Feared by even the world’s elite players, the par-three 17th at the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass is the diabolical heart of one of Florida’s premier golf resorts.
The famous par-three 17th at the Players Stadium Course. (Image: Sawgrass Golf Resort)
No golf hole has ever enjoyed a firmer grip on the public’s imagination than the 17th at Sawgrass. Even elite players quake at the sight of the Players Stadium Course’s seemingly easy yet terrifying par-three island green. In 2008, Sergio Garcia famously sealed his victory in the Players Championship at the 17th when his jittery play-off opponent Paul Goydos launched his ball to a watery grave.
Located in Ponte Vedra Beach on Florida’s Atlantic coast, between Jacksonville and St. Augustine, Sawgrass Golf Resort and Spa has long numbered among the world’s premier golf properties. The Mariott-managed resort includes 508 guest rooms, suites and villas, an extravagant spa and fitness facility, four pools and access to kilometres of Atlantic beachfront.
Several years ago the Stadium Course received an extensive makeover by its original architect, the brilliant Pete Dye. Unrelentingly punitive, Dye’s masterwork is booby-trapped with tiny landing areas, huge waste bunkers, grassy mounds and knolls, and lightning-fast greens.
No mid-to-high handicapper can take that kind of punishment for long. Fortunately, Sawgrass also features Dye’s Valley Course, which is slightly more forgiving, and offers guests access to six other private clubs nearby.
Also nearby, just off the I-95, is World Golf Village, home of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
