{"id":738,"date":"2022-03-23T21:46:08","date_gmt":"2022-03-23T21:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.betspertsgolf.com\/raw-forum\/?post_type=article&p=738"},"modified":"2022-03-29T04:03:26","modified_gmt":"2022-03-29T04:03:26","slug":"corales-puntacana-championship-preview","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/api.betspertsgolf.com\/raw-forum\/article\/corales-puntacana-championship-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"Corales Puntacana Championship Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

While many of the best golfers in the world are in Austin, Texas for the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play<\/a>, a field of 120 players have made the trip to the beautiful Dominican Republic for the fifth edition of the Corales Puntacana Championship. A Korn Ferry Tour event from 2016-2017, this event earned full PGA Tour status starting in 2018, playing as an \u201copposite field event\u201d to the Dell Match Play. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even with only four of the top-100 ranked players in attendance, a $3.7 million purse is at stake, along with a career-changing full two-year exemption and 300 FedEx Cup points to the winner. We just saw an example of this a couple of weeks ago when Ryan Brehm won the Puerto Rico Open in his last start on a Minor Medical Exemption and basically saved his career on the Tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joel Dahmen is the headliner as he returns to defend his first Tour victory last season. Past major winners Graeme McDowell, Danny Willett, and Jimmy Walker are included in the field along with Tour veterans like Jhonattan Vegas, Patrick Rodgers, Nick Taylor, Emiliano Grillo, and Hudson Swafford. There is also an influx of youthful up-and-comers including Sahith Theegala, Alex Smalley, Matthias Schwab, Thomas Detry, and the Hojgaard brothers, Rasmus and Nicolai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Past Winners\/Odds<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Past Player Quotes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

*Quotes courtesy of ASAP Sports Transcriptions<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hudson Swafford<\/strong>: I like the golf course. It really, really sets up good for me. Got to be a great mid-to-long iron player here with the par-3s and a lot of long par-4s, so I thought the golf course set up great for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mackenzie Hughes<\/strong>: I like that it’s fairly open off the tee and just allows you to swing driver and not worry too much about being super pinpoint accurate off the tee, but then into the greens you need to hit good shots and putt really well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Graeme McDowell<\/strong>: I love the golf course. The front nine is kind of shortish and tricky and the back nine is actually very long. Eighteen (Devil\u2019s Elbow) is a beautiful hole. I feel pretty good on these greens. I\u2019ve got a house in the Bahamas and play a lot on this Paspalum type stuff, so I kind of feel like I practice more on this type of stuff. In a funny way, that kind of stands me in good stead here as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brice Garnett<\/strong>: I think last year I just kind of approached the golf course wrong. Everybody\u2019s kind of in play off the tee box. I kind of got out of my element, out of my game. To me, this is a second-shot golf course. Everybody\u2019s in play off the tee and it comes down to a putting competition. There\u2019s a lot of tee balls with the wind off the right and that\u2019s what I prefer. My game is put it in the fairway and try to take advantage from there. I\u2019ll just kind of stick more to my game plan and not let the width of the fairways or the length kind of deter me from my game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonathan Byrd<\/strong>: It\u2019s one of those courses that I think if you\u2019re disciplined on your second shots, that you can have a fairly solid day because there\u2019s plenty of room off the tee. You\u2019ve just got to stay aggressive on this golf course. If you get a little passive, you\u2019ll make a lot of pars, but you\u2019ve got to be intent on making some birdies because guys are going to shoot low scores.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jhonattan Vegas<\/strong>: When you go to grasses like this, like Paspalum that it\u2019s slower and you have the wind, it\u2019s hard to commit mentally to make sure that you hit it hard enough to get it to the hole. So it takes some adjustment. That\u2019s kind of why you tend to see a lot of guys this week on the putting greens kind of getting adjusted to that speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scott Harrington<\/strong>: Off the tee, it’s not super demanding, the fairways are pretty generous. I feel as kind of a longer player I can kind of let it rip a little bit. Greens you can be really aggressive on. I mean, they’re sloped, but like where all the pins are, if you get it kind of inside 15 feet, really the putts don’t have a lot of movement so you can be really aggressive with your putter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charley Hoffman<\/strong>: It’s a fairly big golf course. It’s sort of a bomber’s golf course. There’s not a ton of rough, but there are some deep bunkers you need to avoid. But if you can hit it far off the tee, I think you can gain a little bit of an advantage, but then there’s some holes that you need to be precise with your irons because there’s some severe drop-offs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephan Jaeger<\/strong>: You’ve just got to kind of keep it in front of you. It’s a second-shot golf course. Fairways are pretty wide, you’ve got some room to hit it in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Course Stats Compared to Tour Average  <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

*Green = easier<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Red = more difficult<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Course Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sitting on the eastern edge of the island, the Corales Golf Club was designed by Tom Fazio in 2010 and is a resort-style course featuring six oceanside holes. Designed next to the ocean coves and natural cliffs of the Caribbean coast, it provides a dramatic and scenic backdrop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A par-72 course measuring out at 7,670 yards, Corales is a lengthy track (second-longest annual course on Tour). Over the first three events when winds were relatively average, scoring averaged 0.77 strokes under par. But during last year\u2019s event, when winds were gusting over 25 MPH, scoring was 0.48 strokes over par. Along with length being somewhat of a factor, coastal winds are the course\u2019s biggest defense. Being a resort course, overall it is very generous. Just keep an eye on the winds to determine whether those easy scoring might be diminished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much of the course’s length comes on the back of two of the par-5s being over 620 yards and all four par-3s being over 200 yards. There are five shorter par-4s mixed in at less than 430 yards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar to El Camaleo,n which plays host to the Mayakoba Classic, Corales has both a coastal and inland section. The front nine that starts along the coast is the most exposed to ocean winds. The back nine goes further inland, offering some protection from gusts thanks to the mangrove forests and trees. Players will finish with a three-hole stretch called \u201cThe Devil\u2019s Elbow,\u201d which features a dramatic forced carry over water on the 18th hole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The grass at Corales on the fairways, rough and greens is 100% Paspalum. It is a very sticky, spongy grass that tends to grab the ball and is popular in warmer coastal climates. The rough this year is even lower than normal at only 1.75 inches and presents very little challenge to hit from. With winds being a potential issue, and the Paspalum a slow surface to begin with, greens are definitely on the slower side around 10.5-11 on the stimpmeter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top 10 Most Important Stats<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

*In order of importance.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n