The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Chateau Elan offers 5 of top holes in Gwinnett
Architect Griffiths also designed 2 others on list at Chicopee Woods.
Architect Denis Griffiths has created some notable golf courses in his adopted home state. His work can be found from the far north (Brasstown Valley Resort in Young Harris) to the deep south (Gordonia-Alatamaha State Park in Reidsville). But some of his best work can be found at Chateau Elan, where his original Chateau Course and the Woodlands Course remain two memorable layouts.
Griffiths liked Chateau Elan so much that he still lives and works there. When Griffiths was hired by Chateau Elan founder and developer Don Panoz to create the course in 1989, it helped bring quality public golf to a growing area that had limited opportunities. It remains one of the more popular destinations in the northeastern suburbs.
“I have trouble picking out one hole that is particularly that much better,” Griffiths said. “That’s our goal, to have 18 good golf holes and not three great holes and six bad holes.”
There are five of Griffiths’ holes from the Chateau portfolio on the AJC’s Top 18 public golf holes in the Gwinnett County area — three from the Chateau Course and two more from the Woodlands. Griffiths also designed the
Paul Casey was among three players from the top 25 in the world yet to play since the PGA Tour resumed competition amid the COVID19 pandemic. He and Patrick Cantlay are playing the Travelers Championship, leaving Adam Scott as the only one still not back.
Casey watched plenty on TV, and he was watching more than the golf.
He is on the Player Advisory Council and has been involved in so many details that went into the tour’s “Return to Golf ” manifesto as it relates to health and safety. Yes, he was watching shots and putts. He also was watching for social distancing and bunker rakes being wiped down. “I think it extends all the way through the membership, but certainly those of us who are on the PAC, I was sitting there watching it because I want this to go as smoothly as possible,” Casey said. “So trying to watch it and observe, knowing that those guidelines that we’ve talked about — how that works — is doable, what are the optics? Yeah, I’ve watched quite a bit of it.”
He gave it a passing grade, and he’s not about to judge again after only his first week back on tour.
“One of the things we’ve been criticized for as a whole has been the player-caddie handing the clubs backwards and forwards,” Casey said Tuesday. “And I admit, I did it today. It’s such a habit. A lot of things seemed fairly easy to do — mask wearing and distancing yourself, hand sanitizer ... and wiping down flagsticks — it’s easy stuff. For some reason, handing clubs ... I’m not going to criticize anything I’ve seen to this point because I haven’t played.”
Casey plans to play only the Travelers Championship before returning to Ohio, possibly for both tournaments at Muirfield Village. That’s why he has a fill-in caddie for the week. His regular, John McLaren, lives in England. With two-week quarantines on both sides in effect, that would have meant five weeks away from home to caddie in one tournament.
Pairings with purpose
The PGA Tour has four groups of featured pairings for its “PGA Tour Live,” and then the rest of the field is supposed to be relatively random depending on a player’s category. There are exceptions, and they were notable at Harbour Town.
Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker had three of his assistants in the field at the RBC Heritage, and it probably wasn’t a coincidence who was in their group. Jim Furyk played with Tony Finau and Collin Morikawa. Zach Johnson was with Jordan Spieth and Kevin Kisner. Davis Love III tagged along with Bryson DeChambeau and Webb Simpson.
There was another group that before the COVID-19 pandemic halted golf for three months surely would have been center of attention on social media. Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed played together for the first time since Koepka said in late February he thought Reed cheated in the Bahamas, accusing him of “building sand castles” while improving his lie. So much has happened since then that it was easy to overlook, and that’s one reason the pairing wasn’t an accident. Koepka and Reed carried on like normal, at times chatting off the tees.
Koepka was among five players who withdrew from this week’s Travelers Championship, four of them out of a chain-reaction abundance of caution over the coronavirus that put the PGA Tour on notice.
Not so happy returns
With golf out of action for three months, players were eager to play every chance they had. That explains why the top five in the world ranking are in the field for three straight events. And that brought a lot of newcomers to Hilton Head, or players who had not been there before because the RBC Heritage typically is held a week after the Masters.
Koepka and Jon Rahm played it for the first time. Rory McIlroy had not been back since 2009. And it’s a good bet McIlroy won’t be back next year when it returns to its regular spot on the schedule. “Once I got here and I played the golf course, I sort of remembered why I haven’t been here for a while,” McIlroy said after tying for 41st. “It’s tough. Like, it’s a lovely place. There’s other courses on tour that probably fit my game a little bit better, and obviously the week after the Masters is always a tough one. Guys like to come here and decompress, but my idea of decompression is not seeing golf clubs for a week.”
USGA sites
The USGA laid out plans for the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Women’s Amateurs. The men are headed for Oak Hill in 2027. The women are going to Southern Hills in 2024.
Stat of the week
Dustin Johnson fell out of the top five in the world ranking for the first time since the week before he won the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont.