Category: Golf

A hole in one, a Halloween hangover and one million dollars

We’ve all got our favourite golf story. One that can defy the possible, exalt friends to legendary status or forever relegate them to the gutter of history thanks to a final hole shank.

We see your scores on VPAR and who has beaten who, but perhaps not all the juicy details behind them. Here is one of our favourites, but be sure to send in your best stories, via DM on Instagram & Twitter @vpargolf and we will reshare some of the best submissions!

On the morning of November 1st 1992, Jason Bohn woke up on the floor of his apartment in Tuscaloosa Alabama with a kick from his housemate.

“You’ve got to get up” his housemate said “you’ve got the semi-finals of that golf thing..”

Jason’s thumping headache from too much Halloween punch the night before trumped the necessary will power to get up and his floorboard pillow became comfortable once more.

A few minutes later, the housemate was at it again with more success. “Alright, alright” Bohn said “I’ll get up just to hear you shut up”.

Costume Halloween parties were a big deal in Tuscaloosa. The whole neighbourhood was celebrating and before Jason got home at 4.30am he had more or less visited the entire county.

A week earlier, Jason had borrowed $10 from a friend for ten shots at hitting a golf ball into a ten-foot circle from 135 yards. For every ball in the circle, he would get one shot the following weekend in the semi-finals of the contest.

“I hit one ball in the circle, so I had one shot in the semis,” he said. “I hadn’t thought about it again until that morning.”

Thanks to his housemate’s persistence, a bleary-eyed Jason just about arrived at the golf course. He was drawn third out of one hundred and fifty entrants to hit his shot, with the twelve best progressing to the final.

Jason was delighted that he was so early, knowing that a return to bed would be sooner than expected.

“I went third, hit my ball to 3 feet, 8 inches, went back to my car and took a nap. Our coach, Dick Spybey, did not like the way I looked. He knew what state I was in, saying I was a disgrace to the team and not properly representing the golf program”.

When woken up for the second time that morning, Bohn was informed of some better news. He was one of twelve to reach the finals, with guaranteed prizes for all and an unlikely million dollars for a hole in one!

“We were psyched. There were big-screen TVs, things like that,” Bohn remembered. “Then Coach Spybey tells us if we accepted any prize with a value of more than $500, we’d forfeit our NCAA eligibility.”

With a sarcastic glint in his eye, Bohn said to Spybey “Looks like I’m going pro, Coach, thanks for everything!”

Bohn chucked the ball down without a tee. Took a couple of deep breaths to steady himself. Then hit a heel cut 9 iron that took two hops and wham in it went.

Jason started running down the hole, throwing his club in the air and high stepping up the hill, when all of a sudden his body remembered what it had been through the night before and collapsed underneath him. Dirt and dust flew everywhere.

The excitement was initially about the fact that it was his first ever hole in one, let alone the million bucks.

As Bohn got up to the green his coach is standing there reiterating “if you sign this, you will lose your eligibility…” when Bohn cuts him off mid-way asking “where is the ****ing pen?! It’s one million dollars!”

Jason then proceeded to round up all his buddies, asking them to get out some cash to go party with the promise of an IOU – a list he still has. With a wad of cash in hand, Bohn strolled up to the Brass Monkey at 11.45pm (the county was dry on Sundays until midnight) and said to the landlord here is $1,100 let me know when we’re done.

By 3.30am they had opened up the rib shack next door and it was one hell of a party.

At 7am the next morning, SportsCenter flashed up on the TV much to the jubilation of everyone. The tone changed however when it informed the bar that Jason was 19 (and underage)… The owner quietly took Jason to one side of the bar, paid for his cab home and never spoke of it again.

The insurance company offered him $167k as a lump sum instead of the million. Instead Jason took $50k each year, for twenty years.

And each year when the cheque arrived in his mailbox on November 1st, he would get out the insurance video tape of the shot and make his family watch it over and over.

November 1st will forever be known as Jason Bohn day.

A ground-up perspective of the 2022 Majors

Do you remember what happened on the 6th of March 2021? Let us give you a hint … it had something to do with Bryson. Still struggling? It was the 3rd round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.

Fine, here you go. It was when Bryson “chocolate milk” Dechambeau hit a 370 yard drive over the lake on a Par 5 to within 70 yards of the hole. Arms raised as the ball reached its 34 second apex, he bellowed at it, using his protein shake enlarged torso to propel it even further.

It was the most memorable moment in golf of 2021 (bar of course the actual most memorable moment, when Hideki’s caddie bowed to Augusta National after his Masters win) and will stick in the memory for a long time.

Content aggregators leapt on the shareable views. Sports fans from every nook and cranny were talking about Bryson. Did it matter that his 60 yard pitch languished 40 feet from the hole? Not in the slightest. We had reached another ‘overpowering of golf’ moment.

Putting Bryson to one side, which is no mean feat, let’s take a look at the macro picture.

Fitness in golf has become a hot topic in recent times. The greater athleticism of golfers has been on a steeply inclining curve. You only need to look at the Instagram profiles of the top 20 men and women in the world to see it cluttered with PTs and TRXs.

