Along with mint conditions, Kinloch is renowned for having one of the best practice facilities in the world.
Russell Kirk/USGA
Vinny Giles is Bobby Jones of his generation, the dominant amateur of his time. One four times Walker Cupper and winner of the British Amateur, he finished runner-up in three straight American amateurs before claiming that title in 1972. Along the way, Giles also won the Masters and US Open and left a deep mark on his home state, claiming three Virginia Opens and seven Virginia State Amateurs. And that’s before he shines in the old amateur circuit.
You get the picture. The friend had game. It still does.
Although he never competed for prizes, Giles has made his money elsewhere in the game. He is the founder and president of a golf management group whose client list includes Davis Love IIILanny Wadkins and Tom Kite. Like Jones before him, Giles also dabbled in golf design. In 2001, he partnered with course architect Lester George on Kinloch Golf Club, a private club outside Richmond, Va., that will draw attention this week as it welcomes the kind of tournament Giles loves best. of 43rd US Intermediate Amateur Championship kicks off on Saturday at Kinloch (with nearby Independence Golf Club serving as co-host for the stroke play portion of the competition).
Giles, who is 81, will be among the spectators on the ground. He is familiar with Kinloch. In case you aren’t, here are 6 things you should know about the country.
The USGA has been here before
This is not the first outing for Kinloch as a major stage of the amateur tournament. In 2011, he hosted the top U.S. Amateur, which, if he’s keeping score at home, was won by Louis Lee, of Heber Springs, Ark., who sealed the deal with an even-par 18 to defeated Philip. Plaintiff of Nashua, NH
Its practical bases are worldwide
If you can’t get ready for a round at Kinloch, you can’t get ready anywhere. Even in an age of tricked-out practical facilities, the club’s offerings stand out. They include a 3,200-square-foot training center with three indoor, lighted hitting centers (equipped with all the latest swing analysis and a shot tracking technology), and a short game facility that provides a faithful challenge in miniature, presenting players with shots and lies similar to those encountered on the course. Then there’s the range. It’s double, with multiple target greens, including one set at 100 yards to dial in your wedge game. While the main hitting area is planted in bentgrass – just like the course – the back of the range, 320 yards away, has Bermudagrass, in case you feel the need to fine-tune your game on a different type of turf.
Conditioning is mint
Lukas Michel, the 2019 US Mid-Am champion, is in the field this week and got his first look at Kinloch in a practice round on Thursday. Michel, who is also a GOLF magazine course appraiser, hails from Melbourne, Australia and plays most of his golf in the fantastic Sandbelt, a region known for its strict minimalist maintenance practices. Kinloch, he says, could hardly be more different.
“There’s a lot of emphasis on aesthetics,” says Michel, with perfectly manicured fairways and bunkers, fairways and tightly mowed green circles that stretch 60 to 70 yards. While many of the touches, such as cross fairway mowing patterns, have little impact on how the course plays, Michel says the visual effect is real. “It’s a big contrast to back home,” he says. “It takes me a while to get used to it when I’m looking off the tee.”
Russell Kirk/USGA
The 9’s will be reversed
Usually, the USGA has allowed flexibility in the setup. For the competition, however, the course is listed as a par-71, stretching 7,299 yards. The sequence of holes will be different from that for daily play, with the 9s reversed. As a result, a long par-5 that is usually the 9th hole will play as the finish, increasing the prospects for closing fireworks.
Fairways, steep greens
Among the most compelling strategic options that struck Michelin were roads split into several holes. “In those cases, it wasn’t immediately clear what the best option was,” he says. “So there should be some interesting decisions to make.” It will help, of course, to find the short grass. Michel says the rough is up along the fairways, but even more so around the greens, which, he says, “have more slope than contour.”
One of the targets that stood out to him was the green on the short par-3 14th (plays as the 5th hole with the back 9), which slopes from front to back, with a closely mowed slope behind it that it flows straight. the water. He expects this to be a big hit. But there will be others. “With the slant to the greens and the rough rough around them, if you’re on the short side, you can have a tough time,” says Michel.
The course is soft…for now!
After recent heavy rain across the region, Kinloch was relatively mild on Thursday, says Michel. But with warm and sunny weather in the forecast, that should change. “They definitely have great drainage and I’m sure things will dry well,” says Michel. “It should be very strong and fast.”
