| What Is the Lowest 18-Hole Golf Score Ever | | | | 71. |
| Recorded? | | | | Osmon had a 26 on the front nine and a 30 on the |
| Question: What Is the Lowest 18-Hole Golf Score | | | | back nine. |
| Ever Recorded? Identifying the lowest 18-hole score | | | | In 2010, Nationwide Tour player Trevor Murphy shot |
| ever recorded in the game of golf is a very difficult | | | | a 56 in a pro-am round prior to the Nationwide |
| task because there is no official clearinghouse for | | | | Children's Hospital Invitational on Ohio State |
| such a record. The Guinness Book of World Records | | | | University's Gray Course. Although Murphy attested |
| does recognize a "world record" in this category, and | | | | to Golfweek that he putted out every hole, the |
| we'll get to that mark down below; but the Guinness | | | | round is unofficial since it took place in a pro-am. The |
| folks only recognize scores posted in competition and | | | | course was also playing 5,600 yards. |
| on a course that meets minimum-length requirements. | | | | 57 |
| Answer: What we can say with certainty is that no | | | | Kris Wasylowich of Lethbridge, Alberta, posted a 57 |
| round of 54 has ever been recorded in golf … but | | | | on his home course, Paradise Canyon, in May, 2006. |
| that a round of 55 has been recorded. There are also | | | | Wasylowich played the front nine in 27, and the back |
| at least one instance of a 56 and multiple 57s. So let's | | | | nine in 30. |
| list the lowest rounds for which there is documentary | | | | His 57 was recorded from tees that played 6,800 |
| evidence:55 | | | | yards, so it meets the Guinness minimum yardage |
| There is one 55 known to have been posted, and it | | | | guideline. But this 57 is not considered the world |
| was posted by a golfer you might have heard of: | | | | record by Guinness because it was posted in a |
| Homero Blancas. Blancas played on the PGA Tour in | | | | friendly round, not during competition. |
| the 1960s and 1970s, and later on the Champions | | | | Another 57 was recorded during competition, |
| Tour. | | | | however: On July 28, 2010, 17-year-old Bobby Wyatt |
| | | | | shot 57 in the Alabama Golf Association State Boys |
| In 1962, when he was an amateur and playing in the | | | | Junior Championship. The round occurred at the |
| Premier Invitational, in Longview, Texas, Blancas put | | | | Country Club of Mobile, a par-71 course measuring |
| together a front nine of 27 and a back nine of 28 for | | | | 6,628 yards. Whether Guinness will recognize this as |
| a round of 55. He had 13 birdies and one eagle, and | | | | the world record is up in the air and awaiting |
| used only 20 putts. | | | | comment. |
| The golf course where Blancas' 55 was posted no | | | | 58 |
| longer exists. It was a 9-holer with two different tee | | | | Which brings us to the rounds recognized in the |
| boxes on each hole to create a different look for the | | | | Guinness Book of World Records: a pair of 58s |
| "front nine" and "back nine," and was a par-70 layout. | | | | posted by Jason Bohn and Shigeki Maruyama. |
| The course was only slightly longer than 5,000 yards, | | | | In 2000, Maruyama posted a round of 58 in a U.S. |
| according to a Golf Digest article about the round, | | | | Open sectional qualifier. In 2001, Bohn – then |
| but had tiny, domed greens and out-of-bounds | | | | playing on the Canadian Tour but later to join the |
| markers that tightly lined every hole. | | | | PGA Tour – shot 58 in the final round to win the |
| At one time, Blancas' round of 55 was included in the | | | | Canadian Tour Bayer Championship. |
| Guinness book. However, the Guinness people later | | | | Ryo Ishikawa's name will be added to later editions |
| instituted a requirement that a course must measure | | | | of the Guinness book, too. On May 2, 2010, Ishikawa |
| at least 6,500 yards for the purposes of this record, | | | | carded a 58 in the final round of The Crowns |
| and Blancas' 55 was removed from the book. | | | | tournament on the Japan Tour. He was playing a |
| It remains, however, the only known round of 55 on | | | | course that barely clears the Guinness requirement of |
| a golf course that has a regulation par. | | | | 6,500 yards, but clear that minimum the course does. |
| 56 | | | | So Ishikawa's round should be added to the book. |
| On Sept. 5, 2007, Jay Osmon posted a round of 56 | | | | Ishikawa's round was the first 58 ever posted on |
| at Cattails Golf Club in Alamosa, Colo., where he | | | | one of the world's major golf tours. |
| worked as an assistant pro. | | | | Maruyama, Ishikawa and Bohn are not the only |
| Osmon was already the course recordholder at | | | | golfers to shoot 58 – tour pros and amateurs |
| Cattails, having previously shot a 62 from the back | | | | alike have recorded more 58s – but they are the |
| tees. During his 56, however, he was playing from a | | | | only touring professionals to do so in high-level |
| middle set of tees because he was accompanying | | | | competitive events. Maruyama's and Bohn's 58s are |
| club members. The tees Osmon played during his 56 | | | | the ones recognized by Guinness, with Ishikawa's to |
| were around 6,000 yards in length, and the par was | | | | join them in later editions. |