Shriners Open players foresee low scores at TPC Summerlin

Las Vegas resident and former Shriners Hospitals for Children Open champion Kevin Na is plenty familiar with TPC Summerlin.

“The course is in fantastic shape,” he said Wednesday. “Because we’re expecting low wind, I think the scores are going to be somewhat low.”

Par for the course. Par for the tournament.

The Shriners Open starts Thursday and is beginning about a month earlier than last year’s tournament, the earliest since Na won in 2011. Forecasts call for temperatures in the high 80s, which would be about 15 degrees warmer than temperatures in early November last year.

But players and officials don’t expect the difference in temperature to have much of an effect on the course.

Or how it plays and scores.

“From a scoring perspective, these guys are so good I don’t think it’s really going to matter,” said Michael Messner, the head professional at TPC Summerlin. “The only time we really see a change in score is when conditions are tough, and that’s more from Mother Nature than from the golf course setup itself. These guys are good enough to compete on any course.”

Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau finished 21-under-par last year, and 12 of the last 15 champions have finished 20-under-par or better. Messner expects similar scoring. He said the biggest difference this year in the course is in the relative lack of firmness of the fairways.

They’re comprised of Bermuda grass that thrives in the warmer climate of the summer months, making the course play longer than in the cooler months when the fairways become firmer, creating more distance off the tees.

The rough is a little tougher this year, too, because of the heat.

Other than that, though, same course. And minimal wind.

“My expectation is that they’re going to go just as low as in years past,” Messner said of the 7,255-yard, par 71 course. “The golf course loves heat, thrives in the heat. We’re going to see some tougher rough hopefully for those players, hopefully give them more of a challenge.”

DeChambeau also said Wednesday that the golf course is in great shape and doesn’t anticipate much of a change in the way it plays. He did, however, note that the warmer temperatures are ideal for the mornings.

He tees off at 12:10 p.m. Thursday and 7:20 a.m. on Friday.

“I haven’t seen anything benign out there,” DeChambeau said. “They cleared up the brush a little bit out there, which is great. I honestly can’t say anything negative about the golf course. It looks great. The greens look great. They’re rolling well, so everything is positive so far.”

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.