The Daily Spin – DraftKings Daily Fantasy Golf Preview – RSM Classic
The fall season is flying by and we have reached the second to last tournament of 2019. The Tour will take a short break for Thanksgiving next week before 18 of the world’s best players return the first weekend in December for the HERO World Challenge down in the Bahamas. As is the case again this week, much like Mayakoba, the RSM remains in its original spot on the calendar. The field here stays fairly consistent from year to year as many of the players on tour are from the Georgia area and there is a long list that are residents of St Simons Island. Be sure to check out the Player Profile page if you are unfamiliar with all of the players who grew up in Georgia, played their college golf there or now make their residence there. I will note it often this week in my column when necessary, but it is still good to know when glancing through the list of players in the field. It is never an end all be all for me when selecting my player pool, but if I need a good tiebreaker when trying to decide on one player over another and it is a razor thin decision, I’ll typically go with a local player when available. There is usually a likelihood that someone local has played the course more often and have a better feel for the style of course in the region (setup/grass type).
For quick reference, here is a list of players who live on St Simons Island or Sea Island:
Jonathan Byrd
Harris English
Brian Harman
Zach Johnson
Chris Kirk
Patton Kizzire
Matt Kuchar
Davis Love III
Keith Mitchell
JT Poston
Hudson Swafford
Here is a list of additional golfers that played at Georgia Tech:
Roberto Castro
Stewart Cink
Cameron Tringale
Chesson Hadley
Matt Kuchar
Georgia Alum:
Kevin Kisner
Brendon Todd
Russell Henley
Brian Harman
Harris English
Keith Mitchell
Chris Kirk
Hudson Swafford
Other Georgia Residents:
Vaughn Taylor
Henrik Norlander
Zack Sucher
Charles Howell III was born and grew up in Augusta, though he went to college at Oklahoma St and now lives in Orlando. I am sure that there are probably a couple of names that I left off or missed, but it is nice to have these names as a quick reference for the week.
The tournament this week actually takes place on two different courses. This will be a theme over the next couple of months so best to get used to it now. I have not seen much chatter about it yet this week, but there is an interesting opportunity on Thursday and Friday if you are into the showdown slates. Whenever there is a tournament with multiple courses, it is almost always the case that one (or two) course is easier than the other and that is certainly the case this week. Golfers will play one round on the Plantation course on either Thursday or Friday and then the other three rounds on the Seaside Course. As weather this week looks to be a complete non-factor, it does not look like one wave will be favored over the other so you can likely just go down the line and build a Plantation lineup throughout the round on Thursday and again on Friday.
Of course, you are probably saying to yourself, doesn’t everyone know about this advantage already? For the most part, other owners will know about the course advantage. It will not be a secret that only you will know. However, there will be enough people that do not take full advantage of this which will give you a slightly bigger edge than normal in these contests so be sure to start looking at these contests. There are at least three events in the early 2020 portion of the season where there are multiple courses and we’ve had a lot of success over the years in winning substantial money during those tournaments where weather and course stacking give you a distinct advantage over those who neglect those added factors.
The Plantation course is easier of the two courses. It is a very short, Par 72 at just over 7000 yards. It was redesigned after last year, but it does not seem that any of the changes will make the course any more difficult as they took out much of the bunkers and changed the grass on the fairways, but the greens are still small, bermuda grass and play slower than the Seaside Course. It is an opportunity to score and if players do not get off to a good start there, they will have their work cut out for them to make the cut, though the winds look so calm this week, that it may not be a big issue.
The Seaside Course is where players will get three rounds in this week, assuming that they make the cut. As the name implies, it is a seaside course which is open to the elements. In years past, the winds have been a big factor in keeping the scores from getting too low, but that does not look to be the case this week as the first couple of days look calm. Make sure that you get a good wind check in before finalizing your lineups as things can shift at the last minute, but as of now, it should not be an issue. The course is a Par 70 and plays at around 7000 yards. It’s often described as a links style course with wide fairways with few trees. The greens are large and undulating and use bermuda grass. The one tricky part of this course is that the greens play really fast and are some of the trickiest on tour for putting. It is a course where plenty of players should be in position to score, but solid play with the flat stick will be a key to victory.
Key Stats
Strokes Gained Tee to Green: 25%
Strokes Gained Putting: 25%
Birdie or Better Percentage: 25%
Scrambling: 10%
Proximity: 10%
Driving Accuracy: 5%
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