[Ed. Note: The second round of this coming weekend’s Goodboys Invitational will be played at Sandy Burr Country Club in Wayland, Mass. Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee previews the course and offers his own thoughts as to what the Goodboys can expect from the course affectionately known as “The Burr”.]
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Hi, I’m Brandel Chamblee with the second in a series of Goodboys Nation weblog previews of this coming weekend’s 21st annual Goodboys Invitational. The second leg of this year’s three-day event will find the Goodboys at historic Sandy Burr Country Club in Wayland, Massachusetts. Saturday is moving day at the Goodboys, and Sandy Burr is a perfect (if not lush, if you know what I mean) locale where even the highest handicapper can make their move and set their team up for an exciting Sunday finale. As the course’s official website proclaims:
Sandy Burr Country Club, established in 1922, is conveniently located 16 miles west of Boston. This privately-owned 18 hole championship golf course was designed by Donald Ross. the renowned golf course architect. It is 6,550 yards in length from the blues, punctuated by sand traps and three water hazards.
There are a number of holes at “The Burr” that the Goodboys are going to have to pay attention to. Hole #6 requires you to play your tee shot just to the left of the blue spruce. If you aim at at the willow (as I did) you’ll end up in the trees; go too far right of the spruce and you might catch the swamp. On hole #8, if you try and cut too much off the corner you’re in the marsh. Long hitters will want to avoid hitting driver on hole #9 – something around 180-190 yards should be fine. On holes #11 and #12, the Goodboys will be able to let ‘er rip off the tee. On hole#15 the aggressive play is to hit over the edge of the willow on the right or try to fade a ball. Most Goodboys will use a 3-wood and not challenge the narrow opening of the fairway from the tee.
Overall, as with Friday’s initial round at Sagamore Spring, every Goodboy is going to be challenged to beat their stroke number on such a generous and forgiving tract. Any Goodboy who went low on Friday ought to really be able to put the “pedal to the metal” at Sandy Burr. Would it be nice for Exec-Comm to have found a more challenging destination for the Goodboys to sink their teeth into? Perhaps. But I look for a shootout with any number of teams battling for the privilege of playing in the final foursome at Brookmeadow in Canton on Goodboys Sunday.
