THE 17th ... !!!! The Week Has Arrived . . .

Something interesting about the TPC back in 03' (I think) when Love won with his amazing round of 64.  That round has been credited as one of the most amazing rounds in recent golf history.  What I did not know (which I just noticed while I was doing some fantasy golf research) Robert Allenby shot 65 that day.

The only thing I don't know is how the weather affected Robert's round.  Did he go off before the weather started getting nasty?  If not...two of the best rounds of golf in recent memory were shot on the same day.  I would have to assume he did not catch some of the weather that Davis did...or we would have heard more about it.  Or...maybe I just don't remember hearing about it:)

DG,

By the way, I have been fortunate enough to have played that hole on 3 occasions now.  The first time I played with my dad and brother from the up tees.  It's only about 115-120 yards from there and a completely different angle.  Much much easier and less stressful by the way.  The pin was on the bottom front shelf.  I put my tee shot on the top shelf (in regulation) and had one of those Tiger putts coming back down.  I proceeded to bogey the hole with 3 putts.

The second time I played from the back tees.  It was a charity event and it was windy.  The tee was about 135 and the pin was in a similar position.  I took one extra club (because the wind was blowing but the pin was in front) and I put my first ball in the drink short right...and bought a mulligan (as was a legal maneuver in this event:)  Second ball I clubbed up again and this time I put my ball in the drink again short right of the green.  You were allowed to buy three mulligans for the round so I used up another one.  Finally I hit the green with a 3rd club up.  The wind really rips through that hole like there is a wind tunnel.  It's not easy when it's windy by any means.  Pros who go for the middle of the green should be able to hit it 9 of 10 times but sometimes they get greedy.

The third time I went was the same charity event.  I teed up from the back again and this time I knew to club up for the wind.  I actually took three clubs up and swung a bit easier to keep the ball down in the wind...which always seems to be blowing.  PW is my 135 yardage...so I hit an easy 7 iron.  I was on in one...and finally had my first regulation par on 17.

Yah!  It's a great course and a great hole!!!  Fun for all...I highly recommend it.  I have also been there on a couple of occasions to watch the tourney.  17 is crowded as you might expect but not just because of 17 but because you can watch the action into and on the 16 green as well which is the par 5.  Depending on your vantage point you might even be able to watch the tee shots at 18.  It's kind of like Amen Corner at Augusta.

The course is much different than Augusta though.  Most if not all of the fairways are lined with one of three things.  Mossy trees, water, or fairway bunkers.  Some of them are lined with two of the three.  And when I say lined I mean it.  The fairway bunkers are long (many are more than a hundred yards...most more than 50 yards long).  The fairways aren't near as forgiving in width but the greens are still pretty undulating.  It's a fantastic course and experience.

The new clubhouse is a spectacular improvement over the old.

i wanna see 'em all splash!...lmao...........

DG,

I'm a big Browns' fan.  I live in Atlanta now but I'm from Ohio.

I got lucky all three times and played for free.  My wife is from Jax and her dad is friends with someone at the PGA home office as well he helps run a celebrity golf charity event.  I have been down there twice to help out as my wife has been volunteering since she was a kid.  Most of the time there are some people who don't show up and they can squeeze me in the tournament when I'm there.  The first time I went was a gift from my wife for X-mas.  Some gift huh?

Anyway, it's a public course.  Unless you know someone there it's gonna cost at least $300 and maybe more the first time.  As I understand it you may have to stay on the grounds which is another $200 a night or more.  If not I think you have to pay a one time initiation fee of $100-$200.  They may have changed that rule but if you're a golf nut it might make for a good vacation to go to Florida and stay and play there one night...then maybe you can drive another 20-30 minutes down to the Hall of Fame.  Those courses are a little more reasonable although I have never been there.  You can rent a place at the beach in St Augustine or Ponte Vedra.

Normally I play a cow pasture in Atlanta each week because I'm cheap