AAC Flashback: Remember When 500-Yard Par-4s Were Embarrassing

Reading Brad Klein's raters notebook review of Atlanta Athletic Club's oft-renovated Highland Course, I was reminded of this from the last time the PGA was played there:

That 2001 PGA Championship came during the first full season of high-tech, high-performance, solid-core golf balls that ushered in a dramatic spike in driving distances. In those days, course officials acted with some subterfuge in adding distances. At the 18th hole, normally a par 5 for members, the scorecard indicated the pros would play it as a 499-yard par 4. Actually, it measured a record-setting 507. To avoid controversy, the AAC crew removed the yardage marker at the tee.

And there was this in golf.com's preview of the hole:

"The last time we played there they called it 490, but they covered up the yardage markers on the tee with sod," Cink says. "I played there not too long after and they'd uncovered them and it was 520. When you added it up in your yardage book, all of it added up to 520. A little trickery. No one wants to break the barrier of that kind of length when you're not at altitude or anything. It's extremely demanding."

Ah, those were the quaint days when the game wase ashamed of compromising its values!