Richard Dunn
NEWPORT BEACH - Listing the golf holes at Newport Beach Country
Club and providing a brief description of each one for the Toshiba Senior
Classic has become a Daily Pilot tradition for the Senior PGA Tour stop.
But, with a new twist for 2000, here's how the holes stack up in order
of toughness for the players from last year, including a four-year
history of each hole since Newport Beach took over as the host site.
1) No. 17 -- The course's signature hole played havoc on the seniors
in 1999 with a scoring average of .253 over par, the highest in the
tournament.
It's the most famous hole on the course, with Bob Murphy's 80-foot
putt in 1997 to win a record nine-hole playoff and Hale Irwin's
miraculous up and down for par in 1998 with the help of a bunker rake.
But it's also the most difficult.
In '96, the par three ranked seventh in toughness, then rose to No. 2
in '97 and tied for first in '98. It stood alone as the hardest in '99,
forcing the most triple bogeys (four) and double bogeys (eight). Last
year it yielded the fifth-fewest birdies (23) and caused the third-most
bogeys (52).
A massive lake creeps precariously close to the green and a large
bunker guards the front right of the two-tiered green. A second bunker
was added in front of the green last fall and will come into play for the
first time. Fewer balls are expected to roll downhill into the water
hazard.
2) No. 5 -- The par four ranked as the toughest hole on the course in
1996 and '97, and was fourth in '98. Before last year's event, the hole
was shortened 25 yards, from 455 yards to 430, but still earned the
second-toughest ranking by inducing the most bogeys (67, tied with hole
No. 9) and a scoring average of .236 over par.
The hole plays uphill and upwind, requiring a mid- to long-iron shot
to an unfriendly green bordered by two bunkers, but players should have
improved vision to the green with a new mound behind it, providing better
definition of distance.
In 1996, the first year the event was played at Newport Beach, Jim
Colbert made a living on No. 5, lapping the field with birdies in all
three rounds to win the tournament.
3) No. 9 -- The par four, dogleg right plays tougher than it appears,
because there's no reference point to judge your distance to the green,
while large trees guard both sides of the fairway.
It ranked as the second-most difficult in 1996, the third toughest in
'97 and the hardest overall in '98. Last year it spelled the most bogeys
