Matt Wallace Sounds Off on Wyndham Championship Course Setup: ‘Not Fun to Play’

The Englishman took aim at a particular design feature of Sedgefield Country Club, which he thinks is “absolutely ridiculous.”

Not every PGA Tour venue is going to be a proper fit for every PGA Tour player. Some courses suit certain players’ strengths over others, and it can be difficult for players to contend on designs that don't suit their eyes. 

If Matt Wallace described Sedgefield Country Club, the site of this week’s Wyndham Championship, as “not suiting his eye,” however, he’d be putting things lightly. 

Despite shooting a 3-under 67, the Englishman did not hesitate to unleash his discontents with the PGA Tour’s last regular season venue of the year following his round.

"A bit pissed off actually with the finish. Playing nicely. Yeah, just frustrated. I don’t like this golf course,” Wallace said on Thursday afternoon, after making three bogeys in his last five holes.   

Wallace specifically took aim at the “runoff” areas around the greens at Sedgefield, which penalize even the slightest misses by practically repelling balls that don’t quite reach the putting surfaces. 

“The runoffs are just absolutely ridiculous and this—it's just not fun to play. Hit a shot out of the rough on the last and it landed on the front and runs backwards 40 yards. Like, it's just not great...It's too severe, so they need to do something about it.”

“I hit 5-iron into the last there and it pitches at the front and then doesn't go anywhere and runs 20 yards down, you know. I don't know, maybe I'm just being me and being a bit bitchy, but yeah, it's just how—it's just how I see the golf course. Runoffs in the fairway, you can hit the fairway and they run into the rough. I mean, I don't see that,” he continued.

At any other average week on the PGA Tour, the four-time DP World Tour winner could have made a decision to avoid such frustrations. He simply could have skipped this particular tournament, knowing that the course isn’t his favorite on Tour. 

But Wallace didn’t have that luxury. He needed to enter the Wyndham Championship, and now he needs to play well in order to make next week’s FedEx Cup playoffs. Wallace came into the week projected at No. 80 in the FedEx Cup standings, and only the top 70 make it to the first postseason event this year, which will take place next week in Memphis. 

“I'm trying to like it,” Wallace said. “I think the most important person here this week with me is my psychologist and we're trying to enjoy the tournament rather than what it produces. So great tournament, great sponsor. Just for me...if I don't have to come here, I wouldn't, but I kind of need to.”

With a strong finish Wallace might reconsider his fiery takes about the course. If the 33-year-old finishes in solo 14th place or better, he’ll move into the top 70. 

“No, I want to be here, I just don't like the golf course. I want to be here, I want to play here and I want to play well. Maybe I shouldn't say that. And hopefully if I win I'll say something different at the end of the week: I absolutely love this golf course,” he said.