Tiger Woods is coming back to the scene of one of his most memorable moments in his storied career this week, and that hole-in-one at No. 16 all those years ago remains etched in golfing lore.

We all know the event by now: At No. 16 on TPC Scottsdale, Woods tees it up, swings, immediately hears crowd screaming, ball disappears, bedlam.  

It was 18 years ago that Woods produced his seminal hole-in-one at the Phoenix Open, bringing the crowd into an incredible frenzy at golf’s rowdiest hole. We know the experience of Omar Uresti, Woods’ playing partner that day. 

Uresti has expounded upon his memory of the event in recent weeks, revealing that he never actually saw the shot go in, as part of a strategy to avoid watching Woods swing and consequently falling out of rhythm in seeing a player who swiped so violently at the ball. He also gave clarity as to the duo’s awful first high five attempt following the hole-in-one, stating that the fear of the extra adrenaline in Woods’ high-five caused him to hesitate and induce the awkward moment. 

Clearly Uresti has provided valuable feedback, but he wasn’t the only one on hand to recollect the wild happenings of that shot. Of course present at the scene of the event were photographers, a group paid to best chronicle the scene through visual art. Although it’s been nearly two decades since Woods’ famous hole-in-one, their memories are still vivid about the day’s event.

Tiger Woods recording an ace in an unhinged atmosphere with a Super Bowl crowd? Ripe for insanity.

Craig Jones, a Getty Images photographer at the time.

[quote_box_center]”It was wild, people were going crazy. The players used to come up that chute from No. 15 and the crowd just went berserk. I was looking through my camera, so I didn’t know except for the crowd noise that it went in. It was like being in a football game, it was unbelievable.”[/quote_box_center]

Robert Beck, a Sports Illustrated photographer that day.

[quote_box_center]“After the hole in one, it was pandemonium. There was kind of a hill behind the hole…and it was full of pretty well-juiced college kids. When he made the shot, they all rose as one and it went all the way down to the green. Everybody stood up, they were just yelling and screaming.”[/quote_box_center]

The video evidence is there to prove these recollections have not been compromised by exaggeration over time. In fact, they only hit the tip of the iceberg. 

The 16th hole at Phoenix has gained a reputation over the years: A frat party on a golf course, a unique haven for thousands of pumped up fans to do or say pretty much whatever they want. In a sport where genteelness and the golf clap reign supreme, this one spot opts for brashness, severe heckling and a circus atmosphere.

But the landmark hole wasn’t always destined to gain this notoriety.

When the tournament first moved to TPC Scottsdale in 1987, the 16th held no extra significance, and wouldn’t begin to differentiate for a number of years. The story of the hole’s emergence was actually quite random. 

In the mid-1990s, Arizona State students, enthralled with supporting alums Phil Mickelson and Billy Mayfair, chose the 16th hole as the place to display their affection. From there, the enthusiasm for this phenomenon grew, and within years the hole had already become a fan magnet, especially among the younger generation.

Jones estimates that there were 10,000 people at the hole when Woods launched his tee shot, an unfathomable number on any golf hole, let alone a 152-yard par-3. 

And for Beck, the influence of the college students was clear, something that isn’t as prevalent today. 

[quote_box_center]“All the kids from Arizona State, they were there first thing in the morning, all day long at that time,” Beck said. “They’re always pretty noisy when the players come up to the tee, everybody kind of yells stuff. But now it’s kind of calmed down, because there’s not as many college students…It’s not the same fan base even.”[/quote_box_center]

Indeed, the more the photographers talked, the more it became clear that despite its reputation for consistent chaos, the 16th hole has undergone a transformation over the years. 

The PGA Tour has recently come under fire for implementing a rule banning players from tossing items into the stands at the 16th. Before that, the Tour banned the much-beloved caddy races from the tee box to the green. And greater restrictions on alcohol consumption have made regrettable words or actions less likely. 

