Course co-designer Floyd admires Canyons' shape

      Seated cozily in the safe, climate-controlled media center at the Tournament Players Club at the Canyons, Raymond Floyd spoke in effusive terms of the golfing masterpiece he helped design.
      "I guess if I talk about the course, it's with good feelings," said the 54-year-old Floyd, who puts the course to the test in the Las Vegas Senior Classic today through Sunday. "Every player I've talked to has made some comment about how much they like the course ... I've never seen a golf course in this good of condition. There's not a blemish on it."
      But Floyd also addressed the course's -- and tournament's -- unyielding curse: a bracing, howling wind that toppled tents, flattened fences and blew away Thursday's pro-am round.
      "Gone with the wind?" Floyd said with a slight smile. "It's going to be all right (today)."
      Accustomed to controlling the flight and path of a golf ball and the layout of a dozen courses in the past six years, Floyd shrugged off the blustery conditions.
      "I have no control over nature," said Floyd, who won the 1994 Senior Classic at the Tournament Players Club at Summerlin. "If it's blowing like this (today), we won't play golf. We've got balls blowing off the green, but I think it'll die down. I don't think it'll keep blowing 45 or 50 miles per hour."
      Floyd said that even if the wind settled into the 20-30 mph range, competitors should be able to navigate the 6,913-yard championship course with reasonable ease.
      After all, the Canyons course is designed to accommodate strong breezes.
      "When we started working on this course, we knew that conditions could be severe in terms of wind," Floyd said. "We wanted to build a resort golf course for people of all abilities to play 51 weeks per year, but we knew the seniors event was going to be here, and we wanted it to be a challenge to the top seniors.
      "The greens are relatively flat and very large to accommodate a lot of play. You'll be able to hit down (low) and run up without much of a problem. The course is designed for these conditions 12 months out of the year."
      Floyd and architect Bobby Weed collaborated on the Canyons layout. The course features dozens of trees, a few dramatic elevation changes and steep ravines, and a canyon lake. Floyd said all of the course's four par-3 holes could be considered "signature" holes and the 18th -- a 439-yard par-4 -- is a deceptively challenging finishing hole.
      But the climate is the players' most formidable obstacle.
      "Weather is the barometer for scoring here," he said. "When we talk about weather, we're talking about wind more than anything. The scoring will also be dictated by course setups and condition, and this course is in incredible shape. It looks like a nursery."
      Floyd said if high winds are expected, the pins would be placed near the middle of the greens and the tees would be moved in a few yards to shorten the course.
      "None of us wants that," he said. "It would be unfortunate if the wind is prevailing that much. One year we'll see this course at its best. Hopefully it'll be this year."
      Should Floyd seem overly optimistic, there is a reason. He knows the area's often temperamental winds.
      "I was out there (Wednesday) morning at 7:15, and it was absolutely calm," he said. "If the course setup is medium tough -- not too easy and not too hard -- and there's no wind, you'll see some low scores."
      Las Vegan Jim Colbert won last year's event at the TPC at Summerlin, beating Bob Charles in a playoff on the fourth hole. The wind was strong last year, too, reaching 25 mph on the final day.
      "I was out here during construction (of Canyons) last year, when we were dynamiting at 3 o'clock every day," Floyd said. "The wind was so strong we needed shields over our faces."
      Floyd, as a course designer, would seem to have the obvious advantage, particularly in an inaugural event.
      "With nobody playing the golf course, I might have a bit of an advantage in knowing some of the nuances with the design," Floyd said. "I'll know how I tilted a certain green. ... I'll know some of the subtleties because I built them."
      But Floyd said his expert knowledge of the course's design could be insignificant.
      "After one or two rounds, these guys will figure out how to play it," he said. "If someone can chip to within five feet of the hole or two feet of the hole, the subtleties don't matter. The best player usually wins, no matter the design or the conditions."
      Floyd said he still can be the best player on a given day. He has won 13 events and more than $10 million on the Senior Tour, including the 1995 PGA Seniors Championship. In a 29-year career on the PGA Tour, Floyd captured 12 titles, including the 1976 Masters and the 1986 U.S. Open.
      In all, Floyd has won more than $15 million on the PGA and Senior PGA tours. And he's far from finished.
      "My game's coming around," he said. "I've had a few mechanical problems of late. (But) I feel good about the way I'm playing now."
      If Floyd can master his own course and the desert winds, he'll feel even better.