Shriners Hospitals for Children Open: Graham DeLaet makes 9 on par 4
By Tim Letcher
Graham DeLaet made news on Thursday at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. But it was not the kind of news he hoped to make.
There are feats that are tough to accomplish in the game of golf. A hole in one and an albatross are two that come to mind. But on Thursday at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, Graham DeLaet accomplished a dubious honor that he would like to forget.
DeLaet started his day in a very normal, calm fashion. He parred the first two holes, both par fours, and his round was off to a very standard start.
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Then the fun, or in DeLaet’s case the misery, started. On the third hole of his round, he accomplished something that a golfer with a 25 handicap could certainly appreciate.
On the par-4 third hole, DeLaet made a nine. Now, you might be saying that it’s not all that uncommon for a player to have a bad hole, maybe hit a ball out of bounds or in the water, and make a nine on a par four. I would not argue with that.
The special thing about what DeLaet did was that he made a nine on a par four with no penalty shots. That’s right, the Canadian hit the ball nine times to get it from the tee into the hole.
DeLaet pushed his drive right and into the rough to start the hole. His next shot traveled a total of four feet and remained in the rough. On his third shot, he was able to advance the ball about 65 yards, leaving him 143 yards to the green.
It only got worse from there. His fourth shot landed in the native area and he still had 75 yards to the green. On his fifth shot, DeLaet finally found the fairway, but he was still about 50 feet from the hole.
His sixth hot was a bad mishit that went about 10 feet. He still had 37 feet to the hole, laying six.
On his seventh shot, DeLaet made it to the green, although he still had 14 feet left for his snowman. He barely missed that putt and settled for your standard tap-in nine.
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The other amazing thing about DeLaet’s front nine is, other than being five over par on one hole, he was even on the other eight holes. Amazingly, with eight pars.
It’s hard to make a nine on a par four without a penalty shot. But Graham DeLaet pulled off that feat on Thursday in Las Vegas. It is a hole that he would love to forget as soon as possible.