Too Loud for TV: How I Ended Up at Golf’s Wildest Hole in 1996

As an ASU Sun Devil 🔱 in 1996, I was working the Phoenix Open.

The Thunderbirds partnered with the local fraternities and sororities to staff the tournament, so a sorority sister🪁 and I signed up. Neither of us played golf. Zero clue what was happening out there.

She showed up in these loud striped pants (legendary pants, honestly) and that pretty much sealed our fate. This was well before Loudmouth golf and when a red shirt on Sundays was a statement, so we were immediately deemed not “camera-facing, sponsor-facing, TV-ready.” So they tucked us between Hole 16 and 17 collecting official scores.

Which is hilarious in hindsight… because Hole 16 was already absolute chaos.
One year before the famous Tiger Woods hole in one in ’97, and it was still a full-blown spectacle. 1996 was the year the Super Bowl was in Tempe so it felt more like a college football student section than a golf tournament.

I didn’t even start playing golf until 2000 when I met my husband.
But that week? Burned into my memory.

It's fun to look back on and realize how rare my experience was as a non-golfer.
🤟 sometimes the best seat in the house is the one you get because your pants are too loud for TV.

Fast forward to 2025 and Hole 16 is basically a stadium.
Same hole. 

Still convinced those stripes deserved prime time. 😏⛳️