Tournament: FedEx St. Jude Classic – TPC Southwind, Memphis, TN
Hole: 16th – Par 5, 530 Yards
Architect: Ron Prichard – 1988
Player Consultants: Hubert Green and Fuzzy Zoeller – 1988

Architectural Summary:

The final par 5 at TPC Southwind is the 530 yard 16th hole which plays up and over a ridge and will be reachable in two for nearly the entire field. From the tee, competitors will look to play a right-to-left shot shape to the left side of the fairway in an effort to shorten the hole. Any misses to the left on the uphill tee shot will likely result in significant tree trouble. The second shot for players will be slightly downhill to the well-bunkered and petite green. Should a competitor opt to layup on the second shot, the decision is likely the result of bad positioning from the tee. Laying up on the 530 yard hole will require players to navigate a “hazard squeeze” at the second landing area where four fairway bunkers (three left and one right) narrow the playing area. Competitors challenging the large right fairway bunker with layup shots will have the best angle into the green for their third shot. The green is an “hour glass” shape where the back and front portions are significantly larger than the middle of the green, which is pinched in to only 9 yards wide. Slightly angled front-right to back-left, the green measures 35 yards deep and features subtle contouring. The putting surface slopes from back to front as the back portion of the green is 1.5 feet higher than the front. A quick transition slope can also be found in the middle of the green. Overall, the 16th hole will present an excellent scoring opportunity for competitors in the closing stretch of TPC Southwind.

Statistical Analysis:

The 16th at TPC Southwind has traditionally played as the least difficult hole on the course. In 2015, the 16th hole played to a scoring average of 4.55 (16 Eagles, 215 Birdies, 198 Pars, 27 Bogeys, 5 Doubles, and 1 “Other”). Only 7% of scores were recorded over par.

Fun Facts:

• En route to his FedEx St. Jude Classic victory, Fabian Gomez birdied the 16th hole in each round of the tournament. Gomez was in the field’s top 10 for greens in regulation (68.06%), proximity to the hole (28’-10”), and scrambling (73.91%) to secure the Argentinian’s first PGA Tour title.
• The TPC Southwind course record of 61 has been achieved twice in the FedEx St. Jude Classic by Jay Delsing (4th round, 1993) and Bob Estes (1st round, 2001).
• The FedEx St. Jude Classic was founded in 1958 as the Memphis Open. Billy Maxwell won the inaugural tournament and took home $2,800.