17th Hole Bay Hill

[Christosterone]

Some people can birdie it

 

 

-Chris

[third-times-a-charm]

Some people can birdie it

 

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-Chris

 

Thats not Bay Hill

[Shilgy]

220 yard par 3 17th you say?

 

71st hole of a tournament you say?

 

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i missed the golf yesterday but based on the op it sounds like the pin was inaccessible to the length of the shot. Not the case on 17 at Pebble in your videos.

[Christosterone]

Some people can birdie it

 

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-Chris

 

Thats not Bay Hill

 

Haha oops

Let me try again

 

 

-Chris

[third-times-a-charm]

Some people can birdie it

 

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-Chris

 

Thats not Bay Hill

 

Haha oops

Let me try again

 

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-Chris

 

That is also not Bay Hill lol

[pheenomz4774]

If molinari was in the last group with a one shot lead coming into 17th we'd all be praising what a great hole it is not allowing a leader to coast to a win.

 

Exactly this. 16 is the great birdie/eagle opportunity followed by two potential blowup holes. This creates a great amount of leaderboard volatility amongst the final groups, just so happens that Molinari wrapped up this puppy before any of the groups got there.

[Christosterone]

 

Thats not Bay Hill

 

Haha oops

Let me try again

 

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-Chris

 

That is also not Bay Hill lol

 

Ok, one more try

 

 

-Chris

[third-times-a-charm]

Thats not Bay Hill

 

Haha oops

Let me try again

 

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-Chris

 

That is also not Bay Hill lol

 

Ok, one more try

 

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-Chris

 

Thats the US Open...so....also not Bay Hill

[the bishop]

That is also not Bay Hill lol

He was closer the first time! (geographically speaking)

[Christosterone]

Thats not Bay Hill

 

That is also not Bay Hill lol

 

Ok, one more try

 

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-Chris

 

Thats the US Open...so....also not Bay Hill

 

Ok, here it is

 

 

-Chris

[thesaxemachine]

Long par 3s are generally a snooze fest.

[dukeman]

There’s a big difference between a green that repels poorly struck or offline shots (Augusta National) and one that repels all shots (US Open Shinnecock). My personal thought is that of the best players in the world the ones playing the best that week ought to be able to hit a solid shot to the green and hold it. Maybe not suck it back 20 feet but at least hold it.

 

The 17th at Bay Hill was playing a little too close to Shinnecock for my tastes....almost no way to play at the pin and hold the green. There’s also no slope on the green so there’s no way to play left and use the ground to move the ball to the hole. There’s just no way for a great player to hit a great shot. Even Molinaris Shot landed on the front of the green and bounced all the way over the back.

 

In contrast, consider the right pin position on the 17th at TPC Sawgrass. A lot of balls hit at the pin will bounce into the water. Others will miss the green entirely. A smart player who hits the ball solidly and with the right spin and shape, however, can play safely left of the pin but use spin and the slope to get the ball close.

 

If great players can’t hit great shots, what’s the point?

 

 

[bladehunter]

Thats not Bay Hill

 

That is also not Bay Hill lol

 

Ok, one more try

 

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-Chris

 

Thats the US Open...so....also not Bay Hill

 

Ok, here it is

 

 

-Chris

 

That’s pro level trolling motor work !! Lol. Well played good sir !

[deadsolid...shank]

What course makes the 17th hole a par 3 anyway? Oh wait....most of them. Nothing says they've got to be easy.

 

Just thinking back through my three main courses, all of them have a par three on 17.

[tiderider]

There's a big difference between a green that repels poorly struck or offline shots (Augusta National) and one that repels all shots (US Open Shinnecock). My personal thought is that of the best players in the world the ones playing the best that week ought to be able to hit a solid shot to the green and hold it. Maybe not suck it back 20 feet but at least hold it.

 

The 17th at Bay Hill was playing a little too close to Shinnecock for my tastes....almost no way to play at the pin and hold the green. There's also no slope on the green so there's no way to play left and use the ground to move the ball to the hole. There's just no way for a great player to hit a great shot. Even Molinaris Shot landed on the front of the green and bounced all the way over the back.

 

In contrast, consider the right pin position on the 17th at TPC Sawgrass. A lot of balls hit at the pin will bounce into the water. Others will miss the green entirely. A smart player who hits the ball solidly and with the right spin and shape, however, can play safely left of the pin but use spin and the slope to get the ball close.

 

If great players can't hit great shots, what's the point?

 

sometimes you just want/need a brutally hard hole for the player ... you want the player to say "birdie probably ain't gonna happen, so how do i get par?" ...

[ItIsJack]

Theres a big difference between a green that repels poorly struck or offline shots (Augusta National) and one that repels all shots (US Open Shinnecock). My personal thought is that of the best players in the world the ones playing the best that week ought to be able to hit a solid shot to the green and hold it. Maybe not suck it back 20 feet but at least hold it.

 

The 17th at Bay Hill was playing a little too close to Shinnecock for my tastes....almost no way to play at the pin and hold the green. Theres also no slope on the green so theres no way to play left and use the ground to move the ball to the hole. Theres just no way for a great player to hit a great shot. Even Molinaris Shot landed on the front of the green and bounced all the way over the back.

