Even the golfer who lost last year’s Dogwood Invitational on the last two holes acknowledges that the closers are tough, but fair.
The 17th at Druid Hills Golf Club is a hold-your-breath par 3 that is 225 yards to an elevated green with a bunker in the front right. Go short or right, and your ball may roll down the hill. Go long, and you’re left with a tough chip to a green that runs away from you. Par is a good score.
The 18th is a par 5 that stretches a pitch short of 600 yards. The tee shot is reminiscent of 18 at Augusta: a chute of trees that must be navigated. Only the longest of the long-hitters will go for this one in two shots. If you lay up and your wedges are dialed in, birdies are there in bunches.
“They are two of the more exciting finishing holes as far as lead changes can go,” Georgia Tech’s Anders Albertson said.
Albertson lost last year’s Dogwood after he bogeyed 17 when his tee shot came up short of the green. A poor flop shot followed. The mistakes dropped him into a tie with Stanford’s Andrew Yun, who made a three-foot birdie putt on 18 to win the tournament. Albertson’s 25-foot tying birdie putt on 18 came up six inches short.
“You can have birdies and bogeys there,” Albertson said. “It’s a good way to end the round and a good way to end the tournament.”
Edward Toledano, the tournament’s director, said the challenge of the two holes actually starts earlier. Many of the preceding holes, starting with the 352-yard par-4 No. 12, offer birdies. Nos. 13 (187-yard par 3) and 14 (512-yard par 5) played below par last year, followed by two more short par 4s at 15 and 16. No. 15, 376 yards long, played above par (4.151) and No. 16, 352 yards, played below (3.921).
Used to chances to post red numbers, the golfers suddenly must change their plan when they reach the 17 tee box. The hole, the longest par 3 on the course, was the fourth hardest in last year’s tournament and second-hardest among the four par 3s with a 3.203 average.
“It’s a good par 3,” Georgia’s Russell Henley said. “It’s fair, but it kind of comes out of nowhere. You hit wedges all day and you have to pull out a 3- or 4-iron. They always put pretty tough pin locations, so it’s where you miss it [that’s important].”
The course was redesigned in 2004, and No. 17 was an integral part of the changes. Bob Cupp, the architect of the redesign, in his notes wrote that a proper re-working of the hole “could be another piece of the puzzle in the credibility of the course.”
The hole was lengthened by almost 30 yards and tee boxes were added. During the Dogwood, 17 can play anywhere from 185 yards to 235, as much as a four-club difference.
“That can be a pretty big swing hole, as I found out last year,” Albertson said.
There wasn’t much done to 18, other than a lengthening from 520 to 579 yards and to improve the landing area of the tee shots so that golfers have a chance a view the green with their second shot. The approach shot is beautifully framed with the Druid Hills clubhouse in the background.
Competitors likely will use a giant antenna that’s part of the skyline as an aiming point for the second shots. It played slightly below par last year (4.897) as the fourth-easiest hole. Like 17, the tee boxes can be shifted, this time by as much as 50 yards forward, to give the golfers different challenges.
“That’s the excitement that we try to create,” Toledano said.
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