Brooks Koepka’s four-major-heater reaffirmed the benefits of being in unbelievable shape. As his rippling sm-edium Nike shirts overpowered the rest of the field in golf and in the weight room.
Tiger Woods, naturally, was the godfather of this trend. Immortalising navy seal fitness regimes and four hour weight sessions becoming the norm.
So how has that filtered down to the amateur golfer? I wonder if you the reader have changed your fitness regime to better your golf? Would you even admit it to your fourball if you had?
On the whole, it seems that amateurs are becoming more fitness conscious as a consequence of the professional game. Snacks pulled out of golf bags are much more likely to be a cereal bar rather than a mars equivalent – pro shops will have their fridges filled with protein shakes alongside the obligatory Lucozade.
‘Fitness for golf’ twitter accounts followers are booming as they plug a way to keep the dream alive that doesn’t include a £1,000 driver.

Where do the Harry Higgs, Shane Lowry’s and Joel Dahmen’s of this world then fit in?

Are they a romantic nod to the ‘gamers’ of yesteryear who would look a single digit body fat percentage opponent up and down on the first tee, in full knowledge it would be them that would be opening their wallet at the end of the round?

Or are they a declining trend in the midst of swing speed and “smash factor” Trackman golf that is present on college golf driving ranges at the moment?

Speaking of Trackman, we leave you this month with a comparison of Bryson’s 2018 and 2020 seasons. His 2018 season saw him rise to 5th in the world, with four victories (three of which were stellar PGA Tour events). His 2020 season, post lockdown bulk, saw him win only twice (crucially one of which was his US Open victory).

All we know is that we favour golf not being purely a game of carry distance. It should still require skill, imagination, feel and the control of your emotions. Hitting it incredible distances accurately is a skill, which the likes of Bryson should be rewarded for. However it should not be the only skill that is rewarded.

How much does fitness impact your golf game? Are you a Bryson, or a Dahmen? Feel free to reach out and let us know.

Finally, head over to the VPAR fitness section in your app to discover some great golf related workouts!

A ground-up perspective of the 2022 Majors

The slate of golf courses that will play host to this year’s quartet of men’s major championships is truly one to celebrate. The venues will showcase a tremendous mix of the two most famous courses in golf – Augusta National and St. Andrews, with two recently restored American gems – The Country Club and Southern Hills. We take a deep dive on how each course is remaining relevant as the Professional game continues to push the boundaries of distance.

Augusta National – The Masters

In the run up to the tournament, the 11th and 15th holes (named Dogwood and Firethorn if you’re into that sort of thing) were lengthened by 15 and 20 yards respectively.

For the 11th, this was intended to place players’ tee shots further back so that they have a more challenging second shot with the greenside pond more in play. Equally, players that bail out into the right pine straw are hampered by the left to right dogleg.

For the 15th, when players like Bryson are hitting a nine iron into a par five, it is no wonder that it is the easiest statistical hole (average score of 4.78 strokes is the lowest to par across in Masters tournament play). A longer and therefore more dispersed tee shot brings in the overhanging trees on the left or the rough on the right more in play.

Great examples of how this extra length were showcased in the final round last week. Scheffler’s 239 yard and Smith’s 249 yard approaches were incredibly high tariff shots, struck with a long iron or three wood. When you compare that to Garcia’s victory-securing and pin-hitting mid-iron in 2017, you now have a much sterner hole presented to the players.

Southern Hills – PGA Championship

As the driving gap between amateurs and professionals widens, Gil Hanse’s restoration of Southern Hills attempts to occupy a philosophical middle ground. How can you bring back the iconic features of Perry Maxwell’s 1936 design, whilst at the same time challenge the game’s best under major championship conditions?

Hanse summarises – “It’s all about the greens … What [the Pros] are looking for is a predictable result on every single shot. Well, if a green’s firm, you’re not sure if it’s going to bounce and check, bounce twice and check, not check … You hit it in the rough and you have firm greens, you’re done.”¹

Equally, by reducing the collars of these firm greens back to their Maxwellian design, approaches will run off into collection areas instead of staying put. This infuriates professionals, whilst offering a minimal penalty for the amateur membership.

St. Andrews – The Open Championship

What more is there to say about the golf course that started it all? It is a truly marvellous course that stirs the deepest of emotions in all golfers.

However, could this be the year that the ‘Old Lady’ becomes irrelevant for the modern game? In over a century of hosting The Open, the course has only been lengthened 350 yards.² In 2022 eight out of fourteen par fours will be less than 420 yards (think: driver, flip wedge for most players) and those that will be down-wind could be driveable.

After watching what young Collin did to a benign Royal St. George’s (15-under was a 72 hole Open scoring record), the R&A may be quaking in their boots if the wind doesn’t puff its cheeks once more.

The Country Club – US Open

In a similar fashion to Southern Hills, The Country Club has undergone a restoration project to maintain its proficiency in hosting major championship golf. Gil Hanse again was trusted to walk the politically charged tightrope with the members on one end of his balancing stick with the tournament committee (in this case the USGA) at the other.

The key hole to keep an eye on for this tournament will be the 131 yard par 3 11th.

In the 1963 and 1988 US Opens, players simply walked past this little terror. In the 1913 edition however, this hole was in play. When little known amateur Francis Ouimet would take the two greats of the game Harry Vardon and Ted Ray to an 18 hole playoff, all were tied when they reached the short 11th. Twenty year old Ouimet made a par three, whereas his two legendary playing partners made bogey. This would be a lead he would not relinquish en route to winning, thus encouraging the production of the film “The Greatest Game Ever Played” some ninety two years later