Powerful long hitter Chung Chan-min used a wedge instead of a putter on the green to make a birdie.
On the 18th hole (par-5) of the first round of the Korea Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean Tour’s KB Financial Reeve Championship at Blackstone Golf Club (par-72) in Icheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, on the 25th, Chung put the ball on the green in two.
The pin was at the back of the two-tiered green, but the ball landed 20 metres away in the bottom centre of the green. Two putts for birdie, let alone eagle, was not going to be easy.안전놀이터
After some discussion with his caddie, Chung was handed a wedge instead of a putter.
His wedge landed three metres in front of the hole, rolled slightly and stopped less than a metre away.
He hit it with the wedge, but the green remained unscathed. It was a technical shot that utilised the bounce of the wedge.
The crowd applauded the magical green wedge shot.
Chung holed the birdie putt for a one-under-par 71 and finished the first round on a high note.
The South Korean, who won his first professional event earlier this month at the GS Caltex Mae Kyung Open at Nam Seoul CC, also showed off his skill with a picturesque wedge shot from the fringe just off the green on No. 1, floating the ball and placing it directly into the hole three metres in front of him.
“I told my caddie that if I hit it with a putter, it would be a three-putt, so it would be better if I hit it with a wedge, so I tried it and it worked out well,” said Chung.
“I tried it once in a practice round and it didn’t damage the green,” he said. “In a match, I didn’t want to do it because I thought I would be criticised, but I was confident that the wedge shot wouldn’t damage the green, so I did it.”
There is no rule that says you must use a putter on the greens in golf competitions. You can use any club, not just wedges. It’s not against the rules to damage the green.
Chung’s day was a rollercoaster, with five birdies, a double bogey and two bogeys.
He was still able to hit his driver well over 300 yards. His tee shot on the sixth was 370 yards.
On the 18th hole, he hit a 309-yard tee shot with a hybrid, then hit an iron to the green with 240 yards left.
But he also made a costly mistake. A double bogey on the eighth (par-4) came after he hit a ball out of a bunker that ended up in the water.
“After winning my first title, I was exhausted and decided to take the next tournament off to rest my body and mind,” said Chung, “but this time I will play with all my strength.”