PGA DFS: CJ Cup course preview, stats and value plays

PGA DFS: CJ Cup Course Preview, Stats and Value Plays

Another week of PGA DFS Golf is upon us and this week the Tour makes the trip over to South Korea for the CJ Cup! If you caught the action last week you’d have surely witnessed Lanto Griffin secure his first win on Tour, edging out Mark Hubbard and feel-good story Scott Harrington who were also both in the hunt for that maiden victory. If you survived the carnage of the Houston Open last week from a fantasy perspective, a big congratulations to you! A bunch of chalk went completely berserk shooting well over par and missing the cut. It was truly the contrarian’s dream and The Golf Club of Houston proved to be an ultimate test with the inclement weather and winds swirling.

We now move on from the swing events as things start to heat up on Tour. We begin at Nine Bridges Golf Course built on Jeju Island. Before we move any further please be aware that this event will only feature 78 players from around the world and there will be NO CUT. Constructed on the volcanic and elevated terrain of Jeju Island, Nine Bridges will feature a course ranked Top 25 in the world. Many have considered it a course which, with the right conditions, would be able to host a Major Championship. This week however it will stretch out to only 7,241 yards and will play to a par of 72.

Designed by golf architecture moguls “Golf Plan” which consists of David Dale and Ronald Fream as its principles, the main focus was to maintain the horticulture and natural beauty of the island while creating a challenging track worthy of Tour competition.  It will feature 11 water hazards that will come into play from the tee boxes and into the approach shots. Thus the name, you guessed it “Nine Bridges” which are in reference to the bridges that are constructed of stone that the players will use to navigate to the holes and tee boxes. There are actually only eight physical bridges, the ninth signifying a metaphorical bridge between the Club and its members.

The average green sizes will measure out to a massive 7,900 yards, will feature Pennlinks Bentgrass rolling out to around 10 on the stimpmeter which are significantly slower than we have been accustomed to seeing in the previous weeks. The rough boasts a luscious Kentucky Bluegrass and will be cut to 3.25″, relatively thick, but even still this will not play much of a factor as ~70% of fairways have been hit by fields in the past.

The course will defend itself primarily by creating tough angles into the greens, featuring several doglegs, valleys, and undulations, and by scattering 101 bunkers throughout the course that feature black volcanic rock croppings. Average 3 putts per round are over double the amount of tour average and this is will play a big factor this week as Jeju Island has a certain edge called the “Halla Break”. Because the Hallasan Volcano is within striking distance, there is a certain way the putts will break as they are directly affected by the gravitational force of the Volcano. It’s a story best told by the likes of Bryson Dechambeau- but keeping things brief, those who adjust well to this or have had experience with the course itself will have a tiny advantage over first-timers.

We will breakdown course composition and Key Stats to target on the next slide as some holes prove easier than others, and it’s our job to exploit them.