The game’s best are set to tee it up at the Club de Golf Chapultepec this week for the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship, hosted in the Mexican capital for the first time. The 7,330-yard par 71 course is located in the Naucalpan area of the city and located 12 miles from the 48,000 capacity Estadio Olimpico Universitario, one of the arenas used for the 1968 Olympic Games.
Opened in 1921, the course hosted the Mexican Open regularly from 1944 to 1960 and four times since, with Major Champions Ben Crenshaw and Robert De Vicenzo among those to have triumphed here.
At 7,300 feet above sea level, the ball travels further than normal, leading to the course being designed in such a way to reward precision over distance. Tight tee shots are coupled with tricky greens, which slope down toward the city. Tightly clustered trees line the fairways, punishing errant tee shots and leaving little choice but to punch the ball back into the fairway rather than head for the green.
There are only two water hazards on the course, but both defend the greens of two of the par threes, the seventh and 17th holes respectively.
As the course is likely to be new to most of this week’s competitors, europeantour.com spoke to Director of Golf Manuel Inman about the task at hand. Inman, who competed on the Challenge Tour and has been associated with the club for 14 years, believes that players will enjoy the challenge posed this week, even if it leaves them scratching their heads.
Overview
“This course is not that long, because we’re so high above sea level that the balls fly so much anyway. The way these guys hit it, you’d have to make it an 8,000-yard plus course to give them a challenge when it comes to distance, so that won’t be an issue here. It’s about positioning, shaping the shots and, at this altitude, it’s about controlling your distance.”
The greens here are also really difficult - Manuel Inman
“They’re slopey and very tricky when it comes to the breaks. The course is built on a downslope towards the city and some breaks don’t look the way they actually break. If you’re a good putter it’s hard to hit it where you don’t feel it’s actually going to go. You could hit it left-centre, when it’s actually right-centre – it feels weird!
“This can happen when you’re as close in as three feet or five feet, so I won’t be surprised if I see some players shaking their heads about the breaks and taking a step back to look at what happened. We kid a lot with our friends not from here, because they don’t know the breaks and we do.”
Importance of shot shaping
“I think the players will love it, because there is a lot of shaping shots to both sides. It’s very well balanced – it’s not like all the shots are left to right or right to left. So you’ll need to control your trajectories.
“On the back nine we start with a really strong hole, the tenth. It’s one of the hardest holes to hit the fairway if you’re hitting a driver. It’s reachable in two, but you have to hit a hard draw with driver and a hard fade on the second shot, so that’s what I mean about needing to be good at shot-making.
“The 18th needs a really hard draw from the tee and the green is tough, as it slopes from back to front. You can be pin-high at five feet and you could have a break of two feet. It’s not a flat surface, so the green is going to defend the hole. It’s also important to know that from the tee you have to draw it. If you hit it straight you’ll be in the right rough or right bunker.”
As well as an introduction to the course, Inman also talked us through the five holes he think will make or break a player's round this week, starting with the opening par four.
1st hole – par four – 316 yards
“The first and second are short par fours. Hole one is reachable and I wouldn’t be surprised if two is reachable by a bomber. However, one has a really difficult green.
“It’s amazing, because you can be on the fringe or in the greenside bunker and have no chance to make birdie. It will really depend on positioning for the next shot. It’s still 316 yards, so you’ll try to hit the green. The first hole could be an easy birdie or it could mess with players’ minds. We’ll see some bogeys and it’s just 316 yards, I mean, come on!"
5th hole – par four – 445 yards
“For me, the fifth is one of the hardest holes when it comes to hitting the fairway. It’s not that long, but the fairway slopes to the right and the hole moves to the left. It doesn’t fit my eye well!
“Through the years I’ve seen so many people miss the fairway there. Once you hit the fairway, it’s not that difficult. There are also a lot of trees and if you’re in those then you’re in jail. It’s nearly always a case of punching out and it is rare that you have a shot to the green in those trees.”
7th hole – par three – 235 yards
“The seventh is the best and most difficult hole on the course. It’s a 235-yard par three that goes into a small green, that’s protected by a big pine tree in the front of the green. It blocks maybe one quarter of the green, maybe even half. That’s tough and with wind there’s no bail-out. That hole is going to yield a lot of bogeys and doubles.”
8th hole – par four – 525 yards
“The eighth was a par five for our members, but now it’s a par four. Obviously every time you change a par five to a par four it’s difficult. The green is pretty small, too, and protected by trees and bunkers. From the tee you’ll have to fade it to have a clear shot to the green. If you can’t shape it this way, it’s going to be a little tricky to make birdie or par every day."
16th - par four – 403 yards
“The 16th will be one of the hardest short par fours they play, because the green is so difficult. Depending on the pin position, par could become a really good score. There is one pin position, at the front right, where we could see eagles and a lot of birdies, but anywhere else and it becomes really difficult. “
Score prediction
“I think the scores should be low, because these guys are so good. I would be surprised if it’s something much below 20 under par. Whoever controls their trajectory and distance better will do well, because we’re so far above sea level and it’s hard to hit an 80 yard shot when it feels like 60!
“I’ve shot nine under around here four times. I’ve never shot less than that, but it’s always about the putting. It’s always about missing a couple of four footers that you thought you played perfectly, but just didn’t go in. Making putts here is tough and that could be key.”
