Hole 14 – Chinese Fir

PAR 4 – 440 YARDS

Got to hit a draw off the tee and then we’re talking an 8-iron or so.

You mustn’t be short and it’s 14 yards from the front of the green to the ridge in the middle. With some flag positions here you can hit it 30 feet left and it’ll run 20 feet from left to right. This is a hole where two shots can pitch a foot apart and one has a five-footer for birdie and the other a 55-footer.

CHARL SCHWARTZEL: “A nice driving hole and the only one on the course without a bunker. Off the tee it is relatively straight forward but the green is one of the hardest to read. Th ere are so many humps and hollows which means there is anelement of luck about where your approach lands. For that reason, you are always happy to walk off with a par.”

MARK ROE: “Because the fairway cambers left to right it’s a very good tee shot because it makes you hit it up the left and fl irt with the edge of the trees and it’s quite easy to catch them. It’s not disastrous if you play it up the right but there’s now a bit more rough and it makes your second shot difficult if you run off the fairway. A good drive will only leave 9-irons and wedges in. The key to 14 is the green, with a massive ridge running through the middle of it. If you get the wrong idea of that you’ve got no chance. It’s not hugely difficult if you get your tee shot in the right place so you can control the flight and spin of the second shot and use the tier to bank the ball towards the hole, especially when the fl ag is on the right. “Th e toughest fl ag on the green is back left because you only have to miss it 10 feet right and your ball’s funnelling 50 feet away. This always leaves a tricky chip if you miss the green left.”

DENIS PUGH: “You don’t see much green when you’re hitting the second shot; a bit like at St Andrews you just see mounds. If a player misses that green then three more to get down is good, let alone two for par.”

BILLY FOSTER REMEMBERS: “I once told Darren to aim at the TV tower. He looked at me as if I was stupid. I told him to trust me and he hit it to 10 feet for birdie.”

PETER ALLISS: “This is an innocuous hole – the only one without a bunker – and you could say the green is a joke, but that’s what makes it. The fairway is also tough – its slopes often kick shots into trouble on the right. Pitch on one side of the huge humps and you could knock it stone dead, but pitch it a yard the other side and you could be 30 yards away. This is the trickiest green on the course.”