How amateur golfers fare on the 17th at Sawgrass

The short par-3 17th hole at Sawgrass is far from easy...

How would an amateur golfer do at TPC Sawgrass’ famous 17th hole compared to the pros?

The 17^th at TPC Sawgrass is one of the most famous holes in golf. A short par-3 made infinitely more difficult by its island green, the Stadium Course’s penultimate hole has seen all sorts of drama over the years as the PGA Tour’s finest battle to win the Players Championship.

But how do the pros fare, on average? And how does that compare to the performance of mere mortals when faced with a daunting shot over water? Golf data experts Shot Scope have a database of over 250 million shots, which means we’re able to find out…

How do the pros fare?

Hole distance: 135 yards / 123 meters

PGA Tour average proximity from 125-150y: 23ft

Scores on the 17th…

Birdie: 15%

Par: 61%

Bogey: 17%

D. Bogey+: 7%

How do amateurs fare?

For amateur golfers, Shot Scope have a database of over 250 million shots hit by all levels of golfers, all around the world. Using this data we can discover how different handicaps would perform on the iconic 17^th hole.

For amateurs, the 17th is typically played at a slightly shorter yardage than during the Players Championship, and from a slightly different angle.

Hole distance: 128 yards / 117 meters

Shot Scope user proximity and green hit % from 128y…

Hcp 0: 58% GIR / 35′ proximity

Hcp 5: 54% GIR / 44′ proximity

Hcp 10: 49% GIR / 55′ proximity

Hcp 15: 41% GIR / 73′ proximity

Hcp 20: 30% GIR / 85′ proximity

Hcp 25: 16% GIR / 103′ proximity

The average 10-handicap golfer hits 1 out of 2 greens from this distance and a 20-handicap golfer hits 1 out of 3 greens. Throw some water and an island green into the equation and you can expect to see this drop significantly.

The images below show average proximity by handicap for three different pin locations on the 17^th hole. The circle in the middle shows the PGA Tour average proximity.

The fact that a good portion of each circle is in the water highlights that across all levels of amateur golfers, you need to hit an above-average shot just in order to hit this island green!

These images are of a sample of par 3 tee shots hit by amateur golfers of different handicap levels from 128 yards:

It seems the 17th at Sawgrass is a lot tougher than the pros make it look, as further evidenced by this video which captured every amateur that played it during one day…

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– The Players Championship: Tee times and groups for TPC Sawgrass

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