What would you name the last three holes at Sawgrass?
The dramatic three finishing holes here at the Stadium Course have been a place in search of a nickname. Quail Hollow's last three holes are known as the Green Mile, Augusta National has Amen Corner and PGA National has the Bear Trap.
The last three holes here, including the island green 17th, have been without a label. NBC and Jimmy Roberts tried to christen it Sunday based on a comment by former tour commissioner Deane Beman, who said you have to "run the gauntlet" to win this tournament. So Roberts suggests calling the last three holes The Gauntlet.
Funny that NBC's piece ran one day after a piece in the Gainesville Sun by Pat Dooley, who's sitting next to me in the pressroom. He wrote a column about trying to come up with a name for the stretch of holes, too. Some of his nominees (one or two from me) included Claw and Order (the layout of the holes is like a hairpin or claw) and the Swamp. To honor designer Pete Dye, he came up with Do or Dye Corner, Dye Hard III (that was me) and Three-Pete.
Here's more from Dooley: Saw-crash, the TPSea, Splash Corner, Wet 'N Wild, Players Hater and Bogey Bayou.
The best nominee, Dooley decided, was the Bermuda Triangle -- since the Bermuda grass greens are so firm and fast. He likes it, I like it. Sure, the name is already taken, but it's still catchy.
"If nobody has come up with a nickname in 25 years," he wrote, "maybe it's just not there."
The Gauntlet? Thumbs down. Bermuda Triangle? Thumbs up. Besides, there's something wrong if we're going to let television dictate history to us.
Got a better name? Let's hear it.
(Photo: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
Posted by: Marianne Dein | May 10, 2009 6:55:38 PM
The Waterboard
Posted by: Ryan Illingworth | May 10, 2009 4:50:00 AM
The Jig Saw Puzzle, it has Saw in the name, and it puzzles every golfer
Posted by: shaun anstett | May 8, 2009 1:19:59 PM
i would call it Bobby Jone's locker...due to all the water!
Posted by: shaun anstett | May 8, 2009 1:16:22 PM
i would name it Bobby Jones's locker...because of all the water
Posted by: EJORDAN | May 8, 2009 10:26:20 AM
CALL THE LAST THREE HOLES " WATERLOO "
Posted by: Gary L | May 8, 2009 8:16:16 AM
I would simply call it..... The Gauntlet
Posted by: ArnieP | May 8, 2009 4:36:32 AM
DYEnese Water Torture
Posted by: robert | May 8, 2009 12:49:58 AM
anybody from ponte vedra would know only "crossroads " is appropriate
Posted by: Todd | Aug 5, 2008 9:34:05 PM
I have the perfect name;
Alligator Alley
they could have great marketing with this as well..such as an alligator mascot etc. Its perfect.
Posted by: Tony Rosa | May 27, 2008 4:31:45 PM
I came up with the name even before seeing a few 'Crucibles' here - my suggestion "The Crosstie Crucible" or "The Crosstied Crucible" (I googled both terms with no hits, so it's probably not used anywhere else)
Posted by: Bobby Rambo | May 19, 2008 6:20:40 PM
Switch Blade
Posted by: Bobby Rambo | May 19, 2008 6:18:10 PM
How about Switch Blade?
Posted by: kyle | May 19, 2008 3:52:28 PM
the saws blade
Posted by: mike bradley | May 19, 2008 3:44:30 PM
3-dye-trap or dye's trap or dye's triple trap
Posted by: Wrongo | May 17, 2008 10:55:23 AM
The Triad
Purgatory
Pete's Passion
Posted by: Bill | May 15, 2008 1:07:27 PM
The Hydra - an ancient Greek serpent-like water beast that possessed numerous heads and deadly breath. All three holes (two of which involve doglegs) threaten certain death to a player's title hopes if he is unable to avoid the water hazards.
Posted by: mike voor | May 14, 2008 5:03:04 PM
The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Posted by: Anthony | May 14, 2008 4:13:36 PM
Dye's Inferno; I'm sure completing those three holes in competition is like going to hell and back.
Posted by: Jph | May 14, 2008 3:11:51 PM
Since "Amen Corner" wasn't really any more original to Herbert Warren Wind, being as it was in the title of a 1930s song, as would be calling it "The Bermuda Triangle," that sounds good enough.
Posted by: KW | May 14, 2008 11:13:59 AM
Dye's Tripartite (involving three parties or elements)
Posted by: gbedenik | May 13, 2008 6:03:33 PM
The last three holes should be called the BUZZ SAW, Chop it up and your buzzed
Posted by: Swoop | May 13, 2008 4:13:26 PM
The last three holes total 1,122 yards. One fathom equals 2 yards. My nominee is "561 Fathoms at TPC". "The Crucible" is good, though.
Posted by: Trooper | May 13, 2008 4:01:02 PM
I have to agree with "The Crucible". Very intelligent, and it certainly tells the story.
