On the last hole of his first round at the 1961 Los Angeles Open, Arnold Palmer needed par to shoot 69. Instead the golfer teed it up on Rancho Park’s par-5 ninth—his last hole of the day—and reminded us that he was human, ultimately making 12.

Rather than follow a great drive by laying up, Palmer characteristically went for it with his 3-wood—and disaster followed. A plaque installed at Rancho Park has it that he sliced two balls into the driving range and followed with two hooks onto Patricia Avenue, which runs alongside the ninth fairway. (In fact it was slice, hook, slice, hook). His 3-wood got him on the green for his 10th, then he two-putted. Asked by a reporter what happened, Palmer replied, “I missed my putt for an 11.” Surprising, the score is an inspiration to any golfer who’s ever had a bad day on course—in other words, all of us.

Photos

SiriusXM Radio with Jim Nantz