The Sawgrass of Singapore? DP World Tour at Laguna National
21 March 2024
The DP World Tour heads to the Laguna National Golf Resort this week for the Porsche Singapore Classic where players will face a hole that closely resembles the Island Green at TPC Sawgrass, find out more below.
The course was designed by Andy Dye, nephew of the famous Pete Dye, and at Laguna National, we see that Andy was inspired by his uncle.
Like TPC Sawgrass, long bunkers and water hazards feature throughout the course making it a truly spectacular setting.
Originally designed in 1993, before being redesigned in 2010 and 2017, the course known locally as ‘The Beast’ can play to less than 5,000 yards for juniors, and up to 7,471 yards for the Pros!
The map below highlights the scale of both the bunker and water hazards, precision is paramount here with over 146 bunkers to avoid!
Last time at Laguna
We saw the South African, Ockie Strydom, win by one stroke to claim his second DP World Tour title with an impressive -19 under par for the four rounds.
One of the key factors in Strydom’s win was his ability to tackle the 17th hole which is almost like the 17th at TPC Sawgrass but 50y longer!
Playing 184y and with some elevation to take into consideration, the 17th at ‘The Beast’ definitely merits the name! This hole can very easily derail any competitor’s round and guarantees drama.
To make matters worse, as it stands, the winds are set to be a steady 10-15mph with gusts up to 25mph on Thursday… just what you need when trying to hit an island green from 180+ yards!
How would an amateur fare on the 17th at the Laguna Classic?
Handicap
0
5
10
15
20
25
Proximity (ft)
56ft
74ft
91ft
99ft
117ft
143ft
Green Hit %
42%
28%
24%
16%
13%
6%
Amateur Golfer Tee Shots from 180y
The immediately obvious, and somewhat concerning, stat that jumps out for all of our handicap benchmarks is the likelihood of hitting the green, or lack of.
Even for the scratch golfer, standing on the tee with ten balls will likely hit six into the hazard… I hope you have plenty of golf balls with you if you ever play this course!
Depending on how far you hit the ball, this hole could play anything from a long iron to fairway wood, and with the green being approximately 37y wide and 22y deep, it will need to be a precise shot.
To make matters worse…
As if it could get much worse, the prevailing wind on this hole is typically into and from left to right making it even more difficult.
Shot Scope data reveals a few common things amongst amateur golfers, we all have a tendency to miss greens short. The only saving grace on the 17th would be that finding the bunker short of the green would at least be dry land!
This would just leave us with a tricky sand save attempt but it is a lot better than a reload or trip to the drop zone.
Sand Save %
Handicap
0
5
10
15
20
25
Sand Save %
37%
47%
39%
18%
15%
10%
Sand Save Likelihood | Amateur Golfers
Above we have the stats for amateur golfers’ likelihood of converting a sand save attempt. However, given the serious undulations on the 17th green, it is likely a lot lower for this hole in particular.
Normally we say that a par on a Par 3 is like a birdie due to their difficulty. But for this hole in particular, it may even be the case that a bogey is like a birdie!
One thing is for sure, the Porsche Singapore Classic won’t be fully over until the tournament leader finds the green on the 18th.
Why not the 17th? Well, the 18th is a bit of a beast as well! As we previously mentioned, Andy Dye seemed to take inspiration from his uncle, and like at TPC Sawgrass, the 18th is lined with water.
8th Laguna National Classic Course 18th
A ‘relatively’ wide fairway with a spine of rough and bunkers down the middle still places a requirement for precision off the tee – just the 322y carry to avoid the spine!
For the second shot, anyone who leaks their shot to the right could well find the water hazard and so it truly makes a great finish to the tournament.
The tournament gets underway on Thursday 21st of March and promises to be a great weekend of golf.
Interested to know how you would get on at Laguna National Classic Course?
Our performance tracking users can use their data on our MyStrategy feature to see exactly how they would play every hole – the 17th should be interesting!
Shot tracking with Shot Scope allows players to gain over 100 tour level insights into their performance allowing them to learn their game like never before.
If you are unsure on what type of performance tracking product would suit your game, check out this blog to learn more.
Did you know that 84% of missed putts over five feet finish short?
Or, that your typical drive is nearly 30 yards shorter than your Sunday best drive? These are just two intriguing statistics thrown up by Shot Scope’s performance tracking data platform.
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