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off a few inches
beyond the cup.
The ball tended to
drop roll to the right
or left; however,
sometimes it went
straight. Lucky #7
got the straight roll.
Rankin's ball rolled to the right. Morris continued to make aces, but the playing field, except the
players in his group, still were not aware of what was unfolding...until hole 15. Hole 15 was a slight
ascending straight hole of 22 feet with a block in the center of the green, located 5 feet from the tee
mat. The obstacle forced a player to bank the shot to get to the cup. If played for cup speed, it would
come up short because of the slight incline. If the putt were firmed, the ball would travel to trouble.
Behind the cup
was a 4 inch
drop off, with a
contoured hill in
the shape of the
back of the cup (See picture above). This style of hole was considered to be one of the toughest holes
in Putt Putt, even for accomplished players. Mike Baldoza, the 1973 World Putting Champion found
this hole design to be extremely difficult. Hole 15 was also a returning hole, meaning that the tee to cup
was returning to the middle of the course. At the end of the hole was the conjunction to holes 8, 9 10,
th
11, 15 & 16; a location where most of the players were playing. When Morris played the 15 , whether
by accident or intentional with a firm
stroke...and made it – the players then
became aware that he had an exceptional
round forming. When Morris stepped off
the hole and showed his card to another
player, word spread among the groups
quickly. Players ceased playing and
watched Morris play the remainder of his
round. Hole 16 was a staggered double hill
hole with the cup on an incline at the back of the hole, and to the right – about 4 inches from the right
rail. Hit a good putt, the player gets an ace – Morris did. Now for hole 17 - a hole that was considered
very unpredictable. It was a typical ramp waterhole that had a steep descending landing area of which
would throw the ball with acceleration into the back rail and then catapult the ball back to the cup. The
idea on this style hole was to play the ball so that it would roll all the way back to the ascending part of
the hole and then allow it to roll back to the cup. If it missed, the next putt was easily 4 – 5 feet. As the
th
players stepped closer to the 17 hole, Morris struck the ball hard enough to travel past the water. The
ball landed in the middle of the upper part of the landing area, and with one bounce – smoothly landed
on the descending part of the hole- just what he did not want to happen. Morris knew that he hit the putt
too firm as soon as he stroked it; however, it was the right line. The ball accelerated to the back rail and
made a “crack” sound as it popped off the wood rail. But in the words of Warren Morris, ”...the cup
just sucked the ball in.” One hole remaining. As he prepared to putt, he noticed that Dale Fuhr, Gary
English, Mike Pfeiffer, Joe Marazzito and Dan Weidle, along with the remaining players and
customers, had surrounded the hole. He knew what was at stake. He
never felt nervous and he put into practice what he instilled in all his
players – focus, one putt at a time. Warren did not rush the effort. He
th
calmly stroked the ball up the typical 18 hole of 20 feet with an incline