On Course: Pure test

LUTZ, FL

The first time architect Bobby Weed surveyed the property at the TPC Tampa Bay in Lutz, Fla., he chose a horse to be his all-terrain vehicle. The decision was quite appropriate. The landscape was racetrack flat and open, not exactly the elements that lend themselves to creating an intriguing or challenging test of golf.

But all of the horses on the Champions Tour love the place. Thoroughbreds like Jack Nicklaus, Hale Irwin, Tom Weiskopf and Ray Floyd extol the virtues of this 6,898-yard, par-71 layout with its traditional features and natural hazards -- which demand accuracy and finesse more than power.

"It's a beautiful golf course," says Weiskopf of this TPC that opened in 1991 and annually hosts the Champions Tour's Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am. "We don't play courses in this kind of condition with this kind of challenge, for the most part. I think the design is very fair. There is enough width and enough definition. There is nothing tricky, nothing controversial. There's a lot of variety. You hit a lot of different clubs. It's a good, straightforward kind of traditional course."

"It's one of the better TPC golf courses we play, in my opinion," Floyd says. "It's not hiked up. It's straightforward, but it's demanding. And I think we all enjoy that kind of golf course."

"I think it's a good golf course, a good test of golf," Nicklaus adds. "It forces you to think and to hit good golf shots."

Splendid testimonials from three greats in the game, who, coincidentally, all have their names on the designs of other courses in the vaunted TPC network.

It would seem that Weed, with assistance from player consultant Chi Chi Rodriguez, must have turned the property upside-down and inside out to create something that would make such an impression on players not easily impressed. On the contrary, Weed applied simple horse sense.

He took an already open piece of property and made it more open, removing 50 percent of the trees. The fairways have subtle movement rather than dramatic mounds and weave through lakes and natural wetlands - 19 in all - and around strategic bunkers that number 81. The greens are large (averaging 6,400 square feet) and undulating, and most are open in the front, offering golfers the option of hitting run-up approach shots.

Essentially, he worked with what he had.

"It was a flat piece of land and it's still flat. It was open and we made sure we kept that open feel," says Weed, who was the lead designer for PGA TOUR Design Services, Inc. until 1994. "Our approach was not to overwork it. We wanted a course that fit in with a look that was natural." It also had to fit in with the ponds and wetlands, which Weed managed to do to such a degree that TPC Tampa Bay is fully certified in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for golf courses. Of course, golf balls also need a habitat, and although 15 holes have water, some of the hazards aren't in direct line of play.

"There is a lot of water, some from water permit requirements," says Weed, "but the water isn't always right there. You see the water, and it adds variety, but it's not necessarily in play all the time. There's a visual element that maybe acts on a player psychologically."

Combine the water with the well-placed bunkers and the golf course offers plenty of risk-and-reward options without many forced carries.

"It's a very strategic golf course," Weed says. "I think that's what the players appreciate. There's a subtleness that forces you to implement the mental side of the game. You can't just muscle it around."

TPC Tampa Bay was the 15th most difficult course on the Champions Tour last year, and much of its fury can be found on the back nine. Isao Aoki shot a 45 on the inward half in 1996, which opened the door to victory for Nicklaus.

Of particular menace is the par-4 15th hole, 452 yards with a combination of lagoon and wetlands protecting the entire left side. The green is nestled alongside the lagoon with a picturesque backdrop of trees. Bunkers guard both sides of the green, adding another degree of difficulty to the hole and demanding that the long-iron second shot be precise. It was the fifth most difficult hole on the Senior Tour in 2000, playing to a scoring average of 4.389.

The 10th hole also ranks among the toughest for the Champions Tour pros. A 395-yard par-4, it demands an accurate tee shot between bunkers on the left and water that guards the entire right side. Water on the right and a cypress mitigation area on the left guard the green, while steep falloffs behind and left require a skillful recovery shot.

The 18th is another sizable par-4 of 456 yards that often plays into the wind. A fairway bunker guards the right side off the tee and water greets the errant shot that leaks too far to the right of the green.

It is a strong finisher to a simple, straightforward design. TPC Tampa Bay is a pure test of golf for the low handicapper and yet offers enough room for players of lesser skill to navigate. It asks a player to formulate a strategy and then carry it out with sound and accurate ball striking.

To shoot a good score, you have to flat play. No horsing around.