57!

Dan Mirocha has the details on Bobby Wyatt's incredible stupefying 57 in the Alabama Junior.

Wyatt made 12 birdies and an eagle at the par-71, 6,638-yard Country Club of Mobile, a course where his family has held membership since Wyatt started playing golf at age 4.

His front-nine 26 included seven birdies and an eagle. He birdied Nos. 10 and 11 to get to 11 under through 11 holes, and closed with birdies on Nos. 13, 16 and 17 before making par on the 410-yard, par-4 18th.

And this is amazing:

“When I was standing on No. 8 tee, it hit me that I was 7 under through seven,” Wyatt said. “I told myself, ‘Just play 5 under from here.’ I tried not to think about my score. But then I birdied No. 8 and 9 and that gave me 26 on the front.”

That’s when a small group started to follow Wyatt’s group, including some of his father’s friends who congratulated him as he made his way to the 10th tee box. Wyatt said he had to consciously regroup mentally and stop focusing on his incredible score.

Haven't those friends of dad ever watched a no-hitter? You don't say anything you morons!

Now here's something you don't normally expect to hear:

“I’ve really been working hard with my psychologist about staying patient,” Wyatt said. “It came together for me today.”

Get us that shrink's name, now!

Comments

[Ky Laffoon's Ghost]

Hogan said it was possible to birdie every hole. Young Mr. Wyatt darn near proved it! Outstanding! And really. Those "friends" need to learn to keep their mouths shut.

[Brad S]

Mega Dittos Ky. Oops wrong thread! Any truth to the rumor he was putting with a Nike Method?

[Chuck]

"Vision 57."

[Ky Laffoon's Ghost]

@Brad S: Not even Phil Knight is that good. Is he?

[Tottenham Hotspur]

I thought it was Vision 54.

[fat albert]

Congratulations to Bobby Wyatt. That is absolutely lights out.

I apologize for this, but now its time to make a bunch of assumptions and put somewhat of a negative spin on this story:

Does anyone else think that this round is a microcosm of the whole distance issue? There are arguably eight holes on the course that Bobby may have hit more than wedge into for his approach (the four par-4's over 400 yards and the 4 par 3's). Of those eight holes, he birdied three of them (which is damn good as it is). However, of the 10 holes that he probably hit wedge at most into for his approach (all of the par-4's under 400 yards and the par-5's), he played them 11 under.

I understand that this was a freak incredible round and that one round cannot be considered an adequate sample size yada yada yada, but it may be enlightening (or not enlightening at all since everyone already knows anyways) about the amazing driver wedge games that the younger golfers today have developed because they haven't ever had to hit mid-irons because the ball goes so damn far. And the subsequent course lengthening on tour and the current irrelevance of many of yester-year's shorter great layouts and you can connect the dots...

[Adam Clayman]

Albert, These incredible rounds have been pouring in recently.

It has everything to do with the I&B issue.
Throw in this weeks Duramed fiasco which highlights the phoniness of Groove rule's attempt to distract from the I&b, and you have enough is enough.

[Old Hornet]

@ fat albert

No doubt Wyatt's round is amazing, and your point is on target. As a refence I offer my club that dates to 1899 at 6,600 from the tips with a course record of 63, set in the day of balata & persimmon. We've never hosted a national event but have on several occaisons top regional events, and we've had more than a few gifted* members that were capable of matching or breaking the record. However, it didn't happen until the era of 400cc and the Pro V1. The better instruction / training are factors and it's a wonderful thing, but you can't deny that the equipment and ball of today are the major factors.

*
State amateur champions are too numerous to list
4 different NE Amateur champions
US Senior GA champion
US Amateur semifinalist (Arnold Palmer won title)
Masters participant
2-time Canadian Amateur champion
National Intercollegiate champion (runner-up 3 times)
US Women's Amateur champion (at Del Monte Golf & CC) Just for you Geoff !
2-time US Curtis Cup participant
2-time British Amateur champion
5-time walker Cup participant

[reality]

A kid shoots a 57..... 57! And this blog blames it on the ball. Unbelievable. Wait, maybe there is something else we can blame on the ball. The deficit of 13 trillion dollars could be cut in half if the price of the ball wasn't so expensive. We could be oil independent if we didn't need all those oil derivative chemicals used in the ball. There must be cancer causing agents released into the atmosphere when the ball is hit with a clubhead speed greater than 120 mph. How many people die from that? Must be millions. I challenge anyone to play a round by starting 100 yards from each green and shoot 57. Anyone want to try? It's the ball, yup that's it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it......

[putmedownforasix]

Bobby Wyatt's new nickname -- "Steak Sauce"

[jg]

11 birdies in a row....still the record?

[chico]

There are lots of reasons why the game isn't quite as hard as it used to be-equipment-course conditionong etc etc-but 57 is awesome!Give the lad his due respect for this one.

[Alex]

Ball, equipment, psychologist, whatever. I don't know how one's response to that round could be anything else but "Holy F%&!#!"
150 seasoned PGA, Nationwide and Minitour Pros play golf courses of so-so difficulty every week - there's plenty of low scores, but it's not exactly like it's raining rounds in the 50s.

57. Damn. Rock on, dude.

[Hod]

Emotion, as usual, trumps logic.

The point Reallity was trying to make is that these shocking 60-and-under scores we've been seeing lately might likely not be happening if the players had to shape 4-irons into those greens instead of dropping nice comfortable wedges onto them.

[reality]

Hod has it wrong. Gues the only sarcasm that works here is Geoff's. The point is give the kid his props for a phenomenal round of golf.. Do not detract from his accomplishment by saying it was nothing and wouldn't have happened if the ball didn't go so far! Every time I turn around, some exceptional performance is poo-pooed due to the ball. I still challenge anyone to shoot 57 from 100 yards away from each green. You still have to make the putts and you still have to hit some great wedges.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

Reality, I'll go you one further. Put a guy in greenside rough with their tee shots on every hole (and, oh, 30 feet away on the par threes) and nobody's shooting 57. If the kid did that with his tee shots he'd have gotten up and down 12 out of 15 times by my quick count. The PGA Tour leader is 67.60% at this point...

I'm with you. Some kid shoots 57 (on a 6600 yard course) and people are saying it was all the golf ball with little to no credit to the kid at all. Lame.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

12/15 was wrong. Duh. 30 feet away (putting, I meant) of the FOUR par threes means there are 14 holes left. So he got up and down 11/14 times - only 79% of the time. Again, the PGA Tour lead is nearly 13% lower.

But, right, he didn't have a great day and hit great shots. It was all the ball. Silly me. :-P

[Tim in Hoylake]

Great round; that a person under 18 needs a psychologist is a tad sad. But hey, if you can buy you way to a better robo-golfer, more power to you.

[East End Golfer]

@ Fat Albert and @ Hod - You bring whatever ball you choose, Pro V1s or any other. You get to pick young Mr. Wyatt's ball for him (USGA legal, of course) - Noodle, Wilson, TopFlite, etc. You play a scramble and young Mr. Wyatt plays his own (cheap) ball.
I'm bringing my life savings and putting it on Bobby.