‘I hate this golf course’: The modern terms of endearment for architectural frustration
Scottie Scheffler reacts on the 15th green during the second round of the 124th U.S. Open at Pinehurst Resort.
Gregory Shamus
The first time the term might have been used was at Royal St. George’s in 1999 when golf’s boulevardier Jimmy Dunne was playing a casual match with his friend Frank Brennan while attending Wimbledon. On the long par-3 11th hole, Brennan hit a slight hook into the right side of the green and appeared satisfied with the result as he turned to put away his club.
“Hey, Frankie, take a look at this,” chirped Jimmy, as the ball slowly slid off the left edge of the green into a sod-faced bunker that Dunne described to me recently as resembling a World War I foxhole.