ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – The 17th at the Old Course is known the world over as one of the toughest par 4s in golf. This week, however, at the Ricoh Women’s British Open it’s known as one of the easiest par 5s.
“Wait, No. 17 is a par 5?” Aree Song asked Wednesday while standing behind the first tee. “Are we on the same course?”
Song pulled out her yardage book and then asked her caddie, who confirmed that the ladies are indeed playing the Road Hole as a par 5.
“It should be a par 4 because you can reach it with a 5-iron,” Song said.
Actually, Southern California sophomore Belen Mozo hit it with an 8 iron Tuesday and Louise Stahle hit 7-iron. Jonathan Scott said his boss, Laura Davies, hit the green Wednesday with a “cheeky” 6-iron. She then two-putted form 35 feet, turned to Scott and said “first birdie of the day.”
Davies, who played her first full round at St. Andrews in today’s pro-am, isn’t bothered by the change. But there will be an asterisk by the hole this week in the minds of traditionalists. (And on a track known as the Old Course, well, it stands to reason that old-school thinking should prevail.)
Yes, 453 yard par-4s are not the norm at a women’s event. But this is the Home of Golf, where certain things like par are no longer arbitrary, but sacred. (By the way, the par-4 second hole at the U.S. Women’s Open last month checked in at 450 yards.)
Susan Simpson, director of championships for the Ladies Golf Union, said the powers that be bantered around a bit on making the decision. Moving to a forward tee was not an option since they wanted to preserve the unique feature of driving over a building attached to the Old Course Hotel (optimum aiming target is the letter of your choice on the “Old Course Hotel” sign).
In the end, Simpson said the decision to bump it up to a par 5 was made because officials were more concerned about the degree of skill required for the second shot rather than the distance.
In other words, the women can’t handle it.
Suzann Pettersen disagrees.
“Why wouldn’t we be able to play it as a par 4?” she asks. “We’re good enough.”
Pettersen hit 4-iron into the green Wednesday but hit wedge into it downwind the day before. Even Mi Hyun Kim, one of the shortest players on tour, hit 7-wood to the back of the green.
Kim dropped a few balls on the road and experimented hitting different shots. Her caddie said the locals suggest using a hybrid or a putter. Kim tried to metal wood but preferred her wedge.
Plenty of players will be looking to find the front right portion of the green, clear of any danger and hope for a two-putt. Others will try and go long left – anything past the pot bunker – if the pin is toward that side of the green (which it will be on several days).
Why mess with over the green like Tom Watson in 1984, who hit 2-iron and and landed against the stone wall? (Former LPGA commissioner Ty Votaw hit one off the wall in today’s pro-am round and nearly made it on the green.) Why risk dumping it into to the Road Hole bunker like David Duval in 2000 and walking off with an eight?
Lorena Ochoa plans to play it safe, hitting 3-wood off the tee and then aiming front right. Her caddie, Dave Brooker, feels the hole loses some of its drama as a par 5. He joked with Ochoa that every time she makes a five on the 17th she’s really making bogey. Count him as a traditionalist.
Annika Sorenstam’s caddie, Terry McNamara, feels the same way.
“I think par 73 doesn’t sound right,” McNamara said. “Let it be 72 and whatever you get (on No. 17) you get.”
It should be pointed out that the premiere women’s amateur event held at the Old Course, the St. Rule Trophy, plays the 17th as a par 5. In fact, the course is a par 76 that week. But who really knows that outside of Britain?
Besides, this isn’t an amateur competition. Let the greatest female players in the world step up the challenge. If it’s straight into the wind one day, so be it. That’s part of the fun of the Old Course.
Simpson said she hasn’t heard any complaints from players about playing the hole differently than the men: “It’s a birdie opportunity for them and I’m sure they’re delighted.”
That’s true for players like Kim – “I want the par 5. I want birdie.” But not everyone is so quick to put history aside.
“It’s a par-5 this week? This is one of the things they shouldn’t have done,” Helen Alfredsson said. “We’re playing the British Open, and it’s the best par-4 in the world, and they should have left it that way.”
These women can handle it.
Posted: 8/1/2007
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