Not every three- or four-hole stretch on the PGA Tour needs a nickname, but a lot of them have them. So, we decided to rank them...and invent a few others in the process
9. The Snake Pit (Nos. 16-18, Innisbrook Resort's Copperhead Course, Valspar Championship): Innisbrook is a bear -- I mean, a snake! -- of a course. It ends with a pair of demanding par 4s at Nos. 16 and 18, with the long par-3 17th in between. Good luck making a birdie there. Copperheads aren't that big, so maybe it's a misnomer, but it works.
8. The ATM (Nos. 16-18, East Lake Golf Club, The Tour Championship): You would think that, with $10 million on the line, the PGA Tour would nickname the final three holes at East Lake. Nope. Well, let me propose this name as a play on ATL, because what follows L? M! For money!
7. The Green Mile (Nos. 16-18, Quail Hollow Club, Wells Fargo Championship): The last three at Quail Hollow are mighty tough. However, despite the nice allusion to the touching Stephen King book (I cried at the end), water is way more of a factor than grass. So, maybe The Blue Mile?
6. The Piece (Nos. 16-18, TPC Blue Monster at Doral, WGC-Cadillac Championship): Now that Donald Trump owns the Doral Resort, he has to have his stamp on the closing stretch of the Gil Hanse-refreshed Blue Monster. With a short par 4 followed by two behemoth par 4s to close the round, these holes expose if your game is for real or not.
5. Horrible Horsehoe (Nos. 3-5, Colonial Country Club, Crowne Plaza Invitational): Finally, a topographically correct nickname! Two 480-yard par 4s and a near 250-yard par 3? Ouch.
4. The Bear Trap (Nos. 15-17, PGA National's Champion Course, The Honda Classic): What bothers me about the Bear Trap, called that as an obvious play on designer Jack Nicklaus' nickname, is that the par-5 18th isn't included. The plaque introducing people to it says the tournament should be won or lost during the stretch. So I'm just allowed to skip the last hole that has water in play all the way down the right side?
3. Abalone Corner (No. 8-10, Pebble Beach Golf Links, AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am): The term was coined by Dan Jenkins as a play on Amen Corner at Augusta National, referring to the sea snails that could be caught off the Monterey and, as Jenkins says, will be waiting for your errant shots off the cliffs of these tough holes.
2. The Gauntlet (Nos. 16-18, TPC Sawgrass, The Players Championship): The PGA Tour has put way more energy into convincing us The Players should be thought of as a major than naming one of the best closing stretches in golf. The Gauntlet is a sweet, somewhat-unofficial name. I'm partial to The Dye Job, where your round could go from red numbers to black ones.
1. Amen Corner (Nos. 11-13, Augusta National, The Masters): It's perfect. Utterly perfect.
