{"id":6613,"date":"2023-03-14T16:59:24","date_gmt":"2023-03-14T16:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.betspertsgolf.com\/raw-forum\/?post_type=article&p=6613"},"modified":"2023-03-14T16:59:25","modified_gmt":"2023-03-14T16:59:25","slug":"2023-valspar-championship-at-innisbrook-resort-copperhead-preview","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/api.betspertsgolf.com\/raw-forum\/article\/2023-valspar-championship-at-innisbrook-resort-copperhead-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"2023 Valspar Championship at Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead) – Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After the PLAYERS Championship and yet another Scottie Scheffler victory, the Florida Swing concludes with the Valspar Championship. While Innisbrook has four courses available to golfers, the Copperhead course is the one that has hosted this tournament since its inception on Tour in 2000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Located just outside of Tampa in Palm Harbor, Florida, Innisbrook is one of the most underrated courses on the PGA Tour and encompasses one of the most complete tests of golf that players will face all year. Featuring narrow pine tree-lined fairways and rolling terrain, combined with the surrounding lakes, proper positioning off the tee is paramount. Players will be challenged as they navigate numerous tight doglegs, elevation changes, 74 well-positioned bunkers, six holes with water danger, rough approaching four inches, and difficult pin positions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though the course played the easiest it ever has in last year’s event at 0.77 strokes under par, it still ranks as the ninth most challenging annual course on Tour over the last five years. It definitely fits the eye of back-to-back champion Sam Burns as he returns to Palm Harbor looking to become the first player to win the same event in three consecutive years since Steve Stricker at the John Deere Classic from 2009-11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The increased number of trees and elevation changes make it feel as if one is in the hill country of North Carolina. As course architect, Larry Packard, said himself back in 2012, “When you play Copperhead you don’t even feel like you are in Florida. When you stand on the first hole and look down the fairway you are on an elevated tee and looking down the fairway lined with pine trees on both sides. It feels more like the Carolinas than Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The makeup of the par-71 course is also far from traditional as there are five par-3s along with four par-5s. The course culminates at the infamous \u201cSnake Pit\u201d with two difficult par-4s sandwiched between the challenging par-3 17th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar to TPC Sawgrass, positional golf is once again the name of the game as Innisbrook mitigates almost any advantage that bombers have off the tee. But this is not your typical “short” course. With more than 70% of approach shots coming from over 175 yards, players will need to be sharp with their long-distance approach game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Field<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sitting between two straight elevated events and next week’s WGC Dell Match Play, the Valspar Championship is simply in an undesirable spot on the schedule for many players. That being said, the field is stronger than the Honda Classic was a few weeks ago and is only a short drive away to Florida’s western coast. The 144-player field includes five of the top-20 ranked players in the world including Justin Thomas, Matt Fitzpatrick, Sam Burns, Jordan Spieth, and Keegan Bradley. In total, 16 of the top-70 players will be in attendance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead) – History<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Businessman, Harvey Jones had always dreamed of founding a golf course in Florida. In the late 1960s, he decided the time was right and began working with realtors throughout the state to find the perfect plot of land. On one specific visit to the Tampa area, Jones was out walking one of the recommended properties when he spotted some land to the south on the other side of a barbed wire fence. Jumping the fence for a closer look, Jones knew this was the spot. Although the land was not for sale, Jones eventually acquired the property and they broke ground in 1969. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club officially opened for play in 1970 with the Island Course which was designed by architect Larry Packard. Three more courses would eventually be built by Packard on the property with the Copperhead Course becoming the most famous. Completed in 1974, the Copperhead Course first hosted a PGA Tour event in 2000 named the Tampa Bay Classic. With the exception of 2001 (September 11 attacks) and 2020 (COVID-19), the event has been held annually at Innisbrook ever since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It underwent a slight renovation in 1999, followed by a moderate restoration in 2015. In the most recent one, the course’s fairways and rough were replaced and each green was rebuilt. The bunkering was also reshaped to stay true to Packard’s original design. Greens were restored to their original size to allow for additional pin placements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Finish Position and Strokes Gained Course History (2015-2022)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to DataGolf, course history at Innisbrook is the 22nd most predictive on Tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Course Features<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sitting on a lovely stretch of property on the Pinellas Peninsula, only minutes from the Gulf of Mexico near Tampa Bay, the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort is a par-71 track measuring 7,340 yards. With its extremely tight fairways combined with numerous doglegs and a majority of holes on the longer side, Innisbrook sets up as one of the most demanding courses golfers will play each year. Players hitting less-than-driver off the tee only stretches out the course even further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the scoring environment may be challenging with the winning score averaging only 12-under par over the past dozen years, it is also a fair test of golf. According to anonymous player surveys, it is one of their favorite courses in which to play. Packard explained why he thought this was so: “Copperhead is a tough golf course but it is fair. I designed it so that if you hit a good shot you will be rewarded. There are no gimmicks. I wanted you to have to use every club in your bag.” Scoring is so tough here that it has yielded the second-fewest amount of eagles and the fewest birdies per 72 holes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Along with tight fairways and several water hazards, the numerous elevation changes, tricky bunkers, and sloping greens all combine to make Innisbrook a difficult challenge. Though there are six holes with water in play, they are not a huge trouble area as Innisbrook ranked 37th out of 40 courses in penalty strokes last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are some sizeable elevation changes from tee-to-green, both uphill and downhill. For example, the clubhouse is located on a hill so both the 1st and 10th holes are downhill shots and both the 9th and 18th holes are back up the hill. The undulations make it tough to manage distance control and forces players to hit numerous blind approach shots. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The course also utilizes doglegs on 12 different holes to force players to shape their shots both ways. It even features four \u201cdouble doglegs,\u201d which is a signature feature of courses designed by Packard. It\u2019s a navigator\u2019s course,\u201d said NBC golf analyst Mark Rolfing. \u201cYou cannot overpower the course. It\u2019s all about the angles.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grasses this week are the exact same as last week at TPC Sawgrass. With the Bermuda grass still dormant, fairways and rough are overseeded rye. Greens are overseeded with Poa Trivialis. Although with the warmer temperatures, as March progresses, some of the Bermuda strain will most likely be creeping through. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two major agronomic changes for this year’s tournament that seem to be in response to last year’s Valspar being the lowest scoring in this tournament’s history. The first is that the PGA has increased the rough height from 3″ to 3.75″. Secondly, the intermediate cut of rough around the greens was decreased from 72″ to 21″ to bring the rough closer to the greens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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