Silly that 16 at Bay Hill is a par 5.

[mike_malone]

It ain’t a five but I don’t care about par. What’s the point?

[Kalen Braley]

It ain’t a five but I don’t care about par. What’s the point?

You're right Mike, and if tiger wins this after that OB, it would be another legendary feather in his cap.

[Kalen Braley]

I was thinking, how hard would it be to fire up one of Arnie's tractors and push some dirt out into that pond for another tee 50 yards back?  That would be a cool spot to both watch the action on 18 and for the fans to get a sneak preview of the guys coming home!!


Make Bay Hill Great Again!

[Ronald Montesano]

Build a tee on a pile of old automobiles #Cooperstown #Otesaga

[Kalen Braley]

Well Ron,


If we've learned anything in the last month or so, there's no use limiting the ball flight or otherwise.  The solution is to make Golf Great Again by continuing to disfigure courses Joan Rivers style!! 

[Frank M]

It ain’t a five but I don’t care about par. What’s the point?

Mike I'm a bit confused. Your title calls the hole silly and then your post says you don't care about par? Anyway, I have no problem with it exactly as it is. Why is it that we generally feel the need to define a hole based on what players (in this case the very best) score on the hole or how easily the hole is to reach in two? I feel it's a fine par-5 at a critical point in the round which makes for a lot of interesting scenarios.

[mike_malone]

Frank,
 I think I’m saying this is a good example of the silliness of par since players are inside 150 yards for their second.
 I just find it annoying that a hole is called the easiest based on the play to par. I would much rather hear that a hole has the least or most stroke dispersion. That might tell me more about how interesting it is.

[jeffwarne]

I was thinking, how hard would it be to fire up one of Arnie's tractors and push some dirt out into that pond for another tee 50 yards back?  That would be a cool spot to both watch the action on 18 and for the fans to get a sneak preview of the guys coming home!!


Make Bay Hill Great Again!

so they can hit 9 iron in? ---Rory had 119 in


Random thoughts


Notice guys who can't hit their drivers don't have to? (Stenson, Woods)


Par 4 tees on tour are littered with divots.


An announcer called a 441 yard par 4 "short" today.


Do the yahoos who supposedly watch the PGA tour for long drives get excited when the pros hit irons off 1/2 the tees now?


Tiger just went 54 for 54 on putts inside 9 feet for the week-anyone still think super fast greens(and the corresponding green design and pins that go with them) are harder for elite players?

[Peter Flory]

Here is Tiger's quote regarding his OB shot. 
"I wasn't committed to what I was going to do,'' Woods said. "If I hit a driver, I have to fit it with a cut. Back of my mind, I said, 'Why don't you just bomb it over the top?' It's only like 320 [yards] to carry, and as hot as it is, the ball's flying. Or just hit a 3-wood straight away, don't do anything. It's going to go 310, 315 as hot as it right now, and that's going to leave me an 8-iron.

only" like 320 yards to carry.  And this is from a guy who couldn't get out of bed without help for 6 months.  And he's thinking that a 3-wood will leave him an 8 iron.

[Jeff Schley]

I agree, courses change par from 5 to 4 on tour, especially majors regularly.  This should be one case in point IMO. Kind of embarrassing as the easiest hole: The par-5 16th hole, which played to a stroke average of 4.354. This will put it into the 5 easiest par 5's played all year.  I have no problem with par 5's being scoring opportunities, but when guys have 150 or less into a par 5, that seems like just change the par as opposed to putting in new tees.

[Jim Nugent]

I was thinking, how hard would it be to fire up one of Arnie's tractors and push some dirt out into that pond for another tee 50 yards back?  That would be a cool spot to both watch the action on 18 and for the fans to get a sneak preview of the guys coming home!!


Make Bay Hill Great Again!

so they can hit 9 iron in? ---Rory had 119 in

His drive landed on a down slope, which gave him 50 yards or more of roll.  If they move the tee back as Kalen suggests, I think he could not carry the trap, would land on a slight uphill, and might face a shot that is 100 yards longer than yesterday's. 

[archie_struthers]

 




You go Mike , par 4 or 5 who cares!

[John Kavanaugh]

So you want to change the one hole that cost Tiger the tournament? It he hole was 50 yards longer it probably would have been a more exciting finish. You guys are on to something. Nothing harder than a hole that you have to birdie, no matter how easy it is.


Did you see those old guys in black jackets congratulating the players at the end of the tournament. Now that Arnie's gone they are probably looking for someone to tell them what to do. Have at it.

[mike_malone]

When I say that is silly that is a par five I don’t mean it should be a four or lengthened.  I mean we should stop talking about the par of the hole because it is the least important thing about the hole. As I said if they gave the dispersion of strokes instead we might know how interesting 16 is relative to other holes.

