Tropicana Magazine Mar-Apr 2018 #117: Edge Of Excitement

THE SWING
13. Whistling Straits - 18th par 4, 500 yards
or ‘Dyeabolical’, as it’s also known. A huge par four where
birdies are nigh-on impossible starts with a tee shot that must
avoid sand dunes, bunkers and a creek, before a downhill
approach shot that has to deal with often violently gusting
winds. The green itself is huge, inviting three putts-aplenty.
14. Royal Melbourne - 6th par 4, 428 yards
Designed by Alister MacKenzie, this horror forces players to
dodge a cluster of sculpted bunkers - so deep and vast players
must feel they are in the desert - as they try to negotiate a
sharp dogleg right. The approach shot can then be considered
relatively simple but then you get to the green: elevated and
so steeply angled from back to front than players have been
known to put off the surface entirely and end up in one of the
surrounding sand traps.
15. Augusta National - 12th par 3, 155 yards
The scariest par three in golf? One of Augusta’s (many)
landmark holes has been known to sink many a Masters
wannabee, guarded as it is by swirling winds all around, Raes
Creek in front and - of course - the azaleas which flower behind
the hole. Tom Weiskopf, four times a runner-up at Augusta,
hit five balls in the water on his way to a 13 here in 1980. Nick
Price puts it thus: "It’s the one hole I’ve played that demands
absolute commitment mentally. Wind or not, if you don’t have
that, you will pay serious consequences.”
16. Oakmont - 1st par 4, 482 yards
Oakmont can shred the nerves of even the steeliest golfer right
from the start thanks to its brutish first hole. A fairway that is
only 24 yards wide allows no room for error, surrounded as it
is by bunkers and horrible rough. Approach shots can be hit
blind if the effort from the tee ends up short, and - just to cap
things off - the green slopes front to back.
17. St Andrews Old Course - 17th par 4, 495 yards
The Road Hole is the most famous in the Open rotation with a
reputation as the toughest par 4 in championship golf. Drives
should carry 260 yards over the replica railway sheds to reach
the right edge of the fairway. Approach should be to the right
half of the green to avoid the Road Hole Bunker. Anything
long will result in a shot from the road behind the green.
Nasty.
18. Entabeni Safari Reserve - 19th par 3, 395 yards
The strangest hole in golf, and certainly the hardest. You
probably get a sense of what is to come when you board your
helicopter after finishing at the 18th so you can ascend to the
top of the nearby Hanglip Mountain to play your tee shot. The
longest tee shot on any par three in golf then takes almost 30
seconds to land, with a spotter on the ground being told the
rough direction of the shot before going off to search for it.
Incredibly, 15 players have managed to score a birdie.
TM | MARCH/APRIL 2018
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