Posted by: E.M. | May 13, 2008 3:08:33 PM
2 Suggestions:
The last three could be called "No Man's Land" and the 17th "No Man's Island"
The last three could be called "Beauties and the Beast"
Posted by: Kevin Wright | May 13, 2008 12:51:49 PM
The Triclops
Posted by: Mark Ernest | May 13, 2008 10:48:35 AM
Before anyone else gushes about a poet or a writer naming anything in golf, remember it was the famous O.B. Keeler who originally borrowed either the baseball or bridge (card game) term "Grand Slam" to describe Bobby Jones feat of winning the 4 majors in the same calendar year. Later after mulling it over, he came up with "Impregnable Quadrilateral". Now that's a mouthful. Just goes to show you can overthink a thing.
Posted by: Jose Luis Casal | May 13, 2008 10:27:53 AM
It should be called "The crunch"
Posted by: K. Johnson | May 12, 2008 7:26:15 PM
"Pins and Needles"
Posted by: peter | May 12, 2008 7:20:58 PM
16, 17 and 18 should be called...Larry, Curly and Moe....
Posted by: paul supha | May 12, 2008 6:42:31 PM
How about "sawgrass holes" as in "Black Holes"
Posted by: Gil | May 12, 2008 6:17:20 PM
La Boca del Oso...means in the mouth of the bear like you don't want to be caught in it.
Posted by: Paul Spanbauer | May 12, 2008 5:52:17 PM
Triolgy of Risk-Reward
Posted by: Steve | May 12, 2008 4:57:25 PM
They have to be the Devil's Triangle. After all, the devil is what a lot of pros have called Pete Dye!
Posted by: Don McGettigan | May 12, 2008 2:33:41 PM
"The Walk-on-Water"
As in it takes a miracle to survive that stretch...
Posted by: Mike M. | May 12, 2008 2:29:42 PM
Triple Dare.
Posted by: RGD | May 12, 2008 1:50:47 PM
The TPC Triangle where balls and dreams are lost in a single shot!
Posted by: Chuck Smith | May 12, 2008 1:42:37 PM
How about Triple Down
Posted by: Jerry | May 12, 2008 1:04:14 PM
The Crucible
Posted by: VAGator94 | May 12, 2008 12:35:00 PM
Some good nicnames out there... But I agree with those that would rather not name the last THREE holes (making Amen Corner that much more special); and rather name just the 17th: The Nerve.
If you look at one of the pictures/icons of the 17th, bird's eye view of the hole with the lake surrounding it, it looks like a tooth, and the green looks like the nerve of the tooth. And it takes a lot of nerve to hit that shot, especially for the Championship.
Posted by: steve Chase | May 12, 2008 11:40:24 AM
obviously it should be called " The End
". As in " The final group has reached the end"
Posted by: steve Chase | May 12, 2008 11:39:07 AM
obviously it should be called " The End
". As in " The final group has reached the end"
Posted by: TL in IL | May 12, 2008 11:38:58 AM
Final Exams
Posted by: Dave | May 12, 2008 11:27:27 AM
Area 51
16+17+18 = 51, Area 51 is where the government supposedly keeps the aliens, and stranger things have probably happened on the final three holes at Sawgrass..
Posted by: Tim | May 12, 2008 10:58:32 AM
Name the last three holes,The Dye-abloical three, Sybil's trilogy, Dye's trinity.
Posted by: paddy | May 12, 2008 10:37:46 AM
I would name them "Nemesis" simply because for the other 15 holes you play, the last three are in the back of your mind looming larger all the time.
Posted by: Mark Ernest | May 12, 2008 10:11:43 AM
The Watery Grave.
No need to 'splain it.
Posted by: Steve Trauman | May 12, 2008 10:02:23 AM
I like "The Tribunal".
Tri for three.
Webster's defines tribunal as: "something that decides or determines ".
That's my submission, and I'm stickin' to it.
Posted by: Jim Sweeney | May 12, 2008 9:45:43 AM
Why the frenzy to name streches of holes on golf courses? Nothing can ever match the poetry, the apt-ness, of "Amen Corner." Trying to do so is an exercise in vanity and futility. Drop it, please.
Posted by: jds | May 12, 2008 9:06:07 AM
How about "The Crucible". Webster's defines a crucible as, " 2: a severe test" and, "3: a place or situation in which concentrated forces interact to cause or influence change or development". I think those three holes more than qualify.
Posted by: dutch | May 12, 2008 8:46:47 AM
Why do we need a name? It will only diminish the drama of 17. This one hole is a stand alone trophy. I have never understood amen corner, even when it was explained to me it didn't make any sense, just sounds stupid.
Posted by: Mike | May 12, 2008 8:23:34 AM
how about Railroad "Tie Breaker"
or "The Dye Breaker"
Posted by: potsie weber | May 12, 2008 2:15:25 AM
Swamp Thing
Posted by: terrie and peter | May 11, 2008 7:20:49 PM
our name for the last 3 holes would be:
"PLAY THE PADDLE"
because the island hole looks like a paddle.