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Doublegate's new greens to be tested during the Albany City Championship

• The final round of golf at this weekend's Albany Amateur City Championship will be played at Doublegate Country Club, which replaced the grass on the greens in August.

Scott Chancey

ALBANY — The final round of the fourth annual Albany Amateur City Championship will be played at Doublegate Country Club, a course where new grass on the greens has been only tournament tested once in a member-guest tournament.

Transformation on the course took place Aug. 1, according to Doublegate head pro Ed Everett, and ended Sept. 23. The club converted from Tift Dwarf grass to Champion Ultra Dwarf.

“During the GSGA Four-Ball Tournament when it was held here, we had people from country clubs in Dunwoody and Newnan look at our greens, and their clubs are now converting too,” Everett said. “The reactions have been fantastic.”

The new greens, which feature an improved smooth and tighter surface, should be of more comfort to players as they aim for birdies and, hopefully some eagles. Also, the new grass is easier to maintain.

“We don’t have to over seed for winter months,” Everett said. “That cuts out a lot of expense and still keeps the greens really smooth.”

RHOADS READY

Dan Rhoads has quite the connection with this tournament. He not only is the event director, he is a two-time defending champion in the Senior division. Although he was working on the final logistics Tuesday, only one thing will be on his mind Friday.

“I just want to go out there and play good golf,” Rhoads said. “Golf is so fickle. You play good one day and then you struggle the next. But this is golf at its purest. You play like it was designed, no mulligans, no gimmes.”

Of course, Rhoads is optimistic for a third consecutive Senior title.

“I want to win 10 in a row if I can,” he said.”

TOUGHEST HOLES

Stonebridge Golf & Country Club hosts the first round, Grand Island Club has the second before the three-day tournament concludes at Doublegate. Everett, Stonebridge head pro Rob Allen and Grand Island Club general manager Vic McKinley offered their views on what the most difficult hole is at each course.

In Everett’s mind, the par-3 16th — which ranges from 200 to 220 yards — is the most challenging on his course. Two-time defending men’s champion Brandon Anthony, however, aced that hole in 2005.

“It’s just long and it’s a two-tiered green,” Everett said. “It’s mounted severely around the greens. You’ve got to hit on the green, you can’t hit as a bump-and-run.”

At Stonebridge, Allen said the most difficult could be the par-4 eighth, which is less than 400 yards.

“We put a pond to the right of the fairway,” Allen said. “It’s a very narrow fairway with the woods to the left.”

Rhoads even had his view on that hole.

“It’s the hardest green to putt on because of the contour on it,” he said. “If you’ve got the ball on the wrong part of the green, then you can’t two-putt.”

After McKinley was asked, he was undecided between the ninth or 10th, which are both par-4 challenges.

“That’s what I hear most from the players,” he said. “The ninth is tight with trees and bunkers, and there is a big oak tree hanging over the fairway. If you hit it to the left, you’re dead.”

The 10th hole is one McKinley feels is similar to the one preceding it.

“There’s water to the left of the green, so if the second shot is to the left, even barely to the left, there’s a good chance it will go in the water,” he said.

THE MOST ATTRACTIVE HOLES

All three course representatives agreed the par 5’s play to golfers’ advantages, with each course having four par-5 opportunities.

CABRERA CONTROVERSY

After Angel Cabrera won this past weekend’s U.S. Open, some critics argued that cigarettes — which he smoked during the final round — gave him an unfair advantage, as to calm him down.

“I don’t smoke, so I don’t know,” Everett said. “He hit the balls closer to the pins than anyone else all day long.”

Rhoads, who is an orthopedic surgeon, said he doesn’t smoke either, so he didn’t know if cigarettes was an advantage for Cabrera. But he has heard of an interesting way some Champions Tour players get ready for tournament rounds.

“I’ve heard some of them take Viagra before they play because it helps increase concentration,” Rhoads said. “That’s just what I’ve heard.”

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