TPC Sawgrass - Ponte Vedra, FL
The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass
TPC Sawgrass is host to The Players Tournament annually on the PGA Tour. Deane Beman served as the PGA Tour Commissioner from 1974-1994 and sought to build a special course to serve as the host site of The Players Championship which is the only tournament owned by the members of the PGA Tour. After being bet against to succeed, Beman was able to purchase the 400+ acres of swamp for $1 and Pete Dye got to work to design a unique course that would have a balanced approach to its test of players as to not favor one particular playing style over the next. The Stadium course, was designed as just that. A stadium style to allow for optimized fan viewing opportunities. The multiple lakes surrounding the course were created as a by product of moving dirt to create the stadium effect. The sandy soil surrounding the now famous seventeenth green was so good that the construction crew kept digging in that area and as a result only the green complex remained. Pete Dye’s wife, Alice, had the idea of creating the island green which provides quite the challenge for the pros and weekend golfers alike.
Hannah and I had the opportunity to attend the 50th playing of The Players Championship this past March where we saw Scottie Scheffler successfully defend his title here, becoming the first to ever do so. A final round 64 from Scottie propelled him to the top of the leaderboard when the final putts were done. After walking the majority of the course on Saturday following Keith Mitchell and Zac Blair in separate groups, we successfully got a lay of the land and found some great spots to watch the rest of the tournament from for the remainder of Saturday’s round and the championship conclusion on Sunday. Additionally, I had the chance to meet Chris Solomon, also known as Soly, from No Laying Up. NLU is a golf media and podcast company which I have been a listener/viewer of theirs for years now. They provide insightful and educational content on all things golf and have inspired some of our golf travels as well. Hannah’s uncle Pete has volunteered at the tournament for years and was an excellent host, giving us all the insider tips and tricks. As a benefit of volunteering, a reduced rate of play is offered to the volunteers for their hard work during the event. I was lucky enough to be invited back to join Pete’s foursome this year. Continue reading for my chance to play TPC Sawgrass and some photos of the playing round.
TPC Sawgrass
On what was a hot and steamy day in August in Ponte Vedra, FL, the group teed it up for a round at the very challenging TPC Sawgrass. Designed to test the best of the PGA Tour, the course provided a fair test for our not so professional group. To me, that is one of the marks of a great course. The ability to challenge all ability levels of golfers. From the start of the round you are tested until your very last shot. There are no holes where you can forget your game plan or “take off”. Number seventeen is ever present in the back of your mind which contributes to the allure and challenge of it. The island green played 134 yards from the blue tees, with only the front side of the green and the wood retaining wall visible. When you do make it to the tee, the green seems to shrink standing over the ball. I managed to stick the middle of the green and make the two putt for par. Pete Dye’s style of design was visual deception. The course and strategy reveals itself to you as you progress throughout the round. There are numerous risk reward holes throughout the course, but number eighteen stands out as the ultimate risk reward hole. With water running the length of the hole, the player decides how much risk to take on by choosing their line. The reward is having less club into the green for your approach. Don’t go too far right though or you will be blocked out by trees. As part of the design, no two hole types provide the same wind direction back to back. You are constantly having to adjust your strategy for each hole, adding to the challenge overall.
TPC Sawgrass was an excellent course that I am glad to have gotten the change to play. Playing courses where PGA Tour events are held offers so much more context when watching the tournaments. I am beyond excited to watch The Players in 2025. Luckily we don’t have to wait quite as long for it as we do for The Masters next year.
