Westchester course revives good, old days

HARRISON, N.Y. -- The class-reunion charm of the Champions Tour stems from people looking at each senior golfer and saying, "Still looks the same, plays pretty much the same, too." This week, it is the golfers themselves who are making that very same remark, about the course.

Westchester Country Club is a familiar, comfortable host for the final 2011 Champions major. "I would guess I've played about 80 rounds here, so I should have a pretty good idea of what you need to do under almost all conditions," said Jeff Sluman, who shot 6-under-par 65 Thursday to take the first-round lead in the Senior Players Championship -- a tournament in which the course, like the field, is a golden oldie.

"I played it for the first time in 1983 and like almost every tour pro, I fell in love with this course. It's just a pleasure to be back," said Sluman, who holds a one-stroke lead over Gary Hallberg and Peter Senior.

Westchester was a fixture on the PGA Tour going back to the 1960s, straight through the heyday of the current 50-and-over set. It did not prove as popular in the Tiger Woods era, and there was a split between the club and the tour after the 2007 event. There is no telling what the future holds for tournament golf here, but at the very least, this is one last sweet nostalgia trip.

Champions Tour golfers usually play on courses that are new to them, and often are benign. Not this week. "It's different, it's old style," Mark Calcavecchia said after having shot 69. "Almost everybody in the field has played here before, I can guarantee you that. We all know the course, and I tell you what, we got the meat of it today. The course is playing tough, which is good."

Sluman pointed out that the greens are different -- bent grass rather than poa annua -- and many trees have been removed. But it still looks and feels the same. The course makes you think, especially on holes that don't let you go right at the flag even when you are using a wedge. But it rewards good shots, resulting in Sluman's birdie putts of six inches and one foot on Nos. 4 and 6.

Jay Haas, who figures he has played about 100 rounds on the course, said after his 67, "All the greens have been redone . . . but basically it's 100 percent what it used to be."

That, from a vintage golfer, is meant as a huge compliment. Fred Couples, who shot 68 (as did defending champion Mark O'Meara), said, "I love Westchester . . . I can play here. I can remember shots I hit, remember how holes are played."

Calcavecchia said, after finishing with an eagle 3 on No. 18, "There are no surprises. It is pretty much what it's always been."

That, too, was a compliment.