The key to playing at The Concession Golf Club

Patrick Reed, Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson say command of the golf ball is going to be key as they share their first impressions and verdicts on The Concession Golf Club

This will be the first time The Concession Golf Club, designed by Tony Jacklin and Jack Nicklaus and opened in 2006, has staged a Tour event. The course itself features strategic bunkering and undulated greens, but what do players say are the key challenges they face this week?

Defending champion Patrick Reed was incredibly positive about what he described as 'second-shot' golf course.

“This place is awesome,” said Reed, who praised the condition of the Florida course.

“The golf course is in perfect shape and this golf course from the tee, it looked really wide but you had to have command on the golf ball. The wind will blow, you'll get some of those crosswinds. Whether it's water edges or bunkers seems to tighten it up. It's one of those that you have to stay aggressive, but at the same time have to have full control of your golf ball.

"I felt like putting was okay as long as you hit it in the correct sections of the greens. I was hitting putts from incorrect sections and they're doable on most holes, but the problem is when you miss the green, that ‑‑ it's really grainy, it's really tight and the banks are really steep where there's some of those chips that you think you can bump that just don't bounce and they come back to your feet. At the same time, if I hit a foot too far and it goes over the green and down another hill. It's definitely going to take some patience and creativity around the greens this week, but hopefully you're able to hit the ball well enough where you're not having to focus too much on having to chip around this place rather than hitting putts for birdie."

Rory McIlroy, who described the course as similar in feel to the Bear's Club, agreed that the main defence of the course would be the greens.

"It's a great golf course. It's sort of a typical Florida layout. It sort of reminds me a little bit of the Bear's Club. I guess Jack had a hand in this with Tony Jacklin. Sort of generous off the tees, but if you start missing fairways, not much rough and you sort of get into trouble in the brush and the trees. Yeah, it's good. It's a big golf course, undulating greens, and I think that's sort of the defense of the -- you know, they can tuck some pins away here and put them in some difficult spots. Yeah, I'm excited. It's a bit of an unknown. No one's been here before. But it's certainly a great venue, and yeah, I think everyone's just looking forward to seeing how the scores are and how everyone sort of plays the golf course."

For Dustin Johnson, the prospect of a new course is no longer daunting, but he did emphasise that control over the golf ball would be at a premium this week.

"Obviously any new course, the first thing is just get out and see it. Yeah, I mean, obviously with our yardage books and the way they chart courses now, it's pretty easy to figure it out even kind of before you see it. I played the back nine yesterday and then played the front nine today. So the golf course is really good, it's in good condition. You definitely -- you have to golf your ball, though, if you want to shoot some good scores around here."

And while the majority of the field are seeing it for the first time, there are five players teeing up this week who played the course during the 2015 NCAA Championship

But for Xander Schauffele, who was one of those players, previous experience isn’t going to be much of an advantage this week.

“Austin, my caddie, knew I played here," he said. "I have no recollection of what I shot. It wasn't great. I couldn't remember anything about the golf course or what I shot, so I knew it wasn't going to be very good.”

Jon Rahm, who has a much stronger recollection, has been back in the years since, and described it as a course which will test every part of the game.

He said: “We came to a golf course I've played before. We played Nationals here my junior year. And I do know a member, so I've been back once after that.

“It's great golf course. It's a challenging golf course tee to green, difficult. Greens are difficult. It's going to be a fun one. It's going to test every part of our game. Everything needs to be on, and I can't wait to ‑‑ much like we had a challenge last week, it's going to be another challenging week.

Asked if the undulating greens were comparable to Augusta, Rahm said the greens can be deceptive.

“I think it's hard to say, because the beauty of Augusta and some other MacKenzie‑like golf courses, they're deceptive. Sometimes they look a lot harder than what it is and you can use slopes to your advantage. This golf course right here, you've got a lot of like tabletop areas, right, where you hit a shot into the green and everything just runs away from the pin. A great example is the seventh hole, everything on the back right area, everything just goes away from the pin.

"So in some aspects these greens can be more difficult. If you can put the ball in the right spot, you're going to be able to make some putts. It's not easy. They're tricky, they're very difficult. Wouldn't be surprised if statistically they play as some of the hardest ones all year."

Also in the field from that week's contest are 2015 NCAA Championship winner Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler, and Thomas Detry, who is making his World Golf Championship debut this week.