[Kalen Braley]

I was looking at google maps yesterday while watching the tourney.  The walk from 15 green to that back tee is already long, ~125 yards.  Since that hole is already a joke, seems the perfect one to take a step further.


Forget earth moving....they could put in a floating island tee, take a boat ride out to it, while sipping a fully octaned Arnold Palmer!


Sure it'd be different, but the golfing world seems to have already accepted the madness of 16 at TPC Scottsdale, would you not be entertained? 


P.S.  And if they install one like at Couer D Alene, they could move it further out or closer depending on the day/conditions.

[MCirba]

so they can hit 9 iron in? ---Rory had 119 in


Random thoughts


Notice guys who can't hit their drivers don't have to? (Stenson, Woods)


Par 4 tees on tour are littered with divots.


An announcer called a 441 yard par 4 "short" today.


Do the yahoos who supposedly watch the PGA tour for long drives get excited when the pros hit irons off 1/2 the tees now?


Tiger just went 54 for 54 on putts inside 9 feet for the week-anyone still think super fast greens(and the corresponding green design and pins that go with them) are harder for elite players?

+1.000,000,000

[John Kavanaugh]

If you want to get stupid built the island tee in the image of an umbrella. The handle would make a perfect path.


In all seriousness, haven't any of you played holes where if you don't make birdie you feel like you failed. They are a different and very interesting category of architecture. Let's not try to make the game even dumber by taking any self induced psychological drama out of the game.

[John Kirk]

Yes.

The 1st hole at Stanford University is an easy par 5 opening hole, and an opening birdie if you're ready to play.  A par there was a bit of a disappointment.

For those who play Riviera regularly, I'm sure the same can be said of the 1st hole there.

During the broadcast, the announcers said the average score that day was 4.39.  According to this blog post, only one par 4 (Augusta National #1) had a higher average score during the 2016-17 season.  I'll suggest the argument that a 4.39 hole is generally a par 5 for the best players.

https://www.pga.com/news/golf-buzz/nightmare-18-hardest-holes-number-in-2016-17-pga-tour-regular-season

One more thing.  I don't have a better place to say that I loved watching the tournament yesterday.  Most of my favorite players were at the top of the leaderboard.  I love Tiger and Rory because as much for their fallibility as human beings as I do for their great talent.  McIlroy was incredible yesterday.  Rose is the quiet genius of the game.  I love DeChambeau, the wacky professor who plays the game different than anyone else.  Stenson is another player to pick himself up after adversity.  He has inimitable style, and a wry sense of humor when he lets his guard down.

Everybody was watching college basketball yesterday, but I was glued watching all my favorites battling it out on a course that rewarded great shotmaking.

[John Kavanaugh]

Eliminating birdies and eagles is just another way to make the 14 handicap feel better about themselves at the end of a round. It's right up there with doing away with the provisional on OB and lost balls. Every made putt no matter if for eagle or triple is a celebration because it was the very best they could do at that moment on that day. I've started rounds birdie, eagle, birdie and finished rounds 7, 7, 7. It's a great story either way. Why should only well played holes get pretty names. It's hack shaming.

[Jimmy Chandler]

So you want to change the one hole that cost Tiger the tournament?

So, let's do...ummm...math:


Hitting his drive cost Tiger 2 strokes. He lost to Rory by 8.


Sure, without that drive, Tiger would have won!

[Joel Pear]

I might be mistaken, but wasn't 16 played as a par 4 for a few years?

[John Kavanaugh]

So you want to change the one hole that cost Tiger the tournament?

So, let's do...ummm...math:


Hitting his drive cost Tiger 2 strokes. He lost to Rory by 8.


Sure, without that drive, Tiger would have won!

Rory made his birdie run when Tiger folded. Tied for the lead with history ain't like playing on an island.

[Kalen Braley]

So you want to change the one hole that cost Tiger the tournament?

So, let's do...ummm...math:


Hitting his drive cost Tiger 2 strokes. He lost to Rory by 8.


Sure, without that drive, Tiger would have won!

Rory made his birdie run when Tiger folded. Tied for the lead with history ain't like playing on an island.

Busted again John,


Rory's binge started all the way back on 6....hours before Tiger hit OB on 16.


https://www.pgatour.com/players/player.28237.rory-mcilroy.html/scorecards/r009

[John Kavanaugh]

Yes he birdied 5 out of the last 6 holes.

[Kalen Braley]

Yes he birdied 5 out of the last 6 holes.

Rory was already at -13 before he set foot on the back 9 on Sunday....Tiger never got past -12.


Myth Busted!