Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Great American Golf Holes

Most of the most famous holes in golf are to be found on American golf courses. Three of golf’s four Majors are played in the United States, and so you can be sure to find some great golf holes on American courses. America’s most famous championship golf courses include the likes of the Augusta National, Pebble Beach and the Stadium Course in Florida. Golf courses such as these have famous golf holes, and there are plenty of other great golf holes on US golf courses that have not played host to one of the Majors or other PGA Tour championships. These are a few of the great American golf holes.

18th Hole at Pebble Beach:

The 18th hole at Pebble Beach is widely considered to be the best finishing hole in golf. That’s in golf, and not just the United States. This hole is a par 5 hole that extends some 543 yards from tee to the flag. Pebble Beach is a golf course located on the Monterey Coast and has a Pacific coastline which runs alongside the 18th hole. As such, the Pacific Ocean dominates the right side of the fairway from the tee up to the green. The green itself is also surrounded by bunkers for any balls that do not land on the green. As the finishing hole of the Pebble Beach course it has also been a great championship hole for the numerous US Opens that have been played on the course. This hole is therefore included in the book 500 World’s Greatest Golf Holes as the best 18th hole, and also as one of the great ocean holes.

12th Hole at Augusta:

The 12th hole at Augusta is another of America’s famous championship golf holes. The Masters is the annual golf championship that is played at the Augusta golf course, and one of the course’s highlights is that of the 12th Golden Bell hole. This hole is a 155 yard par 3 that is dominated by the water of Rae’s Creek. As such, this creek has to be cleared first before the players can cross the famous Ben Hogan Bridge that links the tee to the green across the water. The green itself is close to the water-side, and so any ball that lands on grass around it can potentially end up back in the water if the ball rolls the wrong way upon landing. As such, the Golden Bell is one of the key holes in the Masters where golfers can potentially add numbers to their scorecards if their ball lands in the water. It is perhaps the most famous championship golf hole.



17th Hole at the Stadium Course:

The Players’ Championship is one of the flagship events of the PGA Tour. It is not counted as one of the four Majors, but many consider the Players’ Championship to be a fifth Major that has always been among the highlights of the PGA Tour calendar. This golf championship is played at the Stadium Course, and the signature hole of this course is the 17th hole. The 17th hole is a short 132 yard par 3 that, to a greater extent than the Golden Bell at Augusta, is dominated by water. In fact, with the exception of the green the hole pretty much is water as it is located in a lake and the hole is called the Island Green. This ensures that the hole is one of the most exciting on the PGA Tour, and you can be sure that there are a lot of golf balls at the bottom of the surrounding lake!

These are three great American golf holes. The 18th at Pebble Beach, the 12th at Augusta and 16th at the TPC Scottsdale are all renowned golf holes at courses such as Pebble Beach, Augusta and Stadium Course.

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