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With Liberty National preparing to host the Presidents Cup, Glen Oaks Golf Club gets the chance to host its first PGA Tour event as the FedEx Cup Playoffs begin on Long Island.
Often, when we head to New York or New Jersey, we know what to expect: large-scale, roughed-up golf courses, so often designed by AW Tillinghast or at least sprinkled with his influence, usually set up with the aim of hosting a US Open.
Glen Oaks is different. This exclusive club reportedly has no such major ambitions and they've ignored the brutalist charms of Bethpage, despite bringing highly-rated superintendent Craig Currier across from the 2002 and 2009 US Open venue to spearhead their revamp soon after Lucas Glover had won the latter renewal.
Currier was the driving force behind the transformation of Bethpage Black, which was rewarded with two majors inside a decade, but perhaps the most important part of his history is that he spent 1995 and 1996 at Augusta National.
Looking at pictures, it seems clear that Glen Oaks has been inspired by those years and Currier, while understandably keen not to admit to a full-scale copycat mission, did confess to the New York Post that some visual aspects, including bunkering, could be called similar.
"Architecture is kind of like painting - you can have 20 people go to the art museum and look at the same painting and certain people will have various opinions," added head pro Tim Shifflett. "You know, Bethpage Black is a great golf course, but it's a big, rugged look and it really fits that property. We feel that very manicured, elegant look, that's what was best for us."
The few professionals to have been on an early scouting mission appear to be unanimous: Glen Oaks really is a beautiful golf course, and once again Currier has done a stunning job. Charles Howell III simply called it "phenomenal"; Danny Lee hailed a well-manicured, "long and tight" track while William McGirt drew comparisons to Ridgewood, a former host venue of this event, adding that Glen Oaks is in "great condition".
At 7,350 yards on the scorecard and a par 70, Glen Oaks can also be called extremely long - one of two par-fives tops 600 yards, and just one of the par-fours comes in at under 400. Although a consequence of the landscape rather than an intended homage to Augusta, elevation changes and sweeping views across several holes are a feature, along with bright white bunkers and tree-lined fairways - despite the damage two hurricanes have caused.
When you think of long, tree-lined, par-70 courses you think of Firestone, while Golf Channel's , who has played the course, told me that it reminded him somewhat of Muirfield Village, home of the Memorial Tournament. There's a lot of guesswork attached to previewing an event on a totally new golf course, but perhaps Firestone, Muirfield Village, Augusta and Ridgewood will prove handy form pointers as the week progresses.
And now to the field. It is, as you'd expect, exceptionally strong. The 120 players set to tee up have had to earn their places and only one of the world's top 10 isn't in attendance as Sergio Garcia opts to take a break. The other notable absentee is former winner Adam Scott, who is done for the PGA Tour season, but otherwise this is an elite list and, as you'd expect, a top-heavy market.
Hideki Matsuyama probably deserves favouritism given the six titles he's won since this event last year, but picking between him, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Henrik Stenson isn't easy.
McIlroy might even shade my vote as he's more than twice the price he started the PGA Championship, where he finished inside the top 30 don't forget, and he brings form from all those courses mentioned to the table. At 16/1, odds we rarely see beside his name, it could pay to remember that last year's equally frustrating PGA Tour campaign ended in two Playoff wins and an US$11million bonus.
That being said, I'd rather keep things a little more speculative given all the unknowns and start with Patrick Reed.
A year ago, Reed ended a lengthy winless run in this tournament, producing the sort of brave performance we've come to expect from him under pressure.
What's especially interesting about the timing of the win is that Reed entered the final week of Ryder Cup qualifying in the final qualifying place. He knew, in other words, that he needed to perform to make absolutely sure of a place on the team.
"At the end of the day, if I go and I take care of me and do what I need to do this week, then Ryder Cup will take care of itself," he said early in the tournament, which he led after three of the four rounds. From an opening 66 to a closing 70, Reed was under the spotlight but totally comfortable, in control of whether or not he made that Ryder Cup side.
One year on and the comparisons are clear. Once more, it's been a very solid but equally frustrating year, one bad shot here or there costing him the chance to win. And once more, he's right on the bubble when it comes to qualifying for a team event - this time the Presidents Cup, in which he was disappointing two years ago and will doubtless therefore be keen to make amends.