Golfers love their history.
So occasionally when something historic happens in a tournament, at some point down the road the details of the event are etched on a plaque, which is then placed in the ground or set into a giant boulder, preserving the story and re-telling it for years to come.
Jack Nicklaus has a few of these commemorative plaques. So does Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones and, of course, Tiger Woods, who has a new one at Torrey Pines.
Some plaques pay homage to once-in-a-lifetime shots by golfers who will always be remembered for that one shining moment. Here’s a closer look at a collection of plaques at golf courses around the world.
At the first round of the 2020 Players Championship – a tournament that would end after just one day due to coronavirus – TPC Sawgrass unveiled a new plaque to honor Pete Dye, who built the course as well as countless others around the world during his legendary career. This plaque is just off the first tee.
The bridge, which takes golfers across Rae’s Creek to the 12th green at Augusta National Golf Club, was dedicated on April 2, 1958 in honor of Ben Hogan’s 1953 Masters tournament victory. The plaque predicted Hogan’s score of 274 might never be broken, but it was, 12 years later, when Jack Nicklaus posted 271 in 1965.
Two days before the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, the City of San Diego and the U.S. Golf Association commemorated one of Tiger Woods’ most iconic shots, the putt he made on Sunday on the 72nd hole of the 2008 U.S. Open to force a Monday playoff with Rocco Mediate.
Tiger Woods pulled off a spectacular bunker shot at the 2019 WGC-Mexico Championship. From 134 yards out, Woods carved a shot around a tree that then spun hard sideways on the green, briefly giving fans the idea that it might actually go in.
Jack Nicklaus struck his 1-iron to 22 feet on the 18th hole in 1967, setting up a birdie that sealed a four-shot win over Arnold Palmer. But the real objective for Nicklaus going for the green was to break the U.S. Open record of Ben Hogan, which he did, by one stroke.
The commemorative plaque for Old Tom Morris in St Andrews at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland. (Photo: Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
A plaque at the Byron Nelson bridge commemorates the famed golfer’s accomplishment of picking up six strokes on Ralph Guldahl in the 1937 Masters Tournament. On two holes, the 12th and 13th, Nelson made birdie and eagle, while Guldahl double bogeyed and bogeyed the two holes. The Nelson bridge, which players cross after teeing off on No. 13, and the Ben Hogan bridge, which takes golfers to the 12th green, were dedicated on April 2, 1958 at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.
A plaque at the TPC Scottsdale commemorates a memorable moment during the final round of the 1999 Phoenix Open:
On January 31, during the fourth round, Tiger Woods’ tee shot came to rest in close proximity to this 1-ton boulder. After being ruled a “loose impediment”, a group of spectators moved the boulder, allowing Woods to birdie the hole.
Tom Watson famously chipped in for birdie on the 17th hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links en route to winning the 1982 U.S. Open.
There’s a plaque in the rough on the 18th hole which commemorates the 7-iron that Shaun Micheel struck from 175 yards out. The ball was tracking toward the hole and stopped about three inches away, sealing the victory in the 2003 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York. It was the only victory in Micheel’s career.