Travelers says changes are coming to TPC River Highlands after complaints over low scores

CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) — Changes will be made to the TPC River Highlands golf course after record low scoring last week during the PGA Tour's annual Travelers Championship, tournament officials said Wednesday.

Andy Bessette, Travelers' executive vice president and chief administrative officer, told The Associated Press that officials at the club are already looking at modifications to the course to make it more difficult for the professionals next year.

“We take all the feedback we get very seriously,” Bessette said. “I can tell you that changes are already in the works. We strive for this to be a top-notch event and we will do everything we can to improve it every year.”

Keegan Bradley won the tournament by shooting a course record 23-under 257, a shot better than Kenny Perry’s previous record from 2009. There were eight rounds of 62 or better during the week, which was marked by some rainy, but not windy days that kept the greens soft.

After his final round, Rory McIlroy, who finished at 18-under and in a tie for seventh place, called the 6,852-yard, par-70 River Highlands course “obsolete."

“I don’t particularly like when a tournament is like this,” he said. “Unfortunately technology has passed this course by, right? It sort of has made it obsolete, especially as soft as it has been with a little bit of rain that we had. So, again, like the conversations going back to, you know, limiting the golf ball and stuff like that, when we come to courses like this they just don’t present the challenge that they used to."

Bessette called those comments a “blessing in disguise.” He said he sent an email Monday to several of the top golfers on Tour asking for their feedback.

“I told them, I'm not a golf course expert, but you are. What can we do?” he said.

He said there were about 10 specific suggestions that he feels can be implemented right away. He said he talked to officials at the course, who agreed to modify it.

He did not detail those modification, but there have been suggestions such as increasing the number of hazards on the course, growing out the rough, shrinking the greens or narrowing some fairways. Because of the land constraints, there is not much that could immediately be done to lengthen the course, which is among the shortest on Tour, tournament officials have said.

But McIlroy said he wasn't a fan of the idea of just making fairways narrower and roughs rougher.

“That bunches everyone together," he said. " The blueprint is something like (Los Angeles Country Club, where the U.S. Open was held) where you have wide targets, but if you miss it’s penal. This isn’t that sort of golf course. It’s not that sort of layout. It doesn’t have the land to do that. So, you know, unfortunately when you get soft conditions like this and you’ve got the best players in the world, this is what’s going to happen.”

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