The rest of the top five was the same as last year, although positions changed. Champions' gem remained solidly No. 1 because it continues to age gracefully. Born in 1957 as one of Ralph Plummer's most enduring designs, the Cypress Course has, indeed, stood the test of time, even though it has undergone periodic changes. The basic design has remained unaltered. Hopefully, we will continue to have great events at the Cypress Course in the future, because it continues to be an outstanding test of golf.
Nobody disputes that.
The PGA Tour pros who came to the Cypress Course in October for the Tour Championship and will do so again in 2001 heaped an abundance of high praise on the long, straightforward holes that make up the course. Nobody else was more than 10 under par. It's the kind of course you can attack. But even though there isn't a whole lot of rough, it can penalize you in so many ways. The signature of the Cypress Course is its greens, which could pass for football fields in size.