Hole 12 – Golden Bell
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PAR 3 – 155 YARDS
You’re hitting in the region of an 8 or 9-iron and my feeling is to listen to what Jack Nicklaus said: ‘Aim over that front bunker every time for the main reason that if you come up a hair short then you’re in the bunker and not the water.’
The wind whips around there like nobody’s business, so it can be very tricky. The same shot can land on the green or pitch over the back depending on that wind. I like to see the guy I’m working for bring the ball flight down here so that it’s penetrating through the air.
BILLY FOSTER REMEMBERS: “The first time I caddied there for Darren, I felt like a bit of a guide dog because I’d had the experience of working with Seve and it was Darren’s first ever Masters. This was back in 1998 and on the 12th tee on Sunday we actually felt we had a chance of winning. We were two or three off the pace with the leaders midway through the front nine and Darren had hit a great shot about 12 feet behind the pin. We were playing with Per Ulrik Johansson, who’d hit it in the water and we had to wait for what seemed like an eternity for a ruling. Maybe Darren lost his concentration, but he hit his 12-foot putt six or seven feet past and then missed it coming back. He then fell away and finished about seventh.”
PETER ALLISS: “This is an extraordinary hole. Even on the calmest of days players imagine breezes and worry about club selection. You’ve got eight yards to land it in but the number of people who go through the green is amazing. Short in the bunker is OK but short elsewhere and you’re wet.”
