ShotLink: The ins and outs of Quail Hollow

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Surviving the tough finishing stretch at Quail Hollow (18th hole pictured) is indeed cause for celebration.

May. 3, 2011

Quail Hollow Club, home of the Wells Fargo Championship, is one of the toughest tracks on the PGA TOUR by almost any standard. For starters, there's the issue of approach shots:

Courses with the longest fairway proximity

Rank	Course	Avg	Tournament
1	Quail Hollow Club	36' 1"	Wells Fargo Championship
2	TPC Louisiana	35' 11"	Zurich Classic of New Orleans
3	Plantation Course	35' 8"	Hyundai Tournament of Champions
4	Redstone GC	35' 7"	Shell Houston Open
5	Bay Hill Club & Lodge	35' 4"	Arnold Palmer Invitational

Courses with the longest proximity to the hole

Rank	Course	Avg	Tournament
1	Quail Hollow Club	42' 2"	Wells Fargo Championship
2	Plantation Course	39' 8"	Hyundai Tournament of Champions
3	TPC Louisiana	38' 9"	Zurich Classic of New Orleans
4	Aronimink Golf Club	38' 6"	AT&T National
5	TPC Blue Monster at Doral	38' 4"	WGC-Cadillac Championship

Only scrambling for par on the shores of Monterey Peninsula or St. Andrews is harder than Quail Hollow:

Courses with the lowest scrambling percentage

Rank	Course	Pct.
1	Pebble Beach Golf Links	45.53
2	St. Andrews Links	46.55
3	Quail Hollow Club	50.97
4	Aronimink Golf Club	51.14
5	Whistling Straits	51.54

Quail Hollow demands great putting:

Courses with the toughest greens putting outside 20 feet

Rank	Course	Pct. made
1	Quail Hollow Club	4.97
2	Plantation Course	5.88
3	TPC San Antonio	5.98
4	St. George's G&CC	6.13
5	TPC Sawgrass	6.18

Courses with the toughest greens putting inside 10 feet

Rank	Course	Pct. Made
1	Quail Hollow Club	84.23
2	Torrey Pines (SC)	84.29
3	Pebble Beach Golf Links	84.39
4	Montreux G&CC	84.74
5	Annandale GC	84.97

Then there's the matter of the finishing stretch, where par is a great score:

Toughest finishing 3 holes on TOUR

Holes	Course	Total relation to par
16,17,18	Quail Hollow Club	1.009
16,17,18	East Lake GC	0.608
16,17,18	Innisbrook Resort	0.598
16,17,18	Redstone GC	0.548
16,17,18	St. Andrews Links	0.547