TRIBUTE COURSE

Royal Troon 8th (Postage stamp) 🇬🇧

Par 3 | Stroke 7

Length: 104 metres

Royal Troon Golf Club is a magnificent links golf course located in Troon, South Ayrshire, Scotland. The club was founded in 1878, initially with just five holes. Royal Troon is home to both the longest and shortest holes in Open Championship golf. The par-3 8th hole (“Postage Stamp”) measures a short 123 yards (112 m) and is regarded as one of the top holes in the world, while the par-5 6th (“Turnberry”) extends to 601 yards (550 m). The Postage Stamp is a homage to all that is great about the game of golf and was originally called “Ailsa”, as there is a perfect view of the rocky islet of that name from the tee. The Postage Stamp is famous for the smallness of the putting green, which accounted for the current name when Willie Park writing in “Golf Illustrated” said: “A pitching surface skimmed down to the size of a Postage Stamp”. Some of golf’s greatest names have been licked by the Postage Stamp. Tiger Woods, in contention in the 1997 Open after a 64 on the Saturday, took six and was not heard of again. Also when, in the 1989 Open, Greg Norman got round in a then course-record of 64, only to get into a play-off – guess where he dropped his only stroke? The hole is also famous for a change in golf rules. When Roberto de Vicenzo finished second in the 1950 Open at Troon, it was a shot he hit here at the 8th that led to the change. He plugged it in one of the bunkers creating such an impossible play that he exercised his right, at that time, to declare the ball unplayable. He was allowed to go back to the tee with no penalty. He then almost holed his next tee shot and putted out for a three. “Not fair,” howled the golfing world, and the rule was changed. So if you end up in one of those pot bunkers try pulling a “Vincenzo” and see if your playing partners agree. But the rules say hack and hack and hack again until it comes out!

Augusta National 12th (Golden Bell) 🇺🇸

Par 3 | Stroke 1

Length: 144 metres

Now we come to perhaps the most difficult Par 3 in the world…the middle of Amen Corner. If you really want to know how amazing this hole is you must read Rick Reilly’s fantastic article in Sports Illustrated from 1990. Here we include a short selection of that article which is a wonderful feature on just one golf hole – Google it when you have played and realise what you have just achieved if you made less than a 5 … Rick Reilly wrote: “…..the best hole in the country is a hellacious, wonderful, terrifying, simple, treacherous, impossible, perfect molar-knocker of a par-3. It’s a hole you play with a seven-iron, a sand wedge and eight weeks of scuba lessons. The best hole in the country is the 12th at Augusta National. Everything else is the front nine at the Sturgeon Bay Night Links.” Lloyd Mangrum called the 12th “the meanest little hole in the world.” Jack Nicklaus calls it “the hardest tournament hole in golf.” Fuzzy Zoeller calls it “the spookiest little par-3 we play.” More green jackets have been lost at the 12th than at the Augusta City Dry Cleaners. So take aim, swing sweet and hit the green.

Augusta National 16th (Redbud) 🇺🇸

Par 3 | Stroke 5

Length: 155 metres

The 16th hole at Augusta National Golf Club has witnessed its share of exciting moments over the years. Along with the 12th at Augusta, it just goes to show how tough their back nine must be if these are the par 3 holes. Number 16 plays 170 yards (155 m) on the scorecard, but the distance varies by tee and pin placement. The tees were extended in 1961, allowing greater changes in distance. Hole-in-one distances have varied from 128 m to 185 m. The hole has witnessed 15 holes-in-one in Masters history, almost twice as many as the other three par-3 holes combined.
In 2005, Tiger Woods was in the midst of a mini-drought. He hadn’t won a major for nearly three years, since the 2002 U.S. Open. A surge at the end of the third round, which was completed on the Sunday morning, sent Woods into the final round with a three-shot lead on Chris DiMarco. That lead did however not hold and it took one of the most amazing shots in Masters history to give Woods a chance to win – right here on this hole. At the par-3 16th hole he hit his tee shot long, to a place where pars are seldom saved. Woods went one better, he chipped in, playing 20 or so feet of break. The ball hung agonizingly on the lip, stopping there as though pondering Woods’ fate against DiMarco. The only people shouting more loudly than Tiger seemed to be the marketing guys at Nike, as the tick logo seemed to hover on TV screens for hours!

