Portal:Golf/Selected picture archive
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[edit] July 27 to December 17, 2006
Image:Road hole bunker.jpg
The Old Course at St Andrews, one of the six courses comprised by St Andrews Links in Fife, the oldest golf club in Scotland, dating at least to the 15th century CE, and, through the assent of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, the ruling body for the sport in all nations save the United States and Mexico, 27 times the host of The Open Championship and 17 times the host of The Amateur Championship, is a links-style course, known for giving difficulty to professionals seeking to score better than par, in view of its large putting greens, often windy conditions, long and thick rough, and deep sand traps, known as pot bunkers.
A bunker periperhal to the fairway and directly before much of the putting green of the course's par-four seventeenth hole, referred to as the road hole bunker, is considered to be especially challenging, having, notably, consumed three strokes by Italian Costantino Rocca at the 1995 The Open Championship, a tournament Rocca would ultimately lose the Claret Jug in a playoff to American John Daly, and four strokes by American David Duval during the tournament's 2000 iteration, costing Duval equal second with Dane Thomas Bjørn and South African Ernie Els behind American Tiger Woods, and, concomitantly, nearly $300,000USD.
In 2002, the bunker was moved back from the putting surface and was made more shallow, but the British newspaper The Guardian, inter al., raised concerns, and after much public outcry and a month-long inspection by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, the bunker was moved closer to the putting green and returned to within a few inches of its previous depth, with additional alterations made after that year's Dunhill Links Championship such that the depth and position of the bunker were returned to their positions of approximately twenty-five years thither (with accounting made for the effects of weather), such that a six-foot (1.83-metre) golfer will, if at the edge of the bunker most proximate to the putting green, be eclipsed by the rim of the bunker.
[edit] July 1 to July 26, 2006
Image:TournamentPlayersClub Sawgrass17thHole.jpg
The 17th hole of the Stadium course of the TPC at Sawgrass course located in Ponte Verda Beach, Florida, United States, often referred to as simply the island green is a par-three, 132-yard hole that, despite its relatively short distance, is known, when played during THE PLAYERS Championship, contested annually since 1977 at the Sawgrass course, as one of the most difficult on the PGA Tour, principally because the 78-foot putting green is surrounded by water and, in the absence of any playable fairway, must be hit directly with the tee shot, notwithstanding the winds that often swirl around the hole in view of its canyon location. It is estimated that professional and amateur players combine to lose more than 100,000 golf balls annually on the Pete and Alice Dye-designed hole, and even professional players struggle to select an appropriate club with which to play the hole. In part because of the caprice of the 17th hole, THE PLAYERS Championship has seen just two two-time winners–American Fred Couples (1984 and 1996) and Australian Steve Elkington (1991 and 1997)–during its 25-year TPC history. The TPC course has also become well-known for its having been the first of the 27 extant Tournament Players Club golf courses and for its housing the headquarters of the PGA Tour.
[edit] June 3 to July 1, 2006
Image:Presidents cup.jpg
The Presidents Cup, reflecting the Seal of the President of the United States from the floor of the Oval Office, is awarded to the team winning the eponymous series of international professional matches. The Cup, ostensibly named for American President Bill Clinton, during the term of whom the competition was introduced, pits a team of players representing the United States of America against one representing the world, comprising players from nations not eligible to participate in the Ryder Cup, namely those from non-European countries; each team is composed of 12 golfers and one non-playing captain. Begun in 1994, the Cup consists of 34 matches: 12 played on a Friday, six alternate shot or foursome matches in the morning and six better ball or four ball matches in the afternoon; 10 played on a Saturday, five alternate shot and then five better ball matches (two players from each team sit out play in either Saturday session, although no player may sit out both sessions)' and 12 played on a Sunday, all singles matches. The next iteration will be played at the Royal Montréal Golf Club in Île-Bizard, Québec, Canada; the United States having, under captain Jack Nicklaus won by three points in 2005, will be defending champion.
