Crenshaw's Fellow Player-Architects Compliment Colorado Golf Club...

...but is it me, or does it sound like it's killing them to pay a compliment to this week's Senior PGA host site?

"It's a good test," said Watson, who also designs courses. "It has great variety to it. There's plenty of room (in landing areas), and yet there's some toughness that you have to worry about. . . . That's the way golf should be played."

After playing Colorado Golf Club for the first time, Tom Kite said it's worthy of hosting a major championship.

"The golf course is going to stand up very well to the players. It's very difficult," Kite said. "There's a lot to know. We're going to have to kind of fly by the seat of our pants to learn the golf course as we go."

With the thin air, and depending on the wind and slope of the terrain, a shot that normally would require 180 yards might be 220 or 130, said Bernhard Langer, who already has won twice on the 2010 Champions Tour.

"It's kind of crazy," he said, "and then you have to figure how much the ball is going to run when it hits. But it's a great golf course, great layout, beautiful scenery. And some interesting design work."