SEI PENNSYLVANIA CLASSIC

September 15, 2000

Steve Pate

STEVE PATE: Well, obviously quite pleased with the score. Probably didn't hit it as well as I did yesterday. I hit a couple of loose shots that didn't really hurt me. When I hit it close, I made it, which was noot really the case yesterday. First few holes was kind of rolled, but we didn't have any wind for five or six holes. It's going to be interesting this afternoon. It's starting to blow pretty hard. 14, I hit a 6-iron about 18 feet left of the hole and made it. Birdied 15. Hit driver, 3-wood, 10, 20 yards short of the green. Hit a bad pitch and made about a 35-, 40-footer up over the mound. Bogeyed 17. I hit a 4-iron in the front fringe and got a little cocky and thought I could make it and ran it three feet by and missed coming back. 18, I birdied it. Driver and another horrible 3-wood short and right and almost pitched in, about a foot. I birdied 2. I hit 7-iron about 12 feet and made it. Birdied 4. I hit a 4-iron about four feet and made it. Birdied 6. 2-iron, 9-iron about six feet and made it.

STEVE PATE: I love it. Difficult, straightforward golf course. Looks like the kind of course where you'll see some low rounds, but you won't see four of them out of the same person. You stand on the tee and you know where you're going. It's pretty self-explanatory. It's a good driving course. You have to hit driver; you get penalized if you hit it poorly. The greens are difficult. For the most part, they are fair. There's a couple that are -- that could use a little mellowing. I think we only have one pin placement on 9. But overall, I love it. I wish we played more courses like this.

STEVE PATE: Yeah, the course I grew up playing on had a lot of slope. Yeah, you get a lot of 5- and 6-footers that you really are not trying to make. Guys that are a lot younger than me that grew up on playing on what you'd call modern architecture, every time you hit it inside of 12 or 15 feet, you have a flat putt. The challenge there is to somehow get it there. Hit it high, hard and stop it there. Here, you have more options on how to do it. If the greens get firm, you can, you know, shape your ball and find a way to roll it back to the hole. You just hit more different shots. Most of the new courses we play on now, there's pretty much one way to play: Hit it high and hard and fly it everywhere you go.

STEVE PATE: A little bit. You really have to pay attention to where you hit your irons. You have to think a lot with your second and your approach shots. 15 feet short of the hole is better than six feet past on a lot of holes. I grew up playing on courses like that where younger guys didn't. Probably a bit of an adjustment.

STEVE PATE: Yeah, actually it would be easier if it was a little firmer. I was hitting 9-iron from 110 yards, trying just not to spin it off the green. But again, I've done that before. It is different than what we normally do week-to-week.

STEVE PATE: It shouldn't really be an advantage to anybody, I wouldn't think. Nobody has seen it -- well, not nobody. I'm sure there are a few guys that have seen it. But it really shouldn't be an advantage to anybody. Those of us who have played more golf courses like this, I guess that could be somewhat of an advantage. It's pretty hard when you've played your whole life and you're used to trying to hit it close, and out here you have to change where you are thinking a little bit. You're not always trying to hit it close.

STEVE PATE: I get ignored everywhere. (Laughs.) A little bit. I got called Jerry a couple times today. (Laughter.)

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