STATELINE — There’s nothing like the par-3 17th at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course. Anywhere.
Where else can you find a plethora of boats, bikini-clad women, caddie races and more liquor than you can shake a stick at?
About the only hole that comes close is the par-3 16th at the Waste Management Open. There are more people at that hole, so you know more alcohol is being consumed. The only thing missing is the water.
The golfing is pretty good at the American Century Championships, but when you talk about the ACC, the par-3 17th is foremost in everybody’s thoughts.
Somebody almost always has a basketball hoop or a football, and the balls are usually thrown out to the golfers with a pen attached for an autograph. And, the celebrities almost always oblige, and it’s not uncommon to see the players try to shoot a 30-footer or rifle a spiral back toward the beach.
On Friday, Steph Curry went 0-for-3 shooting the basketball, and then the Warrior star went 30 yards down the fairway and made a tumbling catch of a spiral thrown by Aaron Rodgers. Curry also tried to swat Joe Pavelski’s shot from behind, but the Sharks star was a little too quick and made the shot.
Many players have said it’s unnerving to stand on the 17th with music playing, people yelling and all the commotion along the beach. Tuning it out isn’t easy by any means.
“Seventeen to me is what the tournament is all about,” Rodgers said after his round. “The fans are incredible. I was talking to Gary Quinn and Jon Miller (from NBC), who have been incredible in getting the tournament to where it is.
“We are baffled just how much it has grown. The fan support is incredible. I think about 17 in the off-season, and I can’t wait to get there, especially on Saturday. There were a ton of people out there today (Friday). It was amazing.”
The crowd on 17 on Friday impressed even seasoned ACC veteran Alfonso Ribeiro, he of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air fame. With Ribeiro, you know he’ll break out and do the “Carlton” either on 17 or 18.
“We were a little less crazy, but it was packed,” Ribeiro said Friday. “I had never seen it like that on a Friday. The fans are amazing. We treasure this every year.”
On Friday, Ribeiro was shaking his booty to the music while standing over the ball.
Pavelski is in just his second year at the ACC, and he recalled his first experience.
“Coming up 16, you can hear the music,” he said. “Seventeen you get that crowd and 18, those are three really three fun holes. The 17th there is some good excitement going on there.”
