Nov 27

Nov 27 TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course - Profile, best holes and scorecard

TPC Sawgrass - A profile of one of the most famous courses in the world

Kyle Smith profiles the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. One of the most well-known courses in the world, Sawgrass is a fan favourite and home of the Players Championship.

A History of TPC Sawgrass

From the initial idea by former PGA TOUR Commissioner Deane R. Beman, the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass was built in 1982 to host the Players Championship and be the permanent home of the tournament. As the first true “Stadium Course,” it was designed to improve the overall on-site fan experience.

Finally, the Stadium Course would be a championship-calibre course accessible to all golf fans. Working with renowned golf course architect Pete Dye, Commissioner Deane Beman created a course design that favoured no particular player or style of play.

The result is a truly balanced course. Players find a selection of short, medium and long holes within the categories of par-3s, par-4s and par-5s; both right and left doglegs; and a course routing laid out so no two consecutive holes ever play in the same direction.

With its signature island green on the par-3, 17th hole being one of the most recognized in golf, this legendary track has captured the imagination of golf fans all over the world and is consistently named among the top golf courses worldwide.

While the 17th hole gets a lot of attention, the 18th hole on this golf course – a 462-yard, par 4 guarded by water down the left side, is a formidable finishing hole. While championship tees stretch the Stadium Course to 7,245 yards, there are four other yardage options to suit your game. The blue tees measure 6,670 yards and the white tees are at 6,086. A blended tee option at 6,406 yards offers a nice compromise. The Green tees are at 5,019 yards.

Famous Holes at TPC Sawgrass

TPC Sawgrass' signature hole is the Stadium Course's 17th, known simply as the "Island Green," although it is technically a peninsula.

It measures only 137 yards (125 m) from tee to green (requiring only a pitching wedge for most pros), but it consists of nothing but a 78-foot (24 m)-long green with a tiny bunker in front of it. Save a small path to the green, the green is completely surrounded by water, and its location amidst many trees causes the wind to swirl over it.

Club selection in the weather conditions at the hole is a huge consideration, as there is nowhere to land the ball but on the green, in the small bunker, or in the water. It is estimated that more than 100,000 balls are retrieved from the surrounding water every year, courtesy of professionals and tourists alike.

The Island Green design came by accident: the original design for the 17th was to be a simple par-3 green only partially surrounded by a lake. However, the soil surrounding the 17th consisted of sand, which is necessary to build a good golf course, but rare on the otherwise swampy property, and by the time the course was near completion all the sand had been dug from the area, leaving a large crater.

Alice Dye suggested the Island Green concept, remembering another course with a similar green. Pete was not thrilled at the idea but went ahead with it, in the process creating one of golf's most recognizable holes. Because of its popularity among fans, Golf Channel devotes eleven cameras to it during the tournament.

Famous Tournaments at TPC Sawgrass

The Players Championship (commonly known as simply The Players, stylized by the PGA Tour as The PLAYERS Championship, is an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour.

Originally known as the Tournament Players Championship, it began in 1974. The Players Championship currently offers the highest prize fund of any tournament in golf ($12.5 million in 2019), overtaking the U.S. Open which offers a $12 million purse.

The field usually includes the top 50 players in the world rankings, but unlike the major championships and World Golf Championships events, it is owned by the PGA Tour and not an official event on other tours. TPC Sawgrass has hosted this tournament every single year since it began, so there is a ton of history that lies amongst this golf course.

In Conclusion

Of course with such a difficult designed course specifically made to host the Players Championship annually, it is certainly one of the most special courses in golf.

It would cost a hefty price for the average golfer to play a round there and rightfully so. However, if you do decide to pay and play there, make sure you enjoy the seventeenth hole as best you can and keep the balls out of the water. Embrace the aurora of championship golf while you walk amongst the ground to get the full experience.

No matter what, TPC Sawgrass is certainly a special course!

TPC Sawgrass - Scorecard and Yardage