Charlotte National: Continues to be in good shape off the tee, fantastic greens and decent fairways. Bunkers have 1/2 inch of nice fluffy sand that covers a crusty, angry base. (Don’t follow my lead — use the leading edge of your lob wedge and DIG IN.) Some of the toughest rough I’ve played this year led to my worst round of the year by far.

Springfield: Very good conditions all around, with the exception of 1-2 greens that are just starting to get chewed up (worms?). Highly recommended.

Charlotte Links: The staff continues to be some of the most ornery people around…they need attitude adjustments. 4-5 greens were recently punched and are really soft, and you need a pick-axe to get your tee in the teeing ground!

But the rest of the course is in fine shape. Seems like they’re content to keep mowing down the rough — making this course easier and easier. (Tom Doak would be horrified at what they’ve done to his design.) All that said, I shot my lowest-ever round of 79 (white tees…we were just having a practice round) so it’s tough for me to be too angry.