Jim Furyk, Links Golf & Imagination - OR - The Greatest Shot of My Life

Jim Furyk played a magical shot during the Open Championship that TV commentator Peter Alliss said was “the greatest links shot I’ve ever seen.” And that is a pretty strong commendation coming from a UK man who was a terrific player in his days before announcing golf telecasts. Furyk was stymied in a greenside bunker and made the unbelievable decision to putt the ball out. Now, this is not your run-of-the-mill, small-lipped, municipal course sand trap were talking about here. This was from a revetted, seaside links bunker that is a real hazard. So, with his heart in his throat - I’m sure, he putted the ball up the sod bank, rode the ridge between it and another bunker and came to rest about 12 feet from the pin. Of course, he made the par putt too.

Links golf is a special form of the game that everyone should experience at least once in their life. Until you do, you cannot fully appreciate the Open Championship or creative shots like Furyk’s. Undoubtedly you’ve heard Tiger Woods talk about how much he loves links golf because of how he is required to use his imagination.

All of which brings me to the Greatest Shot of My Life. I was playing the par 5 9th hole at Dunbar, located on the East Coast of Scotland about 45 minutes drive south of Muirfield. Here is what I was faced with: I’m short-sided as my ball has come to rest on the right side of the green which runs away from me. To make matters worse, there is a revetted pot bunker between myself and the green and the pin is just beyond it by about 10-12 feet. Basically, I’m dead. (There are no 60 degree wedge flop shots in links golf - nine times out of ten the average golfer would skull the ball 100 yards away as there is no give in the firm turf.) The ground around this bunker is slanted to funnel into this pit of hell any balls rolling nearby. I can’t say why it occurred to me, but I decided to putt the ball into the canted edge of the sand trap and use it as a ramp. It went into the the sloping edge of the bunker, halfway around on the edge and then up onto the green, stopping just a few feet from the hole. Of course, I made the par putt too.