Firestone Country Club in Ohio pin flag by Robert Trent Jones Jack Nicklaus pga

Description

The 18-hole "South" course at the Firestone Country Club facility in Akron, Ohio features 7,060 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 72. The course rating is 74.7 and it has a slope rating of 131 on Bent grass. Designed by Robert Trent Jones
The
Firestone Country Club
is a private
golf club
in the
United States
, located in
Akron, Ohio
. It is a regular stop on the
PGA Tour
and has hosted the
PGA Championship
three times.
The club comprises three courses—those of the North, South, and West. In
1974
the club hosted three
televised
golf events
: the
American Golf Classic
, the
CBS Golf Classic
and the
World Series of Golf
. No other club has hosted three televised golf events in the same calendar year.
[5]
One of four
World Golf Championships
constituent events, the
WGC-Bridgestone Invitational
, directed by the
International Federation of PGA Tours
and sanctioned on the
PGA
and
European Tours
, is contested at the club with the final event at the club being scheduled for 2018.
[6]
The North and West courses also serve as the
home course
for the
University of Akron
Zips
golf team.
[7]
Tournaments
[
edit
]
The
Rubber City Open
was the first tournament held at Firestone, from 1954 through 1959. The
PGA Championship
has been held at the South Course three times:
1960
,
1966
, and
1975
. This exposure led to a new event, the
American Golf Classic
, which ran from
1961
through
1976
.
[10]
Since
1962
, the World Series of Golf, now known as the
WGC-Bridgestone Invitational
, has been held at Firestone, usually on the South course. An unofficial four-man event over 36 holes through
1975
, it became a limited field event over 72 holes in
1976
.
[11]
During the third round of the PGA Championship in
1975
,
Jack Nicklaus
pulled out a remarkable par on the 625-yard (572 m) 16th hole,
[12]
considered to be the hardest hole on Firestone's courses. Trailing
Bruce Crampton
by four strokes after two rounds, Nicklaus gained eight shots on Saturday to lead by four after 54 holes and won his fourth PGA Championship.
[13]
[14]
Tiger Woods
also had a memorable moment on the South course when his "shot in the dark" on the 72nd hole at the WGC event in
2000
grabbed the victory by eleven strokes.
[15]
He had won the
PGA Championship
the previous week for his third consecutive
major championship
that season
.
[15]
The North course is used less frequently in televised events, but hosted the American Golf Classic in
1976
and the World Series of Golf in
1994
.