The most
exciting hole in golf?
The Players’ Championship tales place at the
TPC, Sawgrass, Florida this weekend. The signature hole on
the course is the 17th where the green is almost
an island and any shot which misses the green is likely to
land in the water. Only 137 yards but a real challenge.
The hole
“In its brief history, the island hole has
become one of the most renowned of its kind in the world.
Each year it is the most popular among spectators. The
signature hole is a short length par 3 with a wide green
that narrows to the right side. The right side of the green
is protected by a small maintained bunker, which sometimes
will be a relief to players who come up short of the green.
Club selection on this hole is critically important; with
the tricky winds of spring, the Championship could be won or
lost here”.
www.pgatour.com
Looking for a golf-ball
Apparently they fish 150,000 balls out of the
water every year around the 17th at Sawgrass!
 Bernhard
Langer assesses the hole
The distance on the card is 137 yards but the
distance can be fifteen yards different according to whether
the pin is front or back. The wind again can make a
difference of one or two clubs. I have played as much as a
seven and as little as a pitching wedge. If the pin is front
half and there isn’t much wind it is probably a pitching
wedge.
The hole itself is not that hard when there
is no wind. The problem is that there is almost always wind,
often swirling or coming across so it is more difficult to
judge than if it is either with you or against you. There
are also so many tall pine trees that you may be sheltered
from the wind and not realise how strong it is. The wind is
the main reason that so many balls go in the water during
the tournament.
It is certainly an exciting hole. As you walk
onto the tee, the heart is beating a little faster. There
are always huge crowds watching. Whenever you see your ball
land on the green you feel relieved. But getting it on the
green is not enough. You have to be near the pin. The green
has three plateaus and you don’t want to be on the wrong
one.
The 18th
So having survived the 17th, you
walk off the green relieved? Perhaps not. Bernhard thinks
the 18th is even harder!
“The
seventeenth is a spectacular hole but I think the eighteenth
is more scary with water all up the left. On the eighteenth
you can bale out and take the water out of play but then you
will have such a difficult second shot that you are likely
to make bogey or even double. On a calm day the hole is OK
and only a bad shot will go wet. When the wind is up, the
shot to the green has to be hit with precision to avoid
going in the water. You cannot afford to be over-aggressive”.
Quotations from
Bernhard Langer are from Bernhard langer, My autobiography,
Hodder 2002
On the first day of the tournament
Bernhard shot a 5 under par 67 and he got a birdie 2 on 17!
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