The 5 best beer holes in golf
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The 5 best beer holes in golf

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On Friday at this week's Marathon LPGA Classic, the 14th hole at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Toledo, Ohio, will be transformed into Club 14.

In its second year, Club 14 is an anything-goes place where fans down some beer, make some noise and have some fun. The 500-fan seating area allows for some chanting and singing -- stuff that's usually reserved for the Ryder, Presidents and Solheim Cups.

Fans will get towels for coming, a local bar will give out gift cards to the loudest fans (in terms of voice and fashion) and there will be a lot of interaction with the players. Club-goers will also be treated to caddie races from the tee to the green. Afterward, there will be an after party.

Counting Club 14 in the mix, we look at four other great beer holes in pro golf.

No. 17 at TPC Sawgrass' Stadium Course, The Players Championship

While the PGA Tour does not officially bill the penultimate hole at Pete Dye's masterpiece as an anything-goes spectator experience, it's hard to control such a big crowd. Fans are overserved, either sitting on three sides of the hole or in the skyboxes on the left side. There's lot of chanting and noise as players' fates are decided.

The only thing that could make the 17th hole better? A series of floating skyboxes in the water separating the 16th and 17th holes.

No. 16 at TPC Scottsdale, Waste Management Phoenix Open

This is the hole after which all other beer holes are modeled. Over the last 20 years, the hole has become more and more of a spectacle. About 20,000 people crowd around a small par 3 to chant or boo players based on their tee shot. Before the shot, players are heckled, chanted at and cheered. After the shot, those same players sometimes entertain the crowd with their own musical stylings and giveaways. And, oh yes, the caddie races.

And, if golf's not your thing, the people watching is unreal between the drunk people, Arizona State co-eds and the grossly overdressed.

No. 15 at Sedgefield C.C., Wyndham Championship

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The Greensboro PGA Tour stop has made a push into the top five in the last couple of years with the Wyndham beach at the 15th hole. Who doesn't love the beach?  As it develops more of an identity and tradition, the hole will continue to become more popular with tournament goers, but it's a unique idea that deserves credit.

No. 13 at the Ohio State University's Scarlet Course, Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship

Columbus, Ohio, doesn't beat around the bush on their beer hole. At this Web.com Tour stop, the proposition is simple: Every time a player birdies the par-3 13th hole, fans can get mega-cheap Miller Lite for 15 minutes. There's not a ton of seating, although there are some nice tables and chairs. It's just good, cheap beer, but you never know when it's coming.

About the author

Ryan Ballengee

Ryan Ballengee is founder and editor of Golf News Net. He has been writing and broadcasting about golf for nearly 20 years. Ballengee lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his family. He is a scratch golfer...sometimes.

Ballengee can be reached by email at ryan[at]thegolfnewsnet.com

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