 

In contrast, consider the right pin position on the 17th at TPC Sawgrass. A lot of balls hit at the pin will bounce into the water. Others will miss the green entirely. A smart player who hits the ball solidly and with the right spin and shape, however, can play safely left of the pin but use spin and the slope to get the ball close.

 

If great players cant hit great shots, whats the point?

 

This explains in perfectly. At Augusta a great shot gives you a birdie opportunity and a bad shot puts you hoping to make par/bogey. This hole is boring because a good shot ends up 45ft away and a great shot ends up 35ft.

[MidwestGolfBum]

There's a big difference between a green that repels poorly struck or offline shots (Augusta National) and one that repels all shots (US Open Shinnecock). My personal thought is that of the best players in the world the ones playing the best that week ought to be able to hit a solid shot to the green and hold it. Maybe not suck it back 20 feet but at least hold it.

 

The 17th at Bay Hill was playing a little too close to Shinnecock for my tastes....almost no way to play at the pin and hold the green. There's also no slope on the green so there's no way to play left and use the ground to move the ball to the hole. There's just no way for a great player to hit a great shot. Even Molinaris Shot landed on the front of the green and bounced all the way over the back.

 

In contrast, consider the right pin position on the 17th at TPC Sawgrass. A lot of balls hit at the pin will bounce into the water. Others will miss the green entirely. A smart player who hits the ball solidly and with the right spin and shape, however, can play safely left of the pin but use spin and the slope to get the ball close.

 

If great players can't hit great shots, what's the point?

 

Sometimes the point of a pin position is to NOT allow a player to fire right at the pin and to have to think of how to get the ball to it, either by working a ball towards it and letting a ball run out on the green or by using slopes.

 

Yes, the green was firm, yes, the pin position was hard to get close to, but no, it wasn't impossible to make birdie. 15, 18, 14, and 11 all averaged above par scores for the 4th round, should we change all of those, as well? Molinari made par or birdie on all those holes, Fitzpatrick did not. I would say the guy who played the back 9 better and managed his game won the event while also hitting some great shots.

[RichieHunt]

I think it's the best par-3 on Tour. It actually has one of the highest putting make percentages on Tour as the green is very flat and the greens are in great shape. You just have to hit the ball reasonably close. But, it also yields a lot of bombs to be made.

 

It's a beautiful hole with form following function in the design and it has the uniqueness of the beach sand. To me, it doesn't get any better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

RH

[MilkyButterCuts]

Tell you what though christosterone I'm still more than happy to watch those. Thx!

[the bishop]

What course makes the 17th hole a par 3 anyway? Oh wait....most of them. Nothing says they've got to be easy.

 

Just thinking back through my three main courses, all of them have a par three on 17.

Well that was pretty much my point in response to the OP. 17th hole par 3's are pretty standard around the country and no different at Bay Hill. It's just that BH is a little tougher examination than most on Tour so the holes are going to be challenging - even *gasp* the par 3's. I think it's a good hole.

[WidespreadPanic]

I don’t think it’s a bad hole, but in my opinion it should have been 190, not 220. With that pin it’ still takes a great shot and would be a tough birdie, but there’s the possibility of one.

[Janice_rossi]

Boy that didn't go as planned. What's with all the Tiger woods posts? Totally irrelevant

[MidwestGolfBum]

Boy that didn't go as planned. What's with all the Tiger woods posts? Totally irrelevant

 

Given you have been around here since 2014, (at least according to your join date) you should know that EVERYTHING has to do with Tiger on WRX, even when the thread has nothing to do with Tiger.

[KrazyTrain18]

Great hole with a bad pin position. From that yardage is nearly impossible to stop it close given the firmness of the greens. It is what it is, but I would've liked to see a more left pin. My favorite long par 3s have accessible pins.

[Roadking2003]

What's the point of a 71st hole of a golf tournament being par 3 which statistically 90% of the field cannot birdie?

 

Bad for golf, no reason to watch the 72nd hole. Just my $.02.

 

Why are you focused on par? It's just a number. If you want more birdies, make the 17th a par four. Goal accomplished.

[Roadking2003]

What course makes the 17th hole a par 3 anyway? Oh wait....most of them. Nothing says they've got to be easy.

 

Just thinking back through my three main courses, all of them have a par three on 17.

 

My club has four courses by three big-name architects and all four have a par 3 17th hole.

[deadsolid...shank]

What course makes the 17th hole a par 3 anyway? Oh wait....most of them. Nothing says they've got to be easy.

 

Just thinking back through my three main courses, all of them have a par three on 17.

 

My club has four courses by three big-name architects and all four have a par 3 17th hole.

 

I guess I had never really paid much attention, but it does seem to be very common. Now, the three courses I play the most in our new location, only one has a par three #17.

[Man_O_War]

for the money they make...there should be more obstacles

[third-times-a-charm]

FWIW 95% of the pros were hitting a 6-iron on 17 during the weekend as the tees were moved back. A few played a 7 on Thurs-Fri.

 

The other 5% played 5/4 irons on the weekend. I know Kisner hit a 4 on Sunday but have no idea why.

[cxx]

You got your NASCAR fans and your Formula 1 fans. NASCAR fans don't care how artificial the race is, just as long as there is a sprint to the finish line at the end. NASCAR does a good job of providing just that. F1 is racing at it's best. The officials try to stay out of the way and let the talent rise. Golf should be more F1 than NASCAR and a lot of the time it is.