Weather
Editorial