One of the biggest thrills of my life was getting to play Jim Nantz’s backyard golf hole at Pebble Beach during the 2019 US Open. With the legendary CBS announcer himself doing play-by-play on the replica of Pebble’s iconic par-3 seventh. I didn’t quite make an ace to get my name engraved on the rock Nantz has there like Phil Mickelson, Tony Romo, Nick Faldo, and others, but it was still awesome.
Ah, good times. But apparently, Nantz had another backyard golf hole built at his home in Nashville a few years ago. And Golfweek‘s Adam Schupak has the early details on the setup that Nantz wrote about for an upcoming issue of Golf Digest.
Jim Nantz blaring Masters music as Nick Faldo plays his backyard hole is golf perfection
The long-time Masters broadcaster paid homage to Augusta National’s 13th hole this time with a variety of tees that replicate the approach shot if you lay up on the famed par 5. According to Schupak, Nantz worked with architect Shane Whitcomb on the design that features five different tees and a variety of pin placements. Here are a couple of photos Nantz shared with Schupak:
Not too shabby, huh? One might say, “A backyard hole for the ages!”
And no detail is spared with 15 magnolia trees, azaleas and pinestraw, a Masters-like leaderboard, and other Augusta National signage around the property.
“I told you, it had to be over-the-top,” Nantz told Schupak. “Come on, coming off the other one [at Pebble]? It had to be.” Good point.
Nantz also told Schupak the longest shot is about 55-60 yards – it plays longer with the modified-distance golf balls he uses – and that there were plans to build another tee off the second-floor guest balcony, but that turned out to be “an engineering nightmare”. Oh well, this is still amazing, Jim. I’ll have to let you know the next time I’m in Nashville…
