Olympics 2024: 18th hole will play as a par 5 for the women, but that doesn't make it any easier

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — The Albatros course at Le Golf National plays as a par-71 every day of the year, with a brutish closing par 4 where players dodge water and bunkers off the tee and fly their long- to mid-iron approach shots to a green surrounded almost entirely by water. It is the closing to a rousing finish of three water-filled disaster holes sandwiched around a long uphill par four that routinely plays over par. Every day. Men, women, juniors or seniors, World Amateur Team Championships. Every day.

But not for the women’s competition at the Olympics.

This week, the 18th hole will play as a 447-yard par 5. For perspective, that would be the shortest officially listed yardage for a par-5 played on the LPGA Tour this year.

But simply changing the par from “4” to “5” doesn’t necessarily make the hole easier, and it very well might make all the difference in determining who goes home with a medal and who leaves the Albatros course all, well, wet.

“The 18th hole we're playing as a par 5 for the women, a little bit because of the ability of giving them choices and options,” said Kerry Haigh, interim CEO of the PGA of America and long-time course set-up man for the PGA Championship. Haigh and Davide Lantos of the Ladies European Tour are responsible for the setup of the Albatros Course for the Olympics, where they determined that the men would play the 18th as a 471-yard par four. Haigh likes the move, which was set before the Olympics even began.

“It'll make a good risk-reward par 5 for them,” he said. “And if they miss the fairway or if they're too far back, there's a good layup option as a par five. So we felt it was the right thing to do.”

During the men’s competition, the 18th played as the hardest hole for the tournament, averaging nearly half a stroke over par at 4.430. Of course, that same score for the women would mean most of the field would be making birdie. Plus, they’ll be playing from tees that are 24 yards shorter.

The hole plays awkwardly downhill off the tee, and any kind of a shot going left could careen into the water that lines the left side of the fairway. That’s especially true as the course firms up since last week’s rains. As of the moment, there is no rain in the forecast for the rest of the week and higher winds have helped to dry out conditions even further. Most of the men played the 18th hole with 3-woods off the tee, and misses that ended up in the right rough were still very much a 50-50 proposition for reaching or even staying on the putting surface.

For the women, all those same scenarios exist, but with an extra stroke in their back pockets. It doesn’t necessarily make it feel that much easier, said Nelly Korda, the No. 1 player in the world and the defending Olympic gold medalist.

“If I hit kind of a chippy driver, that's aggressive in itself,” said Korda, who in Monday’s practice round admitted she didn’t realize it was playing as a par 5 until she was on the green. “If you pull a little, you're putting water into play, but then if you flair it out right, you're probably laying up. I would say versus the men ... obviously we don't have their length coming into the green, and that is a firm island green with water in the front and the back. It will be a good finishing hole. I like par-5 finishing holes that are gettable.”

Gettable, of course, is a relative term in women’s golf. The field in the Olympics includes some of the longest hitters on the LPGA, including Korda, Linn Grant from Sweden, Yuka Saso from Japan, Maria Fassi from Mexico, all of whom can easily hit tee shots north of 280 yards. Conversely, the field also includes players like Aditi Ashok from India, who averages 235 yards off the tee on the LPGA this year, and Klara Davidson Spilkova from Czechoslovakia, who has an average driving distance on the LET of 238 yards. For perspective, that 40-yard driving distance gap in the women’s field is about 15-20 yards more than the driving distance gap was in the men’s field.

Australia’s Hannah Green said she gambled with driver off the tee downwind in her Monday practice round and was able to reach the 18th green with an 8-iron. She’s not sure that’s how she’ll play it when scores really count.

“It's a very strategic hole as a par 5,” Green said, noting that Aussie teammate Minjee Lee had a 7-iron in during the downwind practice round. “Eight-irons and 7-irons is really short for a par 5, but we are also not sure which way the wind direction will be. I think it is more interesting as a par 5, and I think it would be fun for someone to make a birdie versus make a double bogey or worse. To have an exciting finish in a positive way I think is a nice way to finish for a medal.”

Others in the field weren’t hitting that short of a club into 18, especially to a green that seems to be trending toward the crispy side of the playability spectrum.

“That hole is really firming up,” said Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow, who averages about 260 yards off the tee. “A lot will depend on the pin position, too. If it's the front left pin or front right pin, I don't think any of us will have enough spin to stop it at those pins so it’s going to be pretty much middle of the green every day. It will be an exciting finish to get a medal or a playoff or whatever it is. Par 4 or par 5, it will be drama on 18 either way.”

While the rough has been trimmed from the men’s competition and in the areas closest the fairway, it will be less than 2.5 inches. That’s the same height originally stipulated for the men’s competition. The graduated rough increased to approximately 3.25 inches and then nearly five inches for the men’s competition last week. For the women, the stagger will go from around 2.5 inches, to 2.87 inches to around five inches.

Lydia Ko, who has medaled in her previous two Olympic Games, got some wisdom from fellow New Zealander Ryan Fox, who finished T-35 in the Olympics last week, hitting less than 60 percent of the fairways.

“The rough seemed a little shorter on the back nine this morning than the front nine yesterday,” she said. “But it is still really juicy. I think Foxy put it as ‘It's very smelly,’ and that is definitely a nice way of putting it when your ball goes in the rough, especially when you're around the greens. I think being on with your ball-striking is going to be really important this week.”

During the men’s competition more than a third of the scores were 5 or higher, but for the women, it doesn’t feel like scoring 5, or “par,” is going to get you on the podium. Still, it will be unsettling hole from start to finish and maybe just what you want to finish out the Olympics. If it’s any consolation for the women, there were nearly as many 4s made from the rough and the water on 18 during the final round of the men’s competition last week, as there were 5s and worse. A bad tee shot, or a good one, doesn’t ruin the hole. It only gets the drama started.

“It depends on everyone's comfort level with aggressiveness and also how they are playing in their round because we have got three holes prior to that that play very difficult already,” said Team USA’s Rose Zhang, noting that the wind will go a long way in determining how the hole might play, too. At the 2022 World Amateur Team Championship, contested at two courses including the Albatros Course at Le Golf National, Zhang tied for medalist. “Going down 18, you just want to make sure that you are capitalizing on the par 5. It may be a little bit shorter, but at the same time it's still playing tricky.”

Or as Zhang’s teammate Lilia Vu put it, “It will be great fun for everybody.”

Especially those watching.