dale hayes column
Going
LOW
Shooting the lights out doesn’t happen often. When it does, it’s worth celebrating
For many years the lowest 18-hole score in South Africa was a 59, shot by Rod Mullen, a Springbok amateur who started his golf at Zwartkop, where he took lessons from my father. His 59, though, was at the old Windsor Park golf course that is now part of Randpark Club.
My lowest non-tournament round came on a Sunday afternoon at what is today Waterkloof Golf Club, when I shot a 60, and amazingly my partner and I lost our game.
I was drawn with Jack Nicklaus for the first two rounds of the first tournament I played in Australia. I shot a level-par 72 in the first round and felt like I’d shot 80 because Nicklaus waltzed around Manly Golf Club in Sydney in 62.
In those days, Jack was long off the tee and accurate. He put a few really good shots near the pins, birdied the par fives and holed a couple of long putts, making no mistakes. I played six tournament rounds with Jack and never saw him hit a really bad shot or a silly one.
FROM THE ARCHIVE
See how Branden Grace set a new record for the lowest round at a Major as he dominated the course at Royal Birkdale.
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In 1974 Gary Player shot a 10-under-par 59 in the second round of the Brazilian Open at Gavea Golf Club in Rio de Janeiro, the only 59 ever recorded at a national Open.
Branden Grace was, for a short time, the only male golfer to have shot a 62 at a Major – the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. Since then, Xander Schauffele shot 62s at the 2023 US Open and the 2023 PGA Championship. Rickie Fowler also had a 62 at the 2023 US Open. Shane Lowry shot a 62 at the 2024 PGA Championship. The only Major to not have a 62 is The Masters at Augusta National.
The Guinness Book of Records recognises the lowest 18-hole score as 55 (16 under par) by Rhein Gibson at River Oaks Golf Club in Oklahoma in 2012, which was then shared by Alexander Hughes when he shot 55 at South Lakes Golf Course in 2020. Before that, the only 55 recorded in tournament play was by Homero Blancas at the 1962 Premier Invitational in Longview, Texas.
In professional tournaments 58 has been shot on four occasions – by Jim Furyk, Ryo Ishikawa, Kim Seong-Hyeon and Bryson DeChambeau. All of these were on par-70 courses.
Branden Grace
Branden Grace
Shane Lowry
Thirteen under par is the most that any Tour professional has shot in a round. And two South Africans have achieved it – Peter Karmis at Royal Swazi in 2009 and Casey Jarvis (top) at Dainfern Country Club in 2023.
In 1934, the great British golfer Henry Cotton, who won The Open Championship three times, scored a 65 in the second round of the tournament. That was the lowest single-round score in Open history and Dunlop, who made the golf balls he used, paid tribute to it by naming a golf ball the Dunlop 65, which was sold all around the world for over 50 years.
My lowest round at a tournament came at the Wanderers at the 1975 PGA Championship. There’d been quite a bit of rain so we played 36 holes on the final day. I teed off in the morning as the defending champion. Gary Player and Lee Trevino were playing behind us.
I was already a couple under by the time I reached the 4th hole, a dogleg par five. My drive was in the middle of the fairway and as I put my club behind the ball it moved. I told Graham Henning who was my marker, but he was on the other side of the fairway so didn’t see anything. I still parred the hole, even with a one-shot penalty. I ended up shooting a 62 and winning the PGA for the second time in a row.
FLASHBACK
Henry Cotton's round of 65 at the 1934 Open Championship at Royal St George’s set a new standard.
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My father, my oldest brother, John, and I have all shot 62s at Zwartkop in casual rounds. The most impressive of these three would be my father’s with the equipment they used in the 1950s. Although he was proud of that score, the one that infuriated him was teeing off late one afternoon for nine holes. He shot a 27 but it was too dark to even attempt the second nine.
Everyone knows how Denis Hutchison and I like nothing better than to wind each other up at every opportunity. He was telling me about the 1957 SA Open Championship at Humewood where Harold Henning beat Sandy Guthrie in a playoff. Hutch told me that in the first round, Harold birdied every hole from the 7th to the 15th. I said: ‘Hutch, in your day every hole was a par five.’ You can imagine the response I got!
To my delight I saw an old scorecard from Humewood that showed the pars of the holes: the 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 13th and 15th were par fives, the 9th a par four and the 12th and 14th a par three. Today, Humewood has the 8th, 10th and 13th as par fours – difficult ones, I grant you.
Of all the scoring records I’ve heard of, the most impressive was at the newly opened Glendower Golf Club that hosted the 1937 Transvaal Open, won by Bobby Locke with a 265. Par was 75, so that was 35 under par for the four rounds. His rounds were 66, 69, 66 and 64. Just imagine the quality of golf balls and clubs Locke used to shoot that world record.
About
the Author
South Africa’s Dale Hayes is a former professional golfer with an illustrious record in the sport.
About the Author
South Africa’s Dale Hayes is a former professional golfer with an illustrious record in the sport. His 21 professional wins include the 1971 Spanish Open, the 1974 World Cup of Golf in partnership with Bobby Cole, and 13 titles on the Sunshine Tour. He also won the European Tour Order of Merit in 1975. Since retiring from the pro golf circuit he has remained active in the sport as the principal of an event management company and a popular and respected commentator.
South Africa’s Dale Hayes is a former professional golfer with an illustrious record in the sport. His 21 professional wins include the 1971 Spanish Open, the 1974 World Cup
Golf in partnership with Bobby Cole, and 13 titles on the Sunshine Tour. He also won the European Tour Order of Merit in 1975. Since retiring from the pro golf circuit he has remained active in the sport as the principal of an event management company and a popular and respected commentator.
TYRONE WINFIELD/SUNSHINE TOUR/ERIK S LESSER/EPA/BACKPAGEPIX/CHRIS TURVEY/ROLEX/ROSS KINNAIRD/R&A VIA GETTY IMAGES