It doesn’t take too keen an observer to notice the transformation in 16th hole seating in the last two decades. Hundreds of skyboxes litter the par-3 property, as stadium seating surrounds the hole in the present day, whereas a clear lack of structure permeated the 1997 environment.

Jones can’t recall any true stands whatsoever, referring to the 1997 version of the 16th as a “bowl.” And more than the changed aesthetic, the implementation of skyboxes has actually dampened the wild atmosphere.

[quote_box_center]“The first half of that hole is towers of seats, corporate suites and stuff like that,” Beck said. “It’s kind of walking through a canyon now, whereas before it was an open amphitheater, that was a big amphitheater, where one end was where the tee was and one was where the green was. The hill on the west side was just full of people as well.”[/quote_box_center]

And could a Woods hole-in-one on say this Saturday at No. 16 before a Super Bowl crowd match the scene in 1997?

[quote_box_center]“There’s no way you could replicate that moment,” Beck said. “It would be loud if he did it nowadays, but now that the hole is surrounded by corporate booths and stuff like that, it’s different. There’s only a very small area where regular fans can sit. It wouldn’t even be close to the same.”[/quote_box_center]

A sad sentiment? Maybe. But it also speaks to the sheer drama and explosion of noise in that moment (especially for a player who wasn’t exactly in the thick of tournament contention). 

It has been said that the roar could be heard from the clubhouse 600 yards away, along with shaking the structure’s windows. 

Jones agrees that these rumors are highly plausible, a testament to just how loud it was on No. 16 that day. For Jones, who covered the sport as a photographer for years and years, he can’t think of a live on-course noise quite as loud.

[quote_box_center]”I personally believe it was louder than an Augusta roar,” Jones said. “I’ve heard some great Augusta roars, but it wasn’t that the moment at Phoenix was bigger, it was that the moment coupled with how many people were on that hole.”    [/quote_box_center]

[quote_box_center]”The atmosphere was more electric at the Ryder Cup [for Justin Leonard’s putt], but from a sheer volume standpoint, the roar [for Tiger’s hole-in-one] was louder,” Jones continued. “There may have been a tenth of the people there on that one green as there was at Phoenix on that hole that day. On the par-3, they were 15 to 20 deep, from the tee box on.” [/quote_box_center]

It doesn’t end there either. One of the lasting memories from that day was the lack of self-control exhibited by crowd members following the ace. 

Fans cheered wildly for several minutes, but most notably launched trash at the tee box with abandon. Beer cans, bottles, paper, whatever fans (like Robert Garrigus!) could find they could throw, and sometimes plenty of liquid remained in the item launched. 

Beck remembers the tee box being nearly completely covered by the time Woods made his way down the hole, and the fan reaction here baffles him to this day. 

[quote_box_center]“It’s the only time where I’ve seen anybody throw everything, I mean literally throw everything,” Beck said. “Literally everyone behind him threw every can, bottle, cup, piece of paper. And I don’t know what the reason was for that! We walked off and the tee box just became showered with stuff. It was crazy. I haven’t seen it before or since.”[/quote_box_center]

Neither photograph could remember a specific fan reaction, mostly due to their being on assignment and just the sheer number of people cheering with passion after the ace. 

But Jones did recall something especially unique.

[quote_box_center]“There was a writer who was directly behind Tiger, who I think is in [Beck’s] photo, that jumped up in the air and had his arms over his head,” Jones said. “He kind of blended in with everybody else, but he was in the front row inside the ropes I’m guessing. It’s not often that you get a member of the media to have that kind of physical reaction to an event. That probably sticks out in my mind. He’s jumping up and down with the crowd like the rest of them.”[/quote_box_center]

The Woods hole-in-one is in no danger of being lost in the annals of golf history (especially those chronicling moments of high-decibel cheering). 

But Jones wants to make sure that the one shot that day gets its due appreciation.

[quote_box_center]“I don’t think you can get a sense for the pressure that must be on the golfers, knowing the atmosphere of that hole, the reputation of that hole, especially on a Saturday, especially for Tiger,” Jones said. “To do it there was unbelievable.”[/quote_box_center]