WCG Mexico: Many Questions - What Will The Verdict Be?

Many questions surround the WGC move from Doral to Mexico City – we’ll soon have some answers.

WGC-Mexico is old wine in a new bottle and it’s not been an easy rebottling. Will the Mexico City venue work for the event? Let’s look more closely.

After 55 years at Doral, now Trump Doral, and 10 of those years as a World Golf Championship event, the PGA Tour has moved this historic tournament south of the U.S. border to Mexico City. Naturally, there has been speculation about the potential for success or failure since the announcement was made. There are positives and negatives for the change.

On the minus side, there may be security issues. Billy Horschel, who did not qualify for this year’s WGC-Mexico event, told Golf Channel that had he qualified, he would not go because of security concerns.

"I’ve been to Mexico before, and I love Cancun. It’s the first year of the event, and I just want to see how it went. That’s what it really came down to. I want to see how everything was run, I want to see the feedback from the players, and then I’d go from there. – Billy Horschel"

While Horschel remains skeptical of the WGC site, he has played at OHL Classic at Mayakoba in the past.

Jason Day, who is qualified for the WGC-Mexico, has recently withdrawn, citing an ear infection and the flu.

Yet most who qualified are entered, including Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Henrik Stenson, Adam Scott and the rest.

On the plus side, there is no denying the wisdom of taking the WGC events to other countries because that promotes golf in other parts of the world. In the Americas, outside of the U. S. and Canada, the rest of the countries have never been considered golf powers although there are noted clubs and beautiful resort destinations in several of them.

In Mexico, Cabo San Lucas and Cancun are well known and play host to many U.S. visitors. In Argentina, home of Roberto De Vicenzo, Angel Cabrera and Eduardo Romero, golf has been a part of the culture for decades. The Jockey Club, with two Alister MacKenzie designed courses that opened the year after the first Masters, has long been recognized as an exceptional track.

So it is fortunate that the choice of venue for the WGC-Mexico is the Club de Golf Chapultepec, a design created by noted Scots and U.S. Open champions, Willie Smith and Alex Smith.

Willie Smith won the U.S. Open in 1899, and Alex Smith won the same title twice, in 1906 and 1910. They came from Carnoustie, Scotland and migrated to the U.S. bringing their special knowledge of golf, including course design.

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The golf course is not a stranger to competition. The Mexican Open was played at Club de Golf Chapultepec beginning in 1944, and the club continued hosting until 1960. After that time, several other clubs in Mexico took turns in a rotation. The Mexican Open is now a part of the PGA Tour Latinoamerica.

The Club de Golf Chapultepec itself is 7,330 yards and a par 71, but the location is sure to affect the distance the ball flies. Altitude is 7,500 feet above sea level, and the distance the ball travels is likely to be farther than the 10 percent which was common when the PGA Tour played at Castle Pines outside of Denver. Whether it is 10 percent, like Castle Pines or 15% or more, we will have to discover.

The course itself is in a city of nearly a million people northwest of Mexico City. A bird’s eye view of the course is available at:

https://course.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/course/course/clubdegolfchapultepec/aerial.htm

Next: WGC-Mexico Power Rankings

If you had the opportunity, would you tee it up at Club Golf de Chapultepec? Who are you liking for this week’s WGC-Mexico? Let’s hear your thoughts about moving the event from Trump Doral to Mexico City.

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WCG Mexico: Many Questions – What Will The Verdict Be?

By Kathlene Bissell | Feb 27, 2017

Many questions surround the WGC move from Doral to Mexico City – we’ll soon have some answers.

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