The BWD Tournament Hole of the Week: February 2 – 5, 2017. The 11th at TPC Scottsdale, Home of Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Tournament: Waste Management Phoenix Open – TPC Scottsdale, Scottsdale, AZ
Hole: 11th – Par 4, 472 Yards
Architect(s): Tom Weiskopf & Jay Morrish – 1986
Tom Weiskopf (renovation) – 2014

Architectural Summary:

The 11th hole at TPC Scottsdale is a lengthy par four featuring a lake spanning the entire left side. From the tee, competitors will look to hit a strong drive with a left-to-right shot shape to avoid the prominent water hazard. The fairway slopes from right-to-left towards the lake and necks down to 26 yards at the landing zone. Competitors will look to play to the right side of the fairway in order to achieve the best angle into the green. The native waste area, as well as numerous small trees, will cause issues for any shots missing the narrow fairway to the right. A single tree is also located to the left side of the fairway at 361 yards. A mid to short-iron will likely be left into the green for competitors successfully finding the fairway. The sizable green, which measures 31 yards deep by 33 yards wide, is heavily protected on the left by the lake and greenside bunkers, which are located both short and long. The conservative approach for competitors will be towards the right side of the green in order to avoid the abundance of hazards to the left. The green itself features subtle undulation throughout and emphasizes finding the correct quadrant on the large green.

Statistical Analysis:

During the 2016 tournament, the 11th hole played as the third most difficult hole on the course with a scoring average of 4.14 (45 birdies, 266 pars, 80 bogeys, and 10 double bogeys).

Fun Facts:

  • Hideki Matsuyama prevailed over Rickie Fowler to win the 2016 Waste Management Phoenix Open after a four-hole playoff. Matsuyama played the 11th hole to -2 par for the tournament.
  • The Waste Management Phoenix Open is the highest attended tournament on the PGA Tour. Last year, the tournament set a new attendance record for a single round when 201,003 fans flocked to the course for Saturday’s third round. By comparison, the number of attendees was just 25,915 thousand short of the entire population of Scottsdale from the 2013 census (226,918). The previous single-day record was 189,722 during the third round in 2014.
  • TPC Scottsdale’s Stadium Course has been home to the PGA Tour’s Phoenix Open since 1987.