In my last post I highlighted some of my best APBA Golf achievements from 2024. In this one I’ll focus on the lowlights. For comparison check out my post on the worst of 2023.
Adam Schenk (2023) turned in the worst scorecard in 2024, a 14-over par performance at Acorn Hill (Oak Hill) back in February. Schenk ties Tom Watson (1977) for the worst round ever relative to par in my database, which I’ve been keeping since June 2020. Weirdly, Watson had my best score relative to par in 2024, a 9-under round at Seaside (Pebble Beach) in June.
Acorn Hill took its toll on Nico Echavarria (2023), Ben Griffin (2023), and Victor Perez (2023) in 2024 as well. Echavarria shot 12-over, while Griffin and Perez were both +11. All of these scores occurred during my 2023 PGA Championship replay last spring. I’ve written extensively about that tournament and what makes Acorn Hill so challenging.
Also on the list of worst rounds in 2024 are Phil Blackmar (1985) at Gopher Lakes (Hazeltine National) and Rory McIlroy (2020) at Ayrshire (Royal Troon), both coming in at 11-over. A statistical breakdown of each of those rounds appears below.
Blackmar’s round at Gopher Lakes can be mostly explained by dismal putting (36 putts for a total of 38 feet) and a couple of errant shots that found the water. While no one in this group managed fewer than 30 putts, the bigger problem for the others may have been poor ball striking. Only Blackmar hit more than 43% fairways, and only he and Perez reached as many as half the greens in regulation.
Everyone in this group except Griffin suffered penalty strokes. Schenk was the worst. He racked up three penalty strokes at Acorn Hill over a span of five holes; two went in the water and one OB.
Here is my list of all-time worst scores relative to par with Match Dates in 2024 shown in red.
Looking at the worst rounds for all courses, the list is a lot longer this year than last, because I added several APBA courses to my collection. No matter how well (or poorly) I played, some round is always the worst. Take Maui (Kapalua), for example. My worst round there is 2-under par after playing it twice.
That said, there are some rounds on this list that were truly dreadful even though I’ve played the course many times. I’ve already mentioned the horrible rounds at Acorn Hill and Ayrshire, but 2024 also saw double-digit rounds above par at Bluegrass (Valhalla), Metro D.C. (Congressional), Palmetto Island (Kiawah), Peachtree (East Lake), and Trinity River (Colonial).
Here’s an alphabetical listing of the worst scores relative to par for all my APBA courses with Match Dates in 2024 shown in red.
Some other notorious performances in 2024 include:
- Fourteen different golfers had hole scores of 8 or worse. One golfer, Yani Tseng (2011), did it twice on the same day (12/4/2024)! In back-to-back rounds at Ayshire, she shot a 9 and an 8 on hole no. 11, racking up a total of four penalty strokes on one hole in the process.
- Angel Cabrera (2007) set the record for highest score on a hole with an 11 on no. 7 at Hoylake (Royal Liverpool), beating the previous record holder Brooks Koepka’s score of 10 on Seaside’s hole no. 18.
- There were nine 4-putts in 2024, six of them by LPGA golfers. The record remains at five putts set by Luke List (2022) and Keith Mitchell (2022) in 2023.
- As in 2022 and 2023, the “shortest” long putt for a round was five feet. It happened twice more in 2024 by Matt Wallace (2023) and Matthew Fitzpatrick (2019), bringing the total to nine players whose longest putt in a round is the same length as the diminutive Ayaka Furue. Shane Lowry (2020) set the record of three feet in 2021.
- Tyrrell Hatton (2023) had the shortest Total Distance of Putts Made in a round last April at 36 feet. Joe Campbell (1962) and Shane Lowry (2020) hold the record at 34 feet set in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
- The most putts in a round in 2024 was 37 by Anna Nordqvist (2022) and Kyoung-hoon Lee (2022). (In my opinion, APBA rates LPGA golfers too harshly when it comes to putting.) The record of 40 putts set by Bryson DeChambeau (2022) in 2023 remains unchallenged.
- The “shortest” long drive of the day was 245 yards by Sandra Palmer (1975) for the women and 270 yards for the men by Mac Smith (1963) and Colt Knost (2016) in 2024. These tied the previous records held by Lizette Salas (2022) and Irwin Hale (1971) set in 2023.
- In December Lydia Ko (2023) tied the record for most penalty strokes in a round. She had five at The Stadium Course (TPC Sawgrass). The co-record holder is Abraham Ancer (2020) who also earned five demerits on the same course back in 2021.