RADIO
Ten short days after the culmination of the PGA Tour season that ended with Scottie Scheffler securing the Tour Championship, we are right back at it with the beginning of a new season in Napa, California for the newly minted Procore Championship. The host venue is the same as the North Course at Silverado Resort will play host to the start of the season.
Silverado has hosted the opening tournament of the season for 10 years now, and packs a decent field strength as players (and their wives) love coming back to Napa with hopes of starting the new season-long points race out strongly and maybe having a nice glass of wine along the way. It's the first of eight tournaments this Fall, none of which are going to "wow" with you big names, but nonetheless are very important for players currently on the bubble and newly graduated Korn Ferry Tour players.
I wanted to use this piece to hopefully highlight a few different angles and elements that may be less spoken about to provide some value in this course preview. I'm hopeful that you can utilize this to get your research started with a proper understanding of how the golf course should affect which player attributes are the most important for success. Let's get right into it!
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An Introduction to Silverado Resort
Located in beautiful Napa Valley, California, and under the architectural guidance of Robert Trent Jones, Silverado Resort opened its North Course in the 1960's. As the region became a destination for wine culture, the goal was to create a luxury resort and welcome guests who also had an affinity for elite golf. It quickly became highly renowned as one of the best destinations in Northern California.
Then, fourteen years ago a former great on the PGA Tour as a player, Johnny Miller, purchased the North Course with intentions of redoing the course to make it more suitable to host a PGA Tour event. He lengthened the total yardage, added some trees to challenge doglegs, and reshaped many of the greens to make the North Course more challenging.
I don't think anyone is going to put Silverado in the elite category of PGA Tour host courses, but it does have a certain charm to it that keeps many players coming back year after year. It has hosted the opening tournament of the season for a decade now. This course has been kind to those players who are comfortable on home California soil, which is something you have to consider for this event as they have a proven track record of winning.
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— Joe I (@TourPicks) September 9, 2024
Scorecard:
Course Specs
The North Course at Silverado Resort is a very short par 72 that does not inhibit the shorter players off the tee from competing. The fairways tend to run out fairly well in Napa towards the end of summer so distance is not a prerequisite by any means. The course features four par 5's, all ranging from 538-575 yards which will be reachable for nearly every player in the field who hits a proper drive. Three of those par 5's come within the last seven holes, so there are big-time scoring opportunities late in the round to make moves.
Like most short courses, the green complexes are pretty small. That said, they are tricky in many ways, with quirky slopes and plenty of undulation. They average only 5,400 sq. ft. in size and feature a blend of POA/bentgrass. The greens typically roll between 11-12 on the stimpmeter, which is slick considering the undulations in play.
The fairways are slim, averaging only 20 yards wide on most holes. There is not a massive penalty for missing them, but it's enough to where the majority of players often club down off the tee with the understanding that they are still going to likely have a wedge into many greens while laying back. There are two holes with water in play. All in all, this is not a course that prohibits any playing style from competing at a high level if they can make a few putts.
The GCSAA report shows well above average heat in the area, with eight days recently when the temperature was above 100 degrees. I would expect a slightly firmer golf course than we may be used to in years past. It will be interesting to see how this may impact player strategy on a number of holes with the many doglegs at the North Course.
Statistical Considerations
Historically, the Driver has been an important weapon to lean on at Silverado. That said, Sahith Theegala dominated last year around the greens and with his putter en route to his victory. I would normally say that if a player is missing greens regularly, then they have no chance here but Theegala proved the trend wrong.
The most correlated stat to success for me is approach play. The greens are tiny and pins are tucked onto tiers in many cases, making the importance of proximity paramount to success if you want to make birdies. It's all about the wedges and short irons. I am putting a heavy emphasis on recent approach play from 100-160 yards in my model. The Top-10 players in the field in that category over the last 20 rounds are:
- Andrew Putnam
- Justin Lower
- Ben Silverman
- Nick Hardy
- Chesson Hadley
- Chan Kim
- Patton Kizzire
- Sam Ryder
- Scott Gutschewski
- J.J. Spaun
One of the other keys to unlocking this course with scoring opportunities comes at the Par 5's. If you aren't making birdies there, you are losing a ton of ground to the field. I'm putting some weight on Par 5 scoring average and also looking specifically at par 5's from 500-575 yards to see if there are any significant upticks per player.
Even though the offseason technically only lasted one week, many of the players in this field did not advance in the Playoffs and have been off for some time. It's hard to know what their practice schedule and life schedule have been like the last month, so I am putting less emphasis on recent form and adding more priority to Course History. A final note, this is a good event to take some chances on recent rookies making a start who are likely amped up to compete and will come in with focus and form to this event.
Approach Shot Distribution (Datagolf)
Top 10 Best Adjusted Player Course Fits for the Procore Championship:
- Patrick Fishburn
- Wyndham Clark
- Sam Stevens
- Mac Meisnner
- Maverick McNealy
- Ben Silverman
- Keith Mitchell
- J.J. Spaun
- Corey Conners
- Rico Hoey
Good luck and enjoy the 2024 Procore Championship!
