CHARLOTTE, N.C. — No lead is safe when it comes to the Green Mile, No. 16, 17 and 18 at Quail Hollow Club for the Wells Fargo Championship.
Not even when you get to the final hole.
"It's the most difficult hole we have," Scott Davenport, the club's PGA Professional said. "It starts because it’s 500 yards, Par 4. But we’ve got the pilly area on the left side, bunkers and trees on the right side. It’s a very, very exacting tee shot."
And mine wasn’t exactly, exact.
Even when you do hit a nice drive here, you’re still just getting started.
"You can easily hit a nice tee shot and still have some very tough golf left," Davenport said. "Even the best players are going to have close to 200 yards, maybe a little less than that. With the penalty areas on the left side and the bunkers on the right side, the green has a good bit of slope from back to front. The front, left hole location is nearly impossible. Very, very challenging hole.”
No. 18 at Quail Hollow has claimed many victims.
Jason Day had a great chance at a PGA Championship until a third-round, quadruple bogey.
In fact, the first Wells Fargo Championship featured a wild ride for the winner on 18 on Sunday.
"David Toms, in the first Wells Fargo Championship when he won, he won by a shot but he made a quadruple bogey here," Davenport said. "It just happens all the time where guys make a big number. Let’s see if we get a ball in the fairway somewhere so we can have a chance at making par.”
Near the green, it’s easy to see why a lot of players will live with a bogey here.
And on the final round, the hole location is borderline unfair, even for the best golfers in the world.
"I’m standing here because this would be the Sunday hole location," Davenport said. "The problem is if a ball is hit short of the pin, it’s going to run back into the fairway so you’ve got to get it up on the green and now you end up with an unbelievable fast, downhill putt, and trying to get it to stop near the hole is really tough.”
The toughest finishing stretch on the PGA Tour is unique, and uniquely ours.
Good luck to the pros.
The Wells Fargo Championship is May 1-7 at Quail Hollow Club.
Nick Carboni: Contact Nick Carboni at ncarboni@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.