Rymer Bites: Charlie Previews the PGA TOUR’s Rocket Mortgage Classic

Amid his final move from Orlando to Myrtle Beach, Charlie Rymer took time from packing to check in from Junior’s Diner in Winter Park, Florida, to preview this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic on the PGA TOUR.

Charlie Rymer here, coming to you from Junior’s Diner in sunny Winter Park, Florida! This is one of my favorite spots, right here, for breakfast. I’m just wrapping up a nice 10.5-year run here in the Orlando area, and down here doing the final pack-up of my house as we move to Myrtle Beach full-time.

But, with all that, I want to take a little bit of time this morning, while I’m having breakfast and before I start moving some more boxes around, to talk a little bit about the Rocket Mortgage Classic coming up this week at Detroit Golf Club, on the PGA TOUR.

I’m really excited about the golf course. It’s a Donald Ross design, a composite: 17 holes from one of their courses, and one from their second course there. And it’s going to play, I’d say, medium length for the PGA TOUR, but pretty long for a Donald Ross course. I’ve always been a huge Donald Ross fan. When you look at the PGA TOUR and its regular stops that go to Donald Ross golf courses, they include East Lake in Atlanta, and at Greensboro you’ve got Sedgefield.

Looking at the field, Dustin Johnson is there, ready to roll. The general set up for a Donald Ross golf course is pretty good most of the time. They are in areas where you don’t have houses right and left on every hole. And generally, you’ve got an old Donald Ross golf course: you’ve got a what I call an interior golf course, where you’re never going to have out of bounds on both sides if you’re a big hitter. That’s always a lot of fun.

The guy who doesn’t have to worry about out of bounds ever, Chez Reavie, is playing some phenomenal golf. He finished tied for third in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, and of course he picked up his first win on Sunday at the Travelers Championship in Hartford, his first win in 11 years. He’s the straightest driver on the PGA TOUR, and if he gets to Detroit Golf Club and sees that they fairways are narrow, and the rough is up, he’s going to be very, very happy.

But I think all eyes this week are going to be on Rickie Fowler. He’s the spokesperson for Quicken Loans and Rocket Mortgage, and he plays that role very, very well. His game has been coming around as of late. He’s a very consistent player, and I’ll be surprised if he’s not in the picture as we get deeper into this week.

And real quick. If you ever get a chance to tee it up at a Donald Ross golf course, the “Big Timer” (that’s me!) has a little tip for you: keep the ball between you and the hole. Generally, Donald Ross greens have slopes from back to front, and there are openings in the front. If you can keep the ball underneath the hole, you’re going to have the best putts. If you start hitting it hole high, you’re going to have the biggest breaking puts. And if you hit the ball over the back of the green, you’re finished.

All right, that wraps it up from Winter Park, Florida. Enjoy the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club this week!