FRISCO, Texas – They switched the ninth and 18th holes at Fields Ranch East for the KPMG Women’s PGA. The move was made to accommodate the buildout for the championship. So instead of finishing with a par 5, as was the case at the Senior PGA, the layout this week ends with a par 4.
But don’t think that means there will be less drama. The par-4 18th had more double-bogeys (12) than birdies (7) in the opening round.
Auston Kim thought for sure she was doing to make a double bogey after having to chop it out of the rough on the closing hole, but managed to make a solid bogey to shoot 1-under 71.
What makes that hole so difficult?
“I think it’s the fact that carrying that bunker is about 245 with a bit of crosswind today,” said Kim. “For a lot of people, you can’t really carry that with a 3-wood. I mean, I ended up hitting 5-wood today just because I was warm and sweaty and wind was kind of down.
“Ended up getting the worst break possible. It landed in the rough (on top of the bunker) and sunk down into like the base of the grass.”
She didn’t want to hit 3-wood off the tee, let alone driver, with the fairway ending 285 yards out. There’s only about 40 yards left to try to stop a tee shot before finding the rough.
“One of my playing partners hit a really good drive, but it went out a little bit hot and ended up hitting the downslope and rolling through and she had to chop out backwards,” said Kim.
Jenny Shin hit her drive on the 18th through the fairway into the right rough and then hit her second into a greenside bunker. After hitting her third shot over the green and into another greenside bunker, she closed with a double to shoot 72.
The 18th was the fourth-hardest hole on the course, playing to a 4.391 average.
“I feel like 18, the way that it’s set up this week, it could definitely make it more dramatic,” said Kim. “Can you avoid a disaster?”
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