Throwback Thursday: Beck ends long wait for another 59
The Background
Chip Beck carded a 72 during his second round at the 1991 Las Vegas Invitational. It was nothing special but nothing to be kicking yourself about.
However, what was to follow the next day was something out of the ordinary when he played the Sunrise South Course, one of the courses being used that week.
The Scene
Beck opened up his round with a 60 footer that he said “never left the centre of the hole”.
It would be the story of his round.
The American made 13 birdies and five pars as he became only the the second player ever to break 60 on Tour, joining Al Geiberger who shot a 59 at the Memphis Classic in 1977.
Despite equalling the best round in PGA Tour history Beck went on to finish tied for third at the tournament.
The Legacy
The historic round meant Beck received a bonus of $1 million over 20 years. Half would go to a charity of his choice and the other would go directly to Beck himself.
The round is now all but forgotten with plenty of players joining him in shooting sub-60. Justin Thomas was the most recent player to do so at the 2017 Sony Open in Hawaii.
Jim Furyk is the only player in history to go one better. His 58 at the Travellers Championship was his second round below 60 and the lowest score in lowest score in PGA Tour history.
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Matthew Beedle
Matthew has been playing golf since he was around 13 and took up the game at a local nine-hole municipal course with his friends before joining Pontefract & District Golf Club just over the hedge.
Still a member of Pontefract with a handicap of 3, he currently sits on the board of directors to help with digital and marketing initiatives in order to improve membership and visitor income.
Matthew graduated university with a First Class in Sports Journalism from Leeds Trinity University and has been working in the golf industry since graduating.
NCG’s social media & marketing manager, Matthew’s main job role is to increase website traffic to the National Club Golfer website via our email and social media channels as well as driving entries to grow our NCG Top 100s Tour events amongst other tasks.
Not one to change his equipment too often, Matthew currently plays the TaylorMade M2 driver which has lasted the test of time in his bag. Elsewhere, you’ll find him using the TaylorMade Stealth 2 three-wood with a Ping G425 Crossover 2-iron to aid his long game.
Through his 4-iron to Gap Wedge, Matthew uses the Ping i500 irons accompanied by Ping’s Glide 3.0 56-degree and 60-degree wedges.
Another club that has stood the test of time in his bag is a Nike Method Core MC-3i putter which has had to have the SuperStroke grip changed at least three times. Ball of choice is the Titleist ProV1.
