TPC Boston Has Many Attractive Features

Whether it be playing the course, walking it or driving it with his Norton High varsity golf team, Ryan Riley is quite familiar with the layout of TPC Boston, site of the Deutsche Bank Championship later this month.

“It is a great tournament and course for spectators,” said Riley, who is competing in the Attleboro Area Golf Association Open this weekend, the final round being held at Norton Country Club on Sunday. “It is a highly underrated course and a tremendous layout. The greens are some of the best in the state and New England. They are incredibly true.”

The tournament will begin on Friday, September 2 and conclude on Labor Day, Monday September 5. It is the only PGA Tour event of the season that concludes on a Monday.

TPC Boston is a par-71 course that covers a total of 7,214 yards. The front nine is a par-36 and is 3,629 yards, while the back is a par-35 and covers 3,585 yards.

Riley feels the PGA Tour players will be challenged quite a bit on the stretch of holes that includes the par-4, 461-yard 12^th hole, the par-4, 451-yard 13^th hole and the par-4, 495-yard 14^th. The reigning Massachusetts State Amateur champion noted that the par-4, 466-yard fifth hole and the par-4, 465-yard sixth will pose several challenges as well.

“The length of the holes, the contours of the greens and the bunkering,” said Riley, when asked what makes TPC Boston such a difficult course to play. “The 12^th, 13^th and 14^th is a tough stretch for the pros. Five and six are also tough.”

In his course commentary, Brad Faxon says about the 12^th “this long, dogleg left is the only hole without a bunker. The target off the tee will be a ridge on the right side, leaving a mid- to short-iron approach to a green guarded by a hazard on the front right side.”

As far as the 13^th hole, the long-time pro says “this is another long par 4 where hitting the fairway is a must. Drives must carry the rocky ledge in the fairway, leaving a long- to mid-iron into a green with a bunker on the front right. Par is a good score (on this hole).”

About the 14^th, Faxon says “this par 4 has been dramatically changed. Its bunkers on the left have been removed and replaced with chocolate drop mounds covered in natural fescue grasses and sporadically placed in the left side of the fairway. These mounds don’t look too dangerous until you hit it there. Players will find themselves, even with a good drive, with an approach shot upward of 200 yards into a relatively small green.”

On the fifth, Faxon says, “TPC Boston really starts to show its teeth (there). Drives must be long and accurate to avoid a strategically placed bunker on the left side. This will lead to a mid-iron approach shot to a three-tiered green with trouble left and right.”

Of the sixth hole, he says “this long par-4 is one of my personal favorites. (It) is a long, slight dogleg left through a narrow chute and over mounds with two bunkers guarding the right side of the fairway. The green itself is complex with water guarding its front edge and dangerous mounds to the left. Par will be a good score (on this hole).”

Riley recently played TPC Boston and enjoyed some success. And his Norton High golf team plays its home Tri-Valley League matches on the course during the fall.

“I really enjoyed playing the course,” said Riley, who will be entering his fourth year as Lancer head coach. “It is a great layout and has great variety. The course is in fantastic shape. They have done a great job adding bunkers and redesigning holes. For me, I like the stretch of the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh holes. They are really good holes.”