SAUGERTIES, N.Y. \u2014 Even the best players in the world admit they have nightmares thinking about the par-3 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass during The Players Championship on the PGA Tour. Many rounds have been ruined as players have dunked their tee shots into the water that surrounds the infamous island green at the Pete Dye-designed course.<\/p>\n
The 62 players competing in the qualifier for the 75th annual Ulster County Men\u2019s Amateur Golf Championship (The Herdegen) at The Swan Country Club will have a similar challenge when they approach the 485-yard par-5 eighth hole on Saturday, June 6.<\/p>\n
When players finish the par-3 seventh hole, they will have a short walk or ride to the eighth tee box on the course\u2019s treacherous signature hole designed by golf course architect Barry Jordan. Situated on the highest point of the property, golfers\u2019 tee shots must avoid out of bounds to the left and a huge pond on the right on the severe downhill hole with a sharp dogleg to the right.<\/p>\n
At last year\u2019s qualifier at the Saugerties public course, there were nine scores of 10 or higher on the eighth hole.<\/p>\n
Swan Country Club head pro Andrew DeForest offered his advice on how to play the hole in an interview with the Freeman on Tuesday, June 4. DeForest generously agreed to play the hole for the Freeman, even though he had just hopped out of his car after a two-hour drive back from a qualifier for the 104th Westchester Open at Redding Country Club in Redding, Conn.<\/p>\n
The long-hitting DeForest, who eagled the hole while shooting a course-record 59 at The Swan on Aug. 22, 2024, said the carry to the widest part of the fairway is 220 yards. He estimated the fairway is about 40 to 45 yards wide at that point.<\/p>\n
The hole plays slightly shorter due to the dramatic elevation change to the fairway below. There is a fairway bunker short of the water that could prevent a ball from going into the water. There are also a series of fairway bunkers that guard the right side of the fairway.<\/p>\n
DeForest said one mistake golfers can\u2019t make is hitting the ball left out of bounds, which is a two-stroke penalty. He said that could start a chain of events that could lead to a disastrous score.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe big mistake is missing it left,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you hit it in the water, you can take a drop, then lay up and put it on the green and make a bogey with two putts. At least, it\u2019s not a 10 or 11.\u201d<\/p>\n
DeForest said the eighth hole can be intimidating to a lot of golfers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt looks tight and for most guys they have to hit driver because it is 220,\u201d he said of the carry to the widest part of fairway. \u201cHitting it 200 yards isn\u2019t really an option since it is so tight there.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, DeForest hit a 5-wood down the left side of the fairway. He then knocked a 6-iron on the green and made a curling 15-footer for eagle.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that was the first take,\u201d DeForest laughed.<\/p>\n
The par-4 sixth hole is another risk\/reward hole that can yield a birdie or a high score.<\/p>\n
The extreme dogleg hole to the right can be driven, but it\u2019s risky going for the green with a hazard and bunkers guarding the putting surface.<\/p>\n
DeForest said the more prudent play is to play the hole conservatively by hitting the fairway straight ahead and then pitching to the green.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can hand anyone in the field a 170-yard club and then a 110-yard club and they\u2019re not going to make more than a bogey,\u201d DeForest said. \u201cBut they try to challenge the traps and try to go for the green and that brings in bigger numbers. We have a lot of holes like that here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last year, golfers who carded a score of 16-over 86 or better at The Swan qualifier made it to the first round of the 54-hole championship. There are 35 qualifying spots available.<\/p>\n
DeForest said big numbers on holes like No. 8 at The Swan can cost potential qualifiers dearly.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust don\u2019t make doubles or above and you\u2019ll be fine,\u201d DeForest said. \u201cEveryone can make six to nine pars or a birdie or two. It\u2019s the big ones that get you. It\u2019s a qualifier. The goal is to qualify, not to necessarily win. That\u2019s a nice treat if you win.\u201d<\/p>\n
The course will measure slightly over 6,000 yards for Saturday\u2019s qualifier. Four par-3s (Nos. 2, 10, 12 and 16) will be played from the white tees rather than the championship tees. There will be a new tee for the Herdegen qualifiers on the par-3 ninth that extends the hole to 170 yards.<\/p>\n
DeForest is happy with the condition of the course for the qualifier, which begins with the first group teeing off at 10:30 a.m.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s in prime condition,\u201d DeForest said. \u201c(Golf course superintendent) Brent Powlison and his staff have done a phenomenal job. It\u2019s year two for Brent and the first year as full-time. That\u2019s obviously shown. We have a great staff and obviously ownership has provided resources to them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAUGERTIES, N.Y. \u2014 Even the best players in the world admit they have nightmares thinking about the par-3…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[898,913,56,1315,914],"class_list":["post-15495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-players-championship","tag-latest-headlines","tag-new-york","tag-sports","tag-the-players-championship","tag-ulster-county"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}