Hole 4 – Flowering Crab Apple
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PAR 3 – 240 YARDS
Seve used to hit a 5 or 4-iron here, but the hole is longer now and they’re hitting small woods sometimes.
It’s a very severe green with a big ridge. It’s hard to stop the ball on the correct tier. It’s very fast from the right to the left and it never breaks as much as you think to the back left pin.
BILLY FOSTER REMEMBERS: “It was on this hole in either ’92 or ’93, I saw one of the best golf shots I’ve ever seen. Seve missed the green short right of the bunker, and I mean way right, and with the flag on the bottom tier just over the bunker he had no room to play with. To get it within 20 feet would have been incredible. In those days, Seve never used to carry a lob wedge, but he had a 56º wedge which he opened right up and swung as though it was a driver. It just missed his left nostril, probably went 100 foot in the air and landed a foot over the bunker and he stopped it three feet from the hole. Seve was a remarkable talent.”
PETER ALLISS: “This hole has been lengthened over the years and you’re always delighted to get away with a three here. From the back tee you’ll need a strong iron, maybe even a wood. If you misjudge the wind the ball can easily hold up and drop short into the big bunkers leaving you with a lot of work to do to get up and down for par. Many steady starts have come unstuck at the fourth.”
