Atlanta Drive GC has no bumps in the road so far. The Georgia-based team, which just won the championship in TGL’s first year, continued its strong run with a commanding 7-4 victory over The Bay Golf Club on Tuesday night, a perfect continuation of the team’s second season.
Despite the unstressed result, Billy Horschel, Patrick Cantlay and Atlanta newcomer Chris Gotterup found themselves in an early battle with Ludwig Oberg, Shane Lowry and Windham Clark. Down 2-1 after four holes as Bey threw two early hammers, Atlanta won two of the next three holes to win the triple session by a narrow 3-2 margin. Cantlay and Gottarup both chipped in from off the green at key moments to help build the advantage.
Bey quickly tied the match with a win in number 10, but at the cost of using the final hammer. Without a point multiplier at its disposal, the Bay couldn’t match the accomplishments of the Atlanta drive, including the birdies off the blades of Gottharp and Horschel and the mighty hammer throws of Cantlay.
Atlanta improved to 2-0 on the season and regained the lead, but The Bay lost the first game of the second season.
Hmm…
It’s hard to sell a technology-based league that keeps having glitches. Players were puzzled when Clark hit a 9-iron shot on the par-5 second hole that went over 200 yards and eventually found a virtual water grave. They laughed it off and left joking, but that wasn’t the only problem.
Clark couldn’t get his tee shot onto the green on the par-3 12th, but he was right in the center of it the second time. Officials had to be brought to the putting surface with someone physically taking measurements from the hole where Clark’s ball would be placed.
Greenside changes pay dividends
Multiple changes have been made for TGL’s second season, but it’s the subtle ones that make the biggest difference so far. It is not a hole design. It’s not a big green with many hole locations. Rather, the move is to place all the grass around green down grains. This allows players to play fun and nifty chip-and-pitch shots for a little bragging rights. Gottarup’s tricky shot below proves that.
