Cameron Smith is not happy with the conditions at the opening week of the Australian Open, considering that heavy rain is not the reason for soft and slow layouts. The 31-year-old believes that the course was not set up as expected this time. Although he had played on the Mebourne Sandbelt before, he pointed out at the press conference that the courses did not look the same. He believes that there was too much water, admitting that it was not what he expected. The LIV Golfer is a disappointment considering the course conditions and the way it was designed.
It seems there's been been lot of water and its not exactly what I was expecting. The course(s) are in great condition but playing so much different to how theyre designed and how theyre meant to be played, which is pretty disappointing."-Cameron Smith said, as reported by Golf Monthly.
The 31-year-old pointed out that he was keeping an eye on time, admitting that he was excited to play on the fast Sandbelt. In a conversation with his colleagues from Ripper GC, Smith found that they all like to come and play in these events, given that the golf course is firm and fast. However, it turned out that things look completely different, considering that the course was more like the American one. The 31-year-old expected to win in an interesting competition. Nevertheless, in the end, he failed to reach the goal.
"I had been keeping an eye on the weather here and I was really excited last week to play a really firm and fast Sandbelt.
Its something that my (Ripper GC) teammates and I spoke about this year. We love coming down here and playing these events because the golf courses (are firm and fast) and its just not going to play like that. Its going to play more like an American golf course, kind of target golf.- Cameron Smith continued.
The popular golfer recalled some of his older days, more concretely, 2013 when he played the Aussie Masters. Smith noticed that the ball with the pitching wedge traveled an additional 25-30 meters due to the specificity of the pitch. Smith went on to point out that most of the world's playing fields want to reduce the spin in order to prevent the ball from returning too much. However, courses like Kingston heath, it is necessary to create specific shots and control the spin, with the goal that the ball ends up close to the flag. Smith confirms that this is what golfers enjoy.
A few days before the tournament, Melbourne faced heavy rains, which of course affected the course and the performances of individuals. The pro am had to be delayed by 90 minutes. Cameron Smith pointed out that the weather in the last few weeks was quite good, considering that the rain that was over the weekend and during the morning could not be the reason for such bad conditions on the course. He pointed out that he had played on the courses before, believing that this was done with a purpose. He stresses that golf courses like these are not meant to be played.
Cameron Smith on LIV: I think we are going to be the tour
A few days ago, the Australian decided to make a comment about LIV Golf, a Tour that wants to achieve great things in the future. Cameron surprised many by coming to this tour, but a lot has passed since then, and it seems that most golf fans have accepted things as they are. Smith is happy that LIV has such great ideas, wanting to become a Tour that will visit every part of the planet. They are doing great things on their way to that, however, it seems that they are still not fully accepted by the fans. The 31-year-old is excited for the future, expecting LIV to become a tour. Of course, depth, great players, and many other things are necessary for such a thing. The Australian believes they are on the right track for that.
"Being so worldwide is a really great thing for us, we travel a lot but I think we bring a really good product to places that haven't seen world class golf in a long time. I am really excited as a team but as a tour I think we are going to go from strength to strength and I think as time goes on we are going to have better players, more depth and I think we are going to be the tour."- Cameron Smith concluded.
LIV officials are equally optimistic.
