Column: Montreux is better than advertised

It took no time at all to figure out why the PGA Tour decided to put a tournament at Montreux Country Club in Reno last year.

It took even less time to figure out why it decided to come back.

In only its second year, the Greens.com Open at Reno-Tahoe is bound to become one of the PGA Tour's finest. Its only stumbling block is its date on the calendar, which both years has been on the same weekend as the World Golf Championships.

It certainly isn't the setting, or the size of the tournament's money purse. That much was clear as I played the holes at Montreux during Monday's media day.

Montreux is certainly a challenging course. With pine trees, creeks, ponds and a multitude of bunkers lurking all over, the course's setup challenges the player to think about every shot.

Notah Begay, champion of last year's Reno-Tahoe Open, came back Monday and described the course's challenging layout.

"The consensus among the players here last year was that this is a quality venue," Begay said. "It has challenging holes that reward you for quality shots and puts you in compromising positions if you don't hit the shot you're looking for."

Begay went on to explain that good shots don't necessarily mean low scores, though.

"You'll hit a good shot sometimes and it doesn't work out for you," he said. "You have to be patient on this course."

Begay came back time and again to say that Reno's tour stop has a good reputation among the players.

"This has turned out to be one of the better stops on the tour," Begay said, noting that Montreux's newly built clubhouse will only add to the tournament's allure. "It has all the qualities you need for a good event. From the difficulty to the condition of the course, it's definitely in the top third of the courses we play.

Begay's comments weren't all that surprising to hear just hours after I'd finished playing the course.

Take Montreux's signature No. 17, for example. It would be an easy par-4 in terms of distance, but like most Montreux holes, it has a few surprises.

First, you're teeing off on top of a cliff. We played from the dark green "Montreux" tees, which are the third most difficult set to play from. When you line up to hit the ball, you're trying to put your shot in the middle of a fairway surrounded by trees. Also, a creek runs between the mountain and the fairway, comes around to run along the left side of the fairway, then cuts across your line again between the fairway and the green.

Compounding matters, you can't see the fairway below from the Montreux tees, so you're aiming more for a general direction than an actual location you can see. I had to have others in my group track my ball from 15 yards away just so I could know where it went.

Surprisingly, my shot landed on the fairway, so I was faced with a difficult choice: It was 250 yards to the green, but with the creek slicing the fairway in half, any poor shot would incur a hazard. I don't trust my woods in the fairway as much, so I tried a shorter shot with an iron, leaving me with a short pitch onto the green and a par chance.

Par is possible, but you could birdie this hole if you like to live dangerously. In terms of sheer beauty, this is one of the best on the course. The creek's source is a waterfall running off the side of the cliff, making this hole a scenic masterpiece.

Another great hole was the par-5 No. 6, which features a wide fairway and plenty of trouble. The fairway rides up along a hill to the right and tends to slope left after 300 yards, making it better to err to the right as you approach the pin.

Bunkers line the left after about 250 yards, forcing you to go right even more. I spent plenty of time in the bunkers, but that was OK - to my left was a beautiful set of ponds, and as we approached the sand hazards, it was quite a sight.

The next hole was just as scenic, a 120-yard par-3 that forced you to chip one over the pond and onto a small green. It combined with No. 6 to give you a doubly great view, but that view could prove costly if your ball strayed at all.

The par-3s were all difficult, including one where you have to drive more than 200 yards over a sagebrush canyon.

The fairways and greens were immaculate, and the rough was manageable, though it will likely be thicker when the Open comes to town.

Later, I could understand better what Begay was talking about when he mentioned the difficult balance between good conditions and difficulty. Montreux balances both of them well.

Begay showed his stuff on the par-4 No. 9, which will serve as the finishing hole for the Tour event. The fairway veers left from the tee, but it's fairly narrow and easy to miss. Begay did just that, going into the rough to the right of the fairway.

Were he on the fairway, he could have attacked the pin, but from his position he had a tough shot, with a deep bunker between his position and the hole. Begay attacked, and landed right in the sand.

Fortunately, Begay came up with a brilliant blast out of the bunker, putting him within 6 inches of the cup. He was able to tap it in for par.

Par isn't too bad at Montreux, as Begay proved at last year's Open.

The course itself, on the other hand, is way above par. That's one reason spectators came out in droves, and it's the reason you'll likely seen an attendance increase again this year.

Don't pass up on your chance to see this course.

Jeremy Littau is the Nevada Appeal sports editor.