A 'Wee Beastie' in Big Ol' Texas
Memorial Park's little 15th hole had sharp teeth Saturday
Years ago on a visit to Troon, Scotland, I was fascinated by a miniature golf course in town. Its holes were not of carpet or artificial turf but not-so-smooth concrete surfaces. One of them, where the cup was perched on a tiny mound, was labeled “Postage Stamp” after the real thing that is the par-3 eighth at Royal Troon, the Open Championship layout where the sport’s oldest major will be played this summer.
The real Postage Stamp is one of the best one-shotters in the world, a hole that can be naughty or nice depending on the quality of the shot and the nature of the wind. In addition to its famous moniker, the eighth is also known as a “Wee Beastie,” a description that sounds best when spoken by a Scot.
The potentially scorecard-busting eighth at Troon came to mind Saturday many miles away from its location on the west coast of Scotland. That’s because the 15th hole at Memorial Park, site of the Texas Children’s Houston Open, measured only 121 yards for the third round but posed a stern challenge that made it a Texas-style Wee Beastie that gave the field of PGA Tour pros fits.
No. 15 had a stroke average of 3.398 on Saturday, making it the hardest hole at Memorial Park, and its devilish ways made the last 90 minutes or so of the third round captivating golf.
Memorial Park’s little brute, requiring just a wedge of some variety, owes its difficulty not to a bunker with such a grim name as the “Coffin Bunker” on Troon’s eighth but to a perched green with steep slopes leading off the small putting surface toward a creek.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler finished the third round in a five-way tie for the lead (with Stephan Jaeger, Thomas Detry, David Skinns and Alejandro Tosti) despite a disastrous 5 on the par 3, one of eight double-bogeys carded there Saturday.
Scheffler’s tee shot looked good … until it didn’t. His ball pitched not far from the flagstick but the cup was positioned on the front. Scheffler’s shot had some spin, and his ball rolled off the green, down the slope and into the water.
“It’s a horrendous break, really,” Scheffler said afterward. “I hit a great shot and the ball goes in the water.”
But it wasn’t really a great shot. He erred where he shouldn’t have, despite the seemingly accurate aim of his wedge. There was room long and right. As exacting as Scheffler can be, and has been, on his recent heater that has him going for a victory in three consecutive starts, last achieved on the PGA Tour by Dustin Johnson in 2017, he made a mistake. It cost him.
“I didn’t expect it to spin back,” said Scheffler, who admirably bounced back with consecutive birdies after the double bogey. “I didn’t expect it to spin back off the green and I didn't expect it to be in the water.”
You wouldn’t want a lot of green surrounds to be as severe as is the case at Memorial Park’s 15th hole. I’ve written that Pinehurst No. 2 is now overcooked when it comes to the tightly mown slopes around the turtle-back surfaces, given the speed and firmness at which they can be maintained these days.
There didn’t seem to be anything goofy about the set up of the 15th Saturday. It was a short hole that could deal some punishment, even to the best player in men’s golf.
What happened at Memorial Park’s wee beastie was affirmation that some of the game’s best holes aren’t long in length. Think how Phil Mickelson ended up with his sixth second-place in the U.S. Open in 2013 in part because he bogeyed the 13th at Merion Golf Club in the final round, a hole that was playing the same length that day as Memorial Park’s 15th on Saturday. Remember how the 2019 Masters hinged on how the contenders played the tempting, dangerous 12th hole, and how Tiger Woods’ par there was pivotal in his victory as others found the water.
Memorial Park’s 15th figures to play a key role Sunday afternoon as it did today. Fun might not describe what the players will be feeling on the tee, but it will be apt for everyone who is watching. Long live the short, scintillating one-shotters.