Callaway Golf recently unveiled a clever field of dreams on Tony Gwynn Drive in San Diego. The Links at Petco, a nine-hole, par-3 golf fun house inside the stadium was a cool dual use of an even cooler venue.
Over five days in early November, 1,600 golfers teed it up inside Petco Park for an event initially scheduled for three days but was lengthened due to popular demand. Each hole featured a theme and the opportunity to win Callaway prizes, and during the round players used the company’s newest equipment, including Apex irons, MD3 milled wedges and Chrome Soft golf balls.
Our group teed off a little before 8 a.m. and discovered an urban golf oasis, where the routing was nine tee shots, with eight from the concourse, toward targets and greens painted on the field. A ball on the green was a par, a ball in the green’s circle was a birdie, and anything else was a bogey.
This was a tough track, no doubt, especially with the wind blowing in. Our group got off the first tee behind home plate in good shape, but then came the elevation changes. Hitting from the upper deck toward the outfield, we quickly discovered the Pacific offers up about a three-club wind when it blows, making the goal of getting a hole-in-one for a Callaway driver a little more daunting … and unrealistic.
But the real prize was nine holes of fun and discovering Petco Park in a new way. From warming up in the batting cage (our on-deck circle) to being at field level, it was a day at Petco unlike any other. The familiarities of the game soon settled in, however, and when a tee shot found the strip of dirt short of the outfield fence the appropriate ribbing about warning track power ensued.
Our group racked up a respectable number of pars and even a few birdies on holes ranging from 45 yards to, with the wind factored in, about 140. You never went deeper in your bag than an 8-iron, which I hit, by the way, on No. 9, a lengthy hole toward a green in deep center flanked by a palm tree. Granted, the wind was at my back, but I put one in the cheap seats – an outcome I celebrated on the tee. You can keep your birdie. I just went deep at Petco, and I definitely dug that long ball.
If ever there was a day for slow play, this was it. But who knows? Maybe the concept will catch on and other big-league stadiums will join in. Anybody up for a modified West Coast Swing?
