Bermuda - 2011 PGA Grand Slam of Golf

Bit of a long shot, but does anyone know anything about this event on 18/19 October? Have the 4 major winners confirmed they are playing in it? Thinking about a week in the sun somewhere, having seen virtually none of it in Scotland this year, and that week in Bermuda is a possibility. I've been to Bermuda twice before, but haven't visited the Port Royal course. Have seen the event televised a few times, including its previous incarnation in Hawaii, but thought if I was ever going to attend as a spectator then this year would be the time to go - with Clarke, McIlroy, Schwarzel & Bradley. That's assuming they turn up, of course!

Any info greatly appreciated.

Dave,
Have a gaze at this:

http://www.pga.com/grandslam/2011/

As far as I can tell all Major winners will be present, if not correct.
Should be fun, envious of anyone going.

Cheers, kwini. Had been thinking about going for a few weeks, but hadn't got any further than that. Having looked at that site, I wouldn't be gutted to see Mr Bradley scratch ... as Ernie Els (2010 champ) seems to be 1st alternate! No offence, Keegan ...

PS - On the subject of Scottish weather, I hope Auchterlonies haven't stocked up too heavily on the Arctic gear normally required by players/spectators at the Dunhill! This must be the first time it's ever had anything like decent weather.

Must admit I was a bit gutted when they moved it away from Kauai, know both Poipu Bay and the previous host Kauai Lagoons pretty well. Having said that neither are that islands best courses never mind the State's. I thought they were going to alternate it between Bermuda and Hawaii but apparently not.

With regard to this years protagonists it's an interesting mix and will we ever again see 2 separate representatives from a nation as small as Northern Ireland again? I'm sure Rory and big D will have a great craic.

I'm sure Rory and big D will have a great craic.

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That's the main reason I'm considering going TBH! There's a pro-am day beforehand as well, with even better access to the players. Crowds have seemed pretty low in the last couple of years anyway, so even on the champ days it looked like it would be very easy spectator viewing.

Main problem is the cost though, which is horrific! Not for the event itself, just Bermuda cost of living. Expect I'll decide one way or another this weekend.

Well look at it this way, when do you think you'll get another chance to see 2 Northern Irishmen play in it. To be honest it is a bit of an odd tournament but you've hit the nail on the head re being able to view the guys up close.....you only live once Jackal, if you've got the opportunity to go....do it!!

A fun event for the players................a complete bore to be watching it though.................

JAS ...

Took your advice and am off to Bermuda with Mrs Jackal next week. Plan to take in at least one of the Grand Slam days, and probably both. Here's hoping for no late call offs from the 4 contenders ... well, at least not Darren and Rory anyway!

First chance to post since getting back from Bermuda. Attended both days at the Grand Slam event and it was fantastic viewing ... and very reasonably priced at $20 a day. The standard of golf was a bit of a mixed bag ... although not from Darren, who was just mince throughout! He was great value around the hotel though! Pretty hilly course, but had some superb holes. I think they'd spent a fair bit on lengthening it, and improving the general condition. Locals thought they'd made it too easy for the pros though, by decimating the rough for the event. It did look pretty short, to be fair. Rory played great tee to green on day one, but missed putt after putt from 10-12 feet or less (no change there then). He ran out of gas on day two, after being 3 clear after 6 holes. I think his schedule was catching up with him, as he'd fallen asleep at the table in a restaurant we were in the night before the event started!

Watched the day one coverage which I'd recorded when I got home last night, and it didn't really do the event justice TBH. Only spent 5 minutes on the first 7 holes (why?), then devoted most of the programme showing wedge shots from 120 yards and in, and putting. I do wonder about golf producers at times.

Only bit I didn't enjoy at the event (apart from getting absolutely soaked at the end of round one!), was the speed of play from Keegan Bradley. Probably not the slowest on tour, but he can't be far away. Goes through a pre-shot routine forever, then finally addresses the ball ... then walks away and starts again ... every shot! Think the other 3 players must have been losing the will to live after a while.

Jackal, was there any talk around the place of the imminent split of Rory and chubster. It came out over here last THursday/Friday, so obviously known in the chubby camp.

Doc,

No, didn't hear anything at all. We were staying at the hotel hosting the event for our first few nights, and saw the players, Chubby, and Rory's folks umpteen times over that period. Didn't detect any hint of this at all, until I saw it on the internet the day after the event finished. If I'd known about it earlier that day I could have asked Darren, as he was sat next to me at breakfast! In fact, I said hello to Chubby in the lift on the Wed morning, and he seemed happy as Larry.

Seems that this has been an ongoing thing that evryone in the camp has been aware of then. doesn't seem to be any animosity on either side, and both parties have been wishing each other luck. Maybe it was really all down to Rory's schedule as Chubby seems to have had him jetting around which cuts into Rory's social calender

Sounds like an absolute blast of a holiday Dave. Fair play and good report back.

Got to say on TV coverage, it must be a really hard thing to strike the right balance but all to often the coverage doesn't come close. I certainly found that with the Trilby Tour. The beeb to be fair to them do a great job with the Open but I'm always a bit disappointed with their Dunhill coverage as TOC gets a lot more airtime than Carnoustie or Kingsbarns. For an event like the GS I guess with only 4 players and 2 days of competition they probably don't deploy the normal full tournament sized production team & kit.

JAS

It certainly was a blast to watch, and I'd recommend it to anyone TBH ... assuming that at least some of the future Major winners are worth watching, and that they turn up! I'd certainly think seriously about going back next year, although I'd take the clubs this time.

From what I saw of the day one TV highlights, the vast majority of camera shots even made it look like there was no-one there! I'd have said there were probably 1,500+ on day one, and well over 2,000 on day two. Might not sound like a lot, but plenty when they are pretty much all on one hole! From the TV pictures though, it looked like the crowds were a few hundred.

Haven't watched the day two coverage yet, but it was REALLY windy that day, so I wasn't surprised that the players found it harder going. Dazza and Rory really struggled to read the Bermuda greens throughout, as did Schwarzl for most of the time (his 5 birdies in a row on day two aside). Having watched Bradley consistently holing 20-30 footers, while they couldn't even touch the hole from 6 feet, I'd be surprised if at least one of them wasn't considering the belly putter! Dazza couldn't have putted worse if he'd been using a hockey stick.