It's a tale of two courses

By: STEVE SCHOLFIELD - Senior Sports Columnist | Thursday, January 25, 2007 10:59 PM PST ∞

LA JOLLA ---- The Buick Invitational offers pro golfers a Jekyll and Hyde experience.

The beautiful Torrey Pines setting nestled against the Pacific Ocean offers some of the finest players in the world a unique tournament filled with both fulfillment and frustration.

That's because the tourney offers two different 18-hole courses with two distinct personalities.

One, the South Course, is angrier than a biker with hemorrhoids. The other, the North Course, is gentler than a Sunday school teacher.

One spits out golfers and makes them cringe. The other says, "Come on over and have a good time."

Playing multiple courses is rare for tour players.

According to pro Kevin Sutherland, who won $1 million at the match play tournament at La Costa in 2002, there are only four other venues on the tour that use more than one course.

"There's the AT&T (Pebble Beach), the Bob Hope (Palm Desert), the Byron Nelson Classic (Fort Worth, Texas) and the Disney (Orlando, Fla.)," Sutherland said.

"It's something we don't see every week," said Sutherland, who had the good fortune of playing the North Course. He shot a 7-under 65 that puts him in a tie with Jose Maria Olazabal for fifth place. "You really don't know who is leading the tournament until you get done with both courses."

That's because the two are such opposites. The South was fifth toughest on the tour a year ago. The North? It ranked 53rd out of 55 courses.

Olazabal, who won here in 2002 and finished second here last year, explained the difference.

The first, he said, is the obvious difference in length. The South is a robust 7,568 yards, one of the longest courses on tour. The North is 694 yards shorter.

"The length is one thing, but how the greens are protected makes a huge difference," Olazabal said. "You have to hit a lot of greens on the South Course that if you just miss-hit by two or three yards, you'll end up in a hazard. You miss it in the wrong place and you're going to have a hard time to save par."

The leader just might be the guy who is currently tied for 24th on the leaderboard, Carlos Villegas. He was in the first group of the day on the South and recorded a 5-under 67. That was the best round on the South.

Villegas and Michael Boyd, who shot a 68, are the only two players out of the first 48 on the leader list that did not play the North.

The North gave up 406 birdies and 16 eagles. The South allowed 217 birdies and only four eagles.

Average score on the South: 72.923.

Average score on the North: 68.179.

"They are," said Sutherland, "like night and day."

Brandt Snedeker, who has only 13 tour starts prior to Thursday, had a monster round of 11-under 61 to hold the lead. He played the North.

Not to take anything away from him, but the conditions were perfect for low scores. The fairways are hard, making for longer drives and the greens are holding well. Plus, because there is no appreciable rain, there is virtually no rough to contend with.

"They were a lot drier today," said Tiger Woods who shot a 66 on the North. "It seems weird to see this golf course run. ... A lot of guys are just hitting driver everywhere and trying to get it down there as far as they can."

So you can expect plenty of movement on the scoreboard today after the North golfers have to take their turn on the South and the men who opened at the South get a crack at the accommodating North.

"If you make pars on the South you're not losing ground," Woods said. "Make pars on the North course (and) you're getting run over."

Steve Scholfield is senior sports columnist for the North County Times. He can be reached at (760) 740-3509 or stevescho@cox.net.

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