Print this page  |  Close Window

By John Maginnes
PGATOUR.com Contributor

CROMWELL, Conn. -- There is a spot at the TPC River Highlands unlike any other on the PGA TOUR. While many courses have wonderful theater there is no other spot in golf like the stretch of holes from the 15th tee to the 17th green.

A shot of the 15th hole at TPC River Highlands. (WireImage)

EXPLORE THE COURSE

Unless you're playing for the title or you're having the round of your life, take out the driver on No. 15 and have some fun. You will have few opportunities in your life to say you drove a par 4 at a TPC. In windy conditions, the pros often hit an iron off the tee, leaving a full wedge to the green.  • Explore The Course,  here

What makes this stretch unique in its amphitheater setting is that from virtually any spot on the hills that surround these three holes you can see all the play on all three holes. To further the drama they are three pretty good holes as well.

As a player you leave the green at No. 14 and walk along a small brook up to the 15th tee. The 15th is a 296-yard par 4 that virtually every player on the PGA TOUR can drive. There is a large pond that comes into play short and left of the green. The pond becomes the shimmering centerpiece of this trio of holes. Don't be fooled by the yardage at the 15th. A multi-leveled small green with narrow shelves in the corners makes getting a chip shot or even a long putt incredibly tenuous.

Carl Pettersson made six birdies on the back nine on Thursday to shoot 30 on his way in and post an opening-round 65. If not for a bogey on the shortest par 4 on the golf course, Carl could have gone even lower. No. 15 played 21 yards shorter on Thursday than the eighth hole at Oakmont did on Sunday. Yet the stroke average on the 15th was over par on Thursday.

The 16th hole is a medium-length par 3 that runs parallel to No. 15, going back over the pond. Fans sitting behind the 15th green have a clear view back over the water as the players make their way around the pond to the 16th green.

The fairway on the 17th hole is framed by the same pond up the right-hand side. The dogleg right works around the back side of the pond, putting the water in play for both the drive and the approach shot. A massive grass hill frames the left side of the hole and wraps around the back of the green, giving spectators a clear view of No. 17 in their foreground and Nos. 15 and 16 across the beautiful pond.

It is estimated that 70,000 fans can fill the bowl around these three holes. Players have compared the atmosphere to that of a major. For the players there is an energy that exists from the raucous crowd. Many holes on TOUR can boast this type of atmosphere. The 16th at the FBR Open is considered the biggest party in golf. The 17th at the PLAYERS Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass is the most dramatic hole in golf. The amphitheater that surrounds that island green also includes the green on the par-five 16th.

But no other man-made amphitheater in golf includes an unobstructed view of three holes like we see at the TPC River Highlands every year. For the players it is like playing in a fish bowl. Most of the time players can block out the crowd unless they are in one of the final groups on the weekend. But occasionally there are spots in golf where the crowd is so large and so loud that their energy is palpable.

This stretch of holes at the TPC River Highlands is one of those spots. For the players it is a blast. For those in contention on the weekend it is an experience like no other.

This weekend, as things heat up, the echoes from the bowl on the closing stretch of holes on the back nine will resonate through hills of Connecticut. With the second largest galleries of the year it should be quite a spectacle.