It may seem counterintuitive, but there are a couple of key similarities between the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club in the California desert and Augusta National in the sylvan surrounds of Georgia. Just as Augusta National is the permanent venue for the Masters - the first men's major of the year, Mission Hills is the permanent home for the ANA Inspiration - the first women's major championship of the season.
Perhaps more significantly, though, both venues are widely viewed as courses that suit the longer hitter and yet they also set themselves up as true tests of golf that reward the best all-round player that week. Just as Augusta National has produced champions such as power-hitting Bubba Watson and the relatively short but straight-shooting Zach Johnson, so too Mission Hills has unearthed winners in the 'bomber' mold (Brittany Lincicome and Lexi Thomson) as well as those of the more measured and accurate variety, like Pernilla Lindberg, So Yeon Ryu and Stacy Lewis.
Swede Lindberg, the defending champion this week at the ANA Inspiration, clinched her first major title at Mission Hills last year after producing an extraordinary display of clutch putting to edge out Inbee Park over eight playoff holes. In her view, Mission Hills can reward any type of golfer.
"Pretty much any course we play, you can always have an advantage as a longer hitter but I feel like on this course you can really plot your way around it as well," Lindberg told LPGA.com. "Just because the rough this week is thick, that could for sure benefit a straighter hitter and then the greens are so true that if you just keep giving yourself a lot of good looks for birdie and have a good putting week, this can really be your week. That's why this course also brings in shorter hitters, straighter hitters, good wedge players and good putters."
The 6,834-yard, par-72 Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills certainly sets up well for long hitters with its four par-five holes (the second, ninth, 11th and 18th) but that comes with a major caveat, says Lindberg.
"You can take advantage of the par-fives, for sure," she said. "But at the same time if you are a long hitter and you're not making the putts, then it doesn't really matter because it always comes down to making the putts in the end. For the longer hitter, you are coming in with shorter clubs and you can attack the pins a little bit more but at the same time there are quite a few doglegs out there so that might force the longer hitters to have to hold back and hit less club off the tee as well."
For Lindberg, the biggest challenge at Mission Hills is the width of the fairways. "It's one of the more narrow courses that we play on tour and also you have to position yourself because there are some overhanging trees that come into play," she said. "That's probably the biggest challenge, along with the rough. I know it's been a pretty wet winter here so it's quite juicy out there - in spots it's probably even thicker than it's been before."
While Lindberg embraces the overall test at Mission Hills, 'Bam Bam' Lincicome licks her lips whenever she tees it up here. She tied for second to put the bow on a sizzling debut appearance in the year's first major in 2006, and went on to win the prestigious title in 2009 and 2015 to enhance her status as one of the best players in the game.
"It's a long hitter's course," Lincicome told LPGA.com. "Obviously if I can drive the ball straight, it gives me more of an advantage but even if I hit it in the rough, it's not a big deal because I will be further down there and have a shorter iron into the green. It's a long hitter's course, for sure. You can kind of bomb it out there, hit lots of drives. Whenever I can hit driver, it's more to my strength."
COURSE LENGTHENED SINCE 2018
Playing further to Lincicome's strengths is the fact that the Dinah Shore Tournament Course has been stretched by just over 70 yards since last year.
"It's fantastic," she smiled. "They've lengthened three holes (three, four and 15), and I'm hoping they play it as far back as possible. The rough is thick too, and I'm probably playing the yellow ball again this week so maybe it will be easier to find in the rough. The greens - they are already running at 12 and a half. I can't even imagine what it's going to be like on Sunday. That's how it should be: firm and fast and the harder the better. It's a major. Whoever wins this week is going to have played the best and hit the most fairways and greens for sure."
Rolex Rankings No. 7 So Yeon Ryu, who won the 2017 ANA Inspiration in a playoff with Lexi Thompson, has long felt that the Dinah Shore Tournament Course is a superb all-round test of golf.
"I wish we could have this type of golf course more often," Ryu told LPGA.com. "You have to play all sorts of clubs here, probably pretty much every golf club in your bag. It's a very good test of your game.
"One reason why a lot of people think this is a bomber's course is because a lot of the par-5s are reachable and I would say if somebody is a longer hitter - like Lexi, Brittany or Jessica (Korda) - they are guaranteed to get there in two. But if someone's an average hitter, it's not really guaranteed and then you have to think about it. Is it better to go for it in two or just lay up? So definitely the longer hitter will have a benefit here but that's not only on this golf course. Every golf course is the same. But I think this course is more about accuracy. The one area of your game you really need to be sharp is your iron play, to make sure you have a lot of birdie chances."
Heather Daly-Donofrio, a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour who is now the LPGA's Chief Tour Operations Officer, competed at Mission Hills seven times during her playing career and always ranked the Dinah Shore Tournament Course among her top layouts.
"It's definitely one of my favorite courses and if you look at the winners of this championship historically, all ranges of players (as it relates to distance) have won," Daly-Donofrio told LPGA.com. "To win a major, all the pieces need to be in place - driving, iron game, chipping, putting, - plus a very strong mental outlook, attitude and fortitude. If the rough is manageable here, long hitters may have an advantage as the par-5s are reachable depending on where the tees are placed. When the rough is up, hitting the fairway does become increasingly more important.
"The piece I always found tough about the Dinah Shore Course is that sometimes even being in the fairway didn't help you get to a hole location with the doglegs and overhanging limbs – and you have to be able to work the ball both ways. Many holes require a player to be on a certain side of the fairway to have a clear shot at a hole location. I always thought course management was a huge factor for this week – sometimes it was better to lay back with a fairway metal for position and angle, rather than hit driver off the tee. In any tournament, let alone a major, the winner will need to hole putts and a lot of them! There are ample birdie opportunities here, but if a fairway or green is missed in the wrong spot, scrambling will become a factor."
So there you have it. Four players with contrasting views about the venue for this week's ANA Inspiration. Bottom line, though, history has proved that any type of player can win here - as long as she brings her 'A' game to Mission Hills for the year’s first major championship.
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