The hole that played havoc with Rockford's Men's and Women's City golf tournaments

ROCKFORD — No. 17 at Sandy Hollow is 195 yards up a steep hill.

But No. 17 isn’t surrounded by water like No. 8 at Aldeen. It doesn’t have out-of-bounds to worry about like No. 12 at Ingersoll. It’s not as long as Nos. 3 and 12 at Ingersoll, No. 15 at Aldeen or even the 225-yard 6th hole at Sandy. But that hill isn’t any bigger than on the 225-yard 6th hole at Sandy on Ingersoll’s 220-yard No. 3. And No. 6 at Sandy has a steeper-sloped green.

But no par 3 in recent memory has tormented the fields of the Greater Rockford Men’s and Women’s Classic golf tournaments than No. 17 did Saturday in the second round of this year’s tournaments at Sandy Hollow. No. 17 may play a bigger role than any of the other 54 holes in deciding who eventually wins after Sunday’s final round at Aldeen.

How tough was No. 17 Saturday? Danny Gorman was tied for the lead until he doubled 17. Cody Rhymer was one stroke out of first before he took a double-bogey 5 on 17. And Rhymer tied for the best score in his group. His foursome — which included record nine-time champion Jamie Hogan — posted a cumulative score of 21 with three doubles and a triple.

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When the smoke cleared, two players who made par on 17 — TJ Baker at 6-under-par for two rounds and Mark Noonan of Vernon Hills at 5-under — were in the lead. Gorman and Rhymer were at 3-under, followed by Matt Smith, Garrett Ralston and Adam Tobias at 1-under. Marcus Smith Jr. is six strokes back at even par after taking bogey on three of his last four holes, including 17.

On the women’s side, Boylan sisters Eva and Ella Greenberg are in control. Eva passed her older sister by playing the last 10 holes in even par. She is at plus-8 to Ella’s plus-10, with defending champion Kayla Sayyalinh in third at 16-over. Eight of the top 10 women also took bogey or worse on No. 17.

Gorman had just moved into a tie for first with birdies on the back-to-back par-5s on Nos. 15 and 16. He almost made eagle on 16. And then disaster struck.

“It was frustrating,” he said. “I hit it a little left and clipped the right side of the left tree. That brought it back 30 yards into the schmutz. I made a mess from there. I just put myself in a bad spot.”

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There were a lot of bad spots on No. 17. Gorman picked a different one than most. Rhymer, Ella Greenberg and many others hit their tee shots in the right bunker, trying to fly at a pin that was on the right front of the green, tucked on a ridge.

“On 17, if you are in the bunker on the right you are are screwed,” Ella Greenberg said. “The pin was three to five feet off the green. I hit a perfect bunker shot and it rolled 30 feet past the pin because of the pin placement. It was just straight downhill after you got on the green.”

Rhymer didn’t make a bogey all day. But he made a double when he tried to get too close to the pin on 17.

“I didn’t realize how far up the slope on the right the pin was,” Rhymer said. “If you missed right, there was no chance of making par. Whether you were in the bunker or short or anything — you can’t be right. You have to be left to have any chance. There was a little hump there between the bunker and the green and the pin was on that. If you looked at all of the big scores, all of us were on the right, guaranteed.”

Even when Rhymer got out of the bunker, he got on the wrong side of the green. He had to work hard to avoid a three-putt from eight feet.

“I had to two-putt over the hump for my double,” Rhymer said. “It was eight feet, but it broke five feet. I had to play it down the slope and it wouldn’t stop. It went three feet past.

“It was frustrating. You are trying to finish strong, so it leaves a bad taste in your mouth, especially because I was playing really well up until that point. All that hard work through 16 holes gets wiped away by one poor course management decision.”

In the women’s race, Eva gained six strokes on her big sister in a five-hole stretch from No. 9 to 13, while Sayyalinh fell off the pace with a triple on 14 and a double on 18, losing five strokes to the Greenberg sisters on those two holes alone.

“I struggled the whole round,” Ella Greenberg said. “The pins were in really hard positions. I missed a lot of greens. My chips were hard because the pin placements were in extremely hard places today. The course played a lot harder than I remember Sandy Hollow playing.”

It was so difficult on 17 some golfers were happy to take bogey.

“I missed right of the green, hit a tree and had to hit a 40-yard punch shot over the bunker,” said Adam Tobias, who was within two strokes of the lead at the time. “I tried to hit it into the lip and just kill it. I did some damage control there and was lucky to come out with a bogey. From my position, I could have thrown up a double bogey or a triple.”

“On No. 6 you can see the pin,” Rhymer said. “It’s a blind landing on the green on 17. That makes it that much more difficult.”

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With one round to go, Baker has his first Men’s City title in sight. He routed the field the last time he was at Aldeen, winning the Aldeen Cup earlier this month by a record 13 strokes. He has led the Men’s City since he made birdie on four of his last five holes for an opening 65 at Ingersoll. He made five birdies Saturday at Sandy Hollow to overcome three bogeys and a double on 12.

“It’s nice to make up for mistakes,” Baker said. “The pins were trick out. It can happen on any hole at any time. It was just one of those days where you try to make a lot of birdies to balance it out.”

Four players begin the final round within three strokes and seven are within five.

“It’s cool when it’s close,” Baker said. “I like when it’s close. It brings the pressure, and I think I handle the pressure well.”

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: The toughest hole in the Rockford Men's and Women's City golf tourneys