The dramatic three finishing holes here at the Stadium Course have been a place in search of a nickname. Quail Hollow's last three holes are known as the Green Mile, Augusta National has Amen Corner and PGA National has the Bear Trap.
Tpc_300 The last three holes here, including the island green 17th, have been without a label. NBC and Jimmy Roberts tried to christen it Sunday based on a comment by former tour commissioner Deane Beman, who said you have to "run the gauntlet" to win this tournament. So Roberts suggests calling the last three holes The Gauntlet.
Funny that NBC's piece ran one day after a piece in the Gainesville Sun by Pat Dooley, who's sitting next to me in the pressroom. He wrote a column about trying to come up with a name for the stretch of holes, too. Some of his nominees (one or two from me) included Claw and Order (the layout of the holes is like a hairpin or claw) and the Swamp. To honor designer Pete Dye, he came up with Do or Dye Corner, Dye Hard III (that was me) and Three-Pete.
Here's more from Dooley: Saw-crash, the TPSea, Splash Corner, Wet 'N Wild, Players Hater and Bogey Bayou.
The best nominee, Dooley decided, was the Bermuda Triangle — since the Bermuda grass greens are so firm and fast. He likes it, I like it. Sure, the name is already taken, but it's still catchy.
"If nobody has come up with a nickname in 25 years," he wrote, "maybe it's just not there."
The Gauntlet? Thumbs down. Bermuda Triangle? Thumbs up. Besides, there's something wrong if we're going to let television dictate history to us.
Got a better name? Let's hear it.
(Photo: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
