Las Vegas, Nev.–For decades, the round of 58 by the legendary Monte Money has stood as the course record at the historic Las Vegas Golf Club. Today, his record was bested by Jhared Hack, who shot 57 during the weekly playing of the long-running course skins game. — By Brian Hurlburt.
Hack’s round included 10 birdies and three eagles, and a lone bogey on the long, par 3, 17th hole. It was a dastardly bogey, made even more astonishing because Hack had a five-foot birdie putt. He three-putted after missing the birdie on the high side of the hole and then yipping the two-and-a-half foot par putt.
So, a score of 55 was in reach and 56 was more than realistic.
The round also came about three years after he had totally give up golf, but a little more on that later.
“The first thing that comes to my mind about the round is that I have put in a lot of hard work with a sports psychologist and I have really been working on staying present,” said Hack, who works as a caddie at Shadow Creek, but is also eyeing Korn Ferry Tour Q-School later in 2021. “The front nine was my fourth sub-30, nine-hole round in the last month, but I haven’t really been able to finish anything off. The other times, I ended up shooting like a 62 or 63. Obviously, this course is very scorable and it’s summertime in Vegas, so it plays even shorter. But, still, you have to battle the subconscious and you have to hole some putts. My goal today on the 10th hole was to reset my mindset. I said to myself, ‘Hey, let’s restart the round and let’s see what we can do by restarting the round.'”
Who knows how long the Tuesday and Thursday skins games have been going on at Las Vegas Golf Club, forever known to true locals as “Muni”, but the twice-weekly games bring out an eclectic crowd of players, from caddies, to club pros and tour pros, to future Tour pros, to hustlers, to top amateurs, to Las Vegas golf hall of famers, and many more. And, on occasion, this golf writer, who unfortunately didn’t make the trek out to Muni’s greens and fairways on this fateful day, thus missing out on witnessing what is surely the lowest round in Las Vegas golf history.
Due to some dollars being on the line, scores in the skins games are taken seriously, and there is no doubt the 57 isn’t a fluke or made up because several of the players take it low on a weekly basis. Just a month prior to the 57, Hack shot 61 at the course and he had been recording those other very low 9-hole scores with regularity.
On the day, Hack won 9 of the 10 skins available and did pretty well in some other side games, including dismantling two players who were taking him on as a team.
“I knew something special was happening when I said to him, ‘you know, I’ve been 6-under after 6 holes before, too,’ and he just looked at me and said, ‘just wait,'” said Alessandro Schiavi, one of the four other players in Hack’s foursome. “My mouth was dropping all day, including when he was 14-under through 14 holes. I have never even heard of something like that. I will never witness another 57 in my life. It was mesmerizing how the ball was just going in the hole every time. And, amazingly, it could have been even better. It was pure greatness.”
There’s no questioning that Hack–despite the epic and possibly unfortunate last name for a golfer–can play. He was exempt on the Web.com Tour in 2015 and 2018, before losing status in 2018. Following that season, he also pretty much lost all hope in his golf game and gave up the sport.
But a fateful move to Las Vegas in March 2019 turned things around. And is work with mental coaches Dr. Nick Molinaro and Paul Dewland have him shooting low scores and, more importantly, his mind in the proper place.
“I pretty much gave up on golf and kind of disliked myself, but moving out to Vegas and learning to stay patient has really helped my game and mindset,” Hack said. “Because I work at shadow Creek, I get to play and practice out there, which is great, plus just getting beat up by all the guys out here and having a lot of games has been good. That stuff, and getting the new coaching circle has given me hope. My plan is to keep playing and I have a bunch of tournaments coming up.”
On his golf calendar prior to Q School are tournaments that include the Arizona Open, Utah Open, Rocky Mountain Open and Sand Hollow Open.
The 57 will be used as motivation and more proof that his process is paying off.
“Never give up, that’s all I can say,” Hack said. “Just always try to get a little bit better every day. There’s no magic beans; it’s just a lot of small things that add up every day. And if you truly believe, and you’re truly honest with yourself that you’re getting better every day, there’s no reason to give up on any of your dreams. It doesn’t matter what anybody tells you.”
It’s difficult for anyone to describe a 57 because who among us has ever witnessed one, but Sean McManaman, another player in the group, said Hack made it look simple.
“I thought about it and I think he hit 17 greens and I don’t think he missed a fairway,” McManaman said. “It was one of the easiest, great rounds I have ever seen and I have played with some very good players. I shot 69 and lost by 12 shots. It was smooth and easy and incredible. It was like a stroll in the park for him.”
As for his final thoughts on the round, Hack was still in a little bit of disbelief.
“Honestly, every putt I made today, except for one, went right in the middle of the hole with perfect speed,” Hack said. “I’ve been working hard on my putting and my routine, and today was just one of those days that when I got over the ball, I just I felt like I already had made the putt. It was just one of those days that you wish you had every day. Actually, my ball striking has been a little off lately and I was a little loose with the ball striking during the round. So, the last few days I’ve really gone and tried to clean up my lines by putting sticks down on the range and focusing on that. Today, my only goal was to stay patient and hold my finish on my ball striking to get some kind of rhythm going. I didn’t really stuff too many shots real close. I just made a bunch of 15 footers.”
So Hack now replaces Money in Las Vegas Golf Club–and Las Vegas golf– history, but both rounds will be remembered for years to come.
The two other players in Hack’s foursome during the 57 were Evan Green and RC Orr.
Las Vegas Golf Club’ is a par-72, 6,339-yard layout designed in 1938 by golf course architect William P. Bell in the old style, featuring wide fairways and generous greens. The club is professionally managed by ARCIS Golf and is a City of Las Vegas facility.
Brian Hurlburt, the founder of LasVegasGolfInsider.com, is also a two-time author, a contributor to MorningRead.com, SouthernNevadaGolfAssociation.org, Las Vegas Golf and Leisure Magazine and other outlets, in addition to covering other events in Las Vegas including the Wrangler NFR.