This article is part of our Nightery Gaming series.
THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
RotoWire has partnered with Nightery Gaming to host contests for each PGA Tour event over the next couple months.
Powered by an amazing final round from Sam Burns at the Charles Schwab Challenge, user 67ss350 took first place in last week's contest!
I'm hoping we can match the excitement this week, and you can bet I will be following the leaderboard -- both on the course and in the Nightery app.
This week's contest is limited to 50 entries at $5 per entry. In order to join, follow these simple steps:
- Download the Nightery App and create an account: RotoWire on Nightery
- Search invitations for: RotoWire
You're encouraged to host a game of your own and invite your network, friends and co-workers. Nightery has a couple formats for PGA Tour events and takes the all hassle out of trying to run games for real money.
THE BREAKDOWN
Last year was the first Memorial since a massive renovation of Muirfield Village Golf Club. All the greens were rebuilt, some were relocated, bunkers were rebuilt, some trees were relocated, fairways were renovated. While all that was definitely noticed by the golfers, the course still demanded the same skill set as before.
Muirfield Village requires golfers to use every club in their bag. Course designer Jack Nicklaus wants to identify a worthy champion. Driver can be used because the fairways are very generous, but golfers will need quality iron play, deft chipping skills when they miss the green -- and they will miss some of the smallish bentgrass greens -- and a trusty putter on the fast and tricky surfaces.
Everything gets harder later at the Memorial. Holes get harder further away from the tee, the back nine is harder than the front nine, the final three-hole stretch tends to be the hardest sequence, with the 480-yard 18th oftentimes the hardest hole on the course. Even the par-5s -- where much of the scoring needs to take place -- are harder on the back than the front.
None of the par-5s is even 590 yards, so they are usually all gettable. We are looking at par-5 efficiency from 550-600 yards. The par-3s are long, so we're looking at par-3 efficiency from 200-225 yards. And with so many long par-4s, par-4 efficiency 450-500 yards Is another key stat.
Oh, and let's not forget that there's water on 13 holes.
Looking at last year, following the major renovation, Strokes Gained: Approach and Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green were still king. Of the top eight golfers on the leaderboard, six ranked top-10 in the field in Approach and six ranked top-10 in Tee-to-Green. Putting will put you over the top, but for lesser guys, strong tee-to-green play can result in a top-25.
THE DETAILS
The construct for the RotoWire game on Nightery is simple: Select 10 golfers from the field, which is grouped into different tiers. The best five golfers in your lineup add up to create your total score, with the remaining five counting as tiebreakers.
To enter, take the following steps.
- Download the Nightery mobile app: RotoWire on Nightery
- Open the app and create an account
- Search Invitations: RotoWire
- Deposit funds and purchase a $5 entry
- Make your picks prior to the first tee time Thursday
- Invite your friends to play too!
Lineups are available to be selected once the full field is announced, which is typically Tuesdays around lunchtime.
Anyone can host a game. To purchase an entry, you must be 18 years or older and physically located in one of the following states: AK, CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, IL, KS, MD, ME, MI, MN, NC, ND, NM, NY, OH, OK, OR, RI, SC, SD, TX, UT, WI, WV, WY.
