Today, in Round 3 of my All-Time Greats (ATG) Tournament, J.H. Taylor (1913) and Harry Vardon (1899) had back-to-back chip-ins on hole #11 at Gopher Lakes (Hazeltine). Not only did the shots happen one right after the other, but they occurred from the identical spot–but using different clubs.
Both players were sitting at 450 R15, although Taylor had taken an extra stroke to get there after opting to play safe from behind the trees to his right. He hit a knock-down 6-iron that landed just short of the pin and rolled in for a birdie. Then Varner smacked a 7-iron that bounced off the pin and dropped in for an eagle.
Here’s what the set-up looked like (pin location #5):
Hole #11 at Gopher Lakes has proved to be one of the kinder ones on the course. A 606-yard par 5 with double doglegs, it’s averaging 4.73 strokes after 30 rounds. Only hole #8, a 176-yard par 3 has played easier relative to par (-0.47).
The back-nine at Gopher Lakes is very demanding. More on that after I finish Round 3 of my ATG Tournament.
Scott,
How many golfers do you have in your ATG tourney?
BTW I did a 3-round ATG exhibition tournament at Metro D.C. (Congressional) with Gary Player, Tom Kite, Tom Watson and Seve Ballesteros. It was tight until 2nd round Watson aced #13 to pull ahead. Also, the “little guy” Gary Player had back-to-back holes where he saved par with 40+ foot putts! Watson ended up winning by 4 strokes.
I’ve got 144 APBA golfers in my ATG tournament. I use this tournament to do a lot of the testing that’s done on the Game Caddie, although I’ll also play random rounds with other golfers and different courses to test certain things (e.g., wind effects, shots from special lies, hitting around trees).
Sounds like you got lucky with Player and his putting. His ATG card (1974) has only an 8.33% chance of making putts from 40-49 feet (assuming you go for it), and a 14.89% of 3-putting or worse from that distance! Ballesteros is one of the best APBA golfers at avoiding 3-putts. Watson appears to be the best putter overall in that foursome, statistically speaking.