”an African Redan” designed by David Riddle 🇿🇦

Par 3 | Stroke 17

Length: 133 metres

What can we say? Why have a nine-hole course when you have room for ten? So the African Redan was born. A redan hole is a par-3 on which the green angles diagonally away from the tee box, right to left (that is, the left side of the green is farther away from the teeing ground than is the right side of the green). A redan hole slopes front-to-back and right-to-left (from the front corner to the back corner), and is often guarded by a deep bunker fronting the left portion of the green (or bunkers left and right). The tee shot may play slightly uphill to a green surface that is partially or fully blind to the golfer. So it seems we got it right – but instead of guarding the front left with a bunker ours is protected by water. All redans are based on the original and first located in Scotland – the home of most things golf. North Berwick is one of those historic clubs that names each hole on its courses. On its West Links, hole No. 15 – a 192-yard (175 m) par 3 – is named “Redan”.  This green and its complex provide the model on which all other redan holes are based. But why call it a redan? Where does the name come from? As ever the answer lies in Scotland – to North Berwick again: “The name ‘Redan’ comes from the Crimean War, when the British captured a Russian-held fort, or in the local dialect, a redan. A serving officer – John White-Melville – is credited on his return as describing the North Berwick hole like the formidable fortress, or redan, he had encountered at the battle of Sebastopol.

17th TPC Sawgrass 🇺🇸

Par 3 | Stroke 4

Length: 125 metres

On to our last hole. Perhaps the most famous Par 3 in the world (apart from The Extreme 19th hole, of course). The fact that the green is surrounded by water makes it a potential “disaster hole”; the fact that it is the 17th hole means it can have a substantial effect on how good (or bad) your score turns out to be – just ask Sergio Garcia and watch his shot (shots) in the final round of the 2013 Players Championship – ouch! The “island green” was actually an accident of construction, and it was Pete Dye’s wife, Alice, who first suggested it. During construction, Pete Dye (legendary golf course designer) built the green where it now sits, and planned a small pond in front of it. However, more and more dirt around that green kept getting excavated for use on other areas of the course. Eventually, a large bowl surrounded that green. Alice Dye, herself a course architect, as well as a great golfer in her day, suggested to Pete that the bowl be filled in with water that completely surrounded the green. Voila, the island green at No. 17. The hole is relatively short – well very short actually – but has an amazing effect on the mind. It’s daunting at the end of the Tribute Course with only your playing partners for company. Imagine playing for hundreds of thousands of dollars, fame and fortune, not to mention being watched live by thousands and by millions on Television – that’s the type of pressure that faces those competing in The Players Championship. The hole has a history all of its own and here are some of the great stories plus some facts and figures. Guess how many balls are hit into the water each year on the 17th hole during The Players Championship? The PGA Tour has kept records on this since the 2003 tournament: 2013 – 44, 2012 – 39, 2011 – 40, 2010 – 29, 2009 – 32, 2008 – 64, 2007 – 92, 2006 – 67, 2005 – 68, 2004 – 30, 2003 – 29. If you think a double bogey is bad news, spare a thought for Bob Tway – the highest score at The Players is a 12 by Bob Tway in 2005. Meanwhile the only person to have four consecutive birdies at the 17th during the Players Championship is Paul Azinger in 1987. There have been only six hole in one’s of the 17th during The Player’s Championship by Miguel Angel Jiminez, Paul Azinger (he really does like this hole), Joey Sindelar, Fred Couples, Brian Claar and Brad Fabel. So, good luck – and watch out for the water!