GreatHoles
No. 14
HERMITAGE COUNTRY CLUB,
SABOT COURSE
by DAVID PARTRIDGE
T
his year marks the 30th anniversary of Arnold
Palmer’s last professional victory. On Sept. 18, 1988,
Mr. Palmer won his final championship when he
captured the Crestar Classic at Hermitage Country
Club in Manakin-Sabot, just west of Richmond. In
total, Arnie had 95 professional wins—including seven majors—
over a remarkable career that spanned six decades.
Palmer, alongside his ever-present Arnie’s Army, began his
charge to victory when he birdied the 14th hole (on the Sabot
Course; the Crestar Classic was played over the original Pine and
Lake nines at Hermitage) and then parred the final four holes to
complete his wire-to-wire triumph. Palmer took control of the
tournament with that birdie on 14, historically the most difficult
hole at Hermitage for the Senior Tour Professionals over eight
years of the Crestar Classic, and eventually won by four.
The 14th at Hermitage is a long, demanding dogleg left that
for the last 200 yards tracks through a corridor of mature trees.
Depending on which of five tees is in play, the longest golfers who
have the ability to hit the ball very high will sometimes take on
a huge elm tree (nearly 90 feet high) at the corner of the dogleg,
however, most players will look to hit a controlled draw to mirror
the shape of the hole and set up a good approach shot.
The second shot is played slightly downhill to a large green
protected by deep flanking bunkers. The putting surface—which
offers a wide array of excellent hole locations—has several
strategic slopes. The left side of the green has a lot of move-
vsga.org
ment where matching
line and pace is often
very important while
the right side of the put-
ting surface has numer-
YARDAGES
ous subtle breaks that
add to the challenge of
White:
Black:
this superb hole. For a
448 yards
372 yards
richer appreciation of
Blue:
Green:
the 14th (and to view
339 yards
405 yards
a computer-generated
flyover of all 18 holes of
the Sabot Course if you
wish), visit hermitagecountryclub.com.
In September, the members of Hermitage will honor the
anniversary of Mr. Palmer’s win with a celebration of his iconic
life and his final championship. While numerous events will be
included in the festivities, the highlight will be the placement
of a bronze marker at the 14th tee titled “The King ’s Final
March to Victory” to commemorate this significant event in
golf history.
PAR 4
A five-time VSGA Player of the Year and a multi-time winner of
the VSGA Amateur, Mid-Amateur and Senior Amateur, David
Partridge is the author of this series. David lives in the Richmond
area and works as a mortgage banker.
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