Photo by Preston Mack/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
Golfers at the D3 Women’s Championship this week faced a hole ruled unplayable
There are a lot of colorful expressions about what it is like to putt on the greens at the Masters. One expression equates navigating those greens to trying to putt on the roof of Volkswagen Beetle. Analyst David Feherty said of them once “[t]o play on putting surfaces that you can actually see your reflection at times is very intimidating. No question those greens make you sweat.” Steve Stricker said simply “[i]t’s just a tough place to putt.”
The competitors at the Division III Women’s Championship lived that experience this week at Mission Hill.
The 308-yard, par-4 sixth at Mission Hill had a hole placement this week that was so difficult, the NCAA Division III women’s golf committee made the decision to deem the hole “unplayable,” and shorten the length of the tournament.
“Throughout Round 3 on Thursday, and despite efforts to improve conditions, it became apparent that the pin placement on hole No. 6 … was unplayable,” the committee said in statement provided to GolfChannel.com. “After play was suspended due to lightning late Thursday afternoon, the committee analyzed numerous different options on how to complete the tournament in the time allotted.”
Video surfaced on Thursday night of numerous golfers trying to put on the sixth hole, but putts either coming up just short and then rolling back to the golfers’ feet, or puts even going past the hole, but winding back down towards where the golfer started the putt:
This is not the first time the tournament was held at Mission Hill, as the tournament wa contested on the course on seven previous occasions. According to one coach, who spoke with GolfChannel.com, NCAA officials — who are responsible for pin placements — should have known better.
“They should’ve known not to put [the hole] there,” said the coach. “They just said they were sorry and they felt bad.”
Only five birdies were registered on the sixth hole, and the same coach witnessed two of them, describing them this way: “I saw two of the birdies,” added the same coach. “One would’ve gone 25 yards off the green if it didn’t go in.”
George Fox University won the team championship, finishing five shots ahead of Washington University in St. Louis to win their first-ever national title.
Annie Mascot of WashU secured the individual title, finishing five over par and three strokes ahead of Hannah Jugar from University of Redlands.
