W
What do Course Records Mean to the Pros?
hen DUSTIN JOHN- SON was in seventh grade, he shot a 64 at Golden Hills GCC in
Lexington, S.C. It would have been the course record, but he took a gimme on a tap-in early in his round.
So Johnson went back the next day and shot another 64, this time putting everything out, to set the real course record.
Doesn’t it seem like pros can set a course record any time they step onto the fi rst tee? Is it still special to play a course better than anyone else ever has? That’s what we wanted
to fi nd out. What do course records mean to pros? KEVIN STREELMAN set
the course record at Carmel Valley Ranch with a 60, break- ing the old mark of 63, fi red by fellow PGA Tour pros Mark Brooks and Bobby Clam- pett. (Todd Southard’s 63 is offi cially recognized as the current record because the course was renovated since Streelman’s 60.) But Streelman still re-
counts a round at Cypress 64 69 Dustin Johnson
Point where he was gunning for the course record of 63, until the ghost of Ben Hogan intervened.
“After 10 holes, I’m 7-un- der par and starting to get re- ally excited,” recalled Streel- man. “When I got to No. 17, I hit a perfect shot right at the hole, and it catches a gust of wind and falls into the water for a double bogey. I birdied No. 18, but I’m convinced Ben Hogan was up there blowing on my ball at No. 17 so some kid wouldn’t break his record.” COREY PAVIN was deter-
mined to set the course re- cord at the course he grew up on, Las Posas CC in Camarillo. “I played that course doz-
Matt Kuchar
ens of times, but I fi nally got it,” said the 1995 U.S. Open champion. “I shot a 63. I don’t know if that record still stands, but it was big back then.” TOM LEHMAN set the
record at Royal Lytham with a 64 en route to winning the 1996 British Open. (That mark was tied last year by Adam Scott and Brandt Snedeker.) But the former No. 1 player in the world is most fond of a round at Wayzata GC in his home state of Minnesota. “It was a hot as Hades
that day,” Lehman said. “I was 2- or 3-under after 13 holes, and then there was a snack shack there. We stopped and just drank
lemonade for about an hour. I really didn’t want to fi nish. It was too hot. But my buddy in- sisted we play. So I birdied the last fi ve holes to set the course record at 63.
“That was certainly one way to do it.” DAVID FROST is a bit of
a course record connoisseur. The South African, who won 10 times on the PGA Tour, set the course record at Atlantic Beach GC in Cape Town with a 65 to qualify for the 2005 British Open, and then set the record on the Old Course at St. Andrews with another 65 just weeks later. (That mark has since been lowered to 62.) Frost also shot a record 65 at Colorado GC during the 2010 Senior PGA Champion- ship, and has rattled off course records at Randolph Park GC (60 at the 1990 Tucson Open) and Twin Cities (61 at the 2010 3M Championship on the Champions Tour). “You can never predict when a course record is com- ing,” Frost said. “You just have to go out and see what happens. It’s really a putting contest. The only way to set a course record is to make a lot of putts.”
Northern California’s Toughest Tracks H
ere are the courses with the highest rating and their corresponding course records:
• CordeValle (76.3/146; 7,327 yards) – 62 (10-under) by Will Mackenzie and Jim Renner
• Martis Camp (75.9/146; 7,756 yards) – 66 (7-under) by Chris Williams, Martin Trainer, Andrew Putnam and Conrad Ray
• Sevillano Links at Rolling Hills Casino (75.7/134; 7,353 yards) – 66 (6-under) by Lucas Delgado
• The Olympic Club (75.5/140; 7,087 yards) – 63 (9-under) by Jim Gallagher Jr. • Spyglass Hill (75.5/144; 6,954 yards) – 62 (10-under) by Phil Mickelson and Luke Donald
• Pebble Beach (75.5/145; 7,012 yards) – 62 (10-under) by Tom Kite and David Duval
46 /
NCGA.ORG / SUMMER 2013
But not every pro is loaded with course records. MATT KUCHAR, perennially ranked in the top 10 of the world, only remembers setting one, a 3-under 69 during U.S. Open local qualifying in 2006 at the River Club in Suwanee, Ga. “It’s not that easy to do,” Kuchar said. “I’ve heard people say you should never beat the head pro’s record, but I’ve never had that chance.” And even though LEE
TREVINO won six majors, he doesn’t own many records, though a 61 at Glen Garden GCC in Fort Worth—the course where Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson caddied—is memorable. “Course records didn’t mean anything to me. It didn’t help with my goal of survival,” Trevino said. “When I got to 4- or 5-under in a tournament, I wanted to just hang on and get to the house!”
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