“It’s a shock, the journey is totally different,” Viktor Hovland stunned by East Lake renovation

The first players to arrive in Atlanta to play the Tour Championship discovered the very significant renovations made to the East Lake course. For the regulars, and in particular the defending champion Viktor Hovland, it was a shock: the “new look” layout was nothing like what they knew.

“It’s a shock. The course is completely different, not a single hole is like last year. I feel like I’m defending my title in a different place..”

Viktor Hovland was blown away when he discovered the new East Lake, completely renovated by the architect Andrew Green for this 2024 edition of Tour Championship. The final of the FedEx Cup It still takes place at the same location, on the famous Atlanta course, but the significant changes, both in the layout and in the character of the course, are more akin to a transformation than a renovation.

In an effort to get closer to the original layout, Andrew Green’s teams have completely changed the appearance of the greens, making them larger and now featuring several plateaus. They have made the fairways more bumpy and have placed fairway bunkers and trees in the aggressive lines of play.

So it’s more of an old-school course, with more traps on the fairways and greens, that awaits the 30 qualifiers for this Tour Championship. The big game should be decisive.

We’re going to have to be more strategic on the tee shots. I like that.

“I know Andrew Green is a smart architect, but I’m always scared when you change a course that’s already close to perfect. We’ll see.“, worried Viktor Hovland a few weeks ago.

The Norwegian has therefore discovered the extent of the modifications and his surprise is total. “It’s pretty crazy to see how much they’ve changed all the holes without moving them. It’s almost like they’ve transposed another course to the same place. We’re going to have to adapt, it’s going to be interesting.”…”

Hovland detailed what the biggest upsets of the course have been for him. “Hole #1 immediately puts you in the mood, it has nothing to do with the old #1. It is much longer (510 yards, 466 meters, par 4) and the green is huge with lots of slopes, lots of plateaus, with different grass. And the rest of the holes, it’s a bit the same…”

The world number 8 is ultimately rather positive with these changes.

“I would say that the East Lake course used to not require a lot of strategy off the tees, it was all about the drive. Now you have fairway bunkers that can get in your way, with narrow lines of play, surrounded by trees. You’re going to have to play straighter and sometimes go for the 3-wood. The addition of those bunkers and some trees is going to force us to be strategic and I like that..”