Welcome to Caddybytes Slide Show of holes #2, #4, #8 and #11 thru -#18 of the TPC Stadium golf course at Sawgrass and host to The Player's Championship golf tournament. The TPC Sawgrass Stadium course is an original Pete Dye design built by the PGA Tour during the reign of Deane Beman with the idea of creating a great test of golf to the PGA Tours home championship, albeit 'Fifth' major. Dye uses railroad ties around bunkers and water hazards with deep pot bunkers and swails meant to severely penalize the wrong side miss.
Some specific design and holes info for viewing the hole slides:
Two short holes that prove length is not everything in golf course design: The Par four 4th Hole: A testament to the modicum that a golf hole need not be long necessarily to be good and Pete Dye does that well all around these links. It's as long as 295 to carry all the bunker right and as little as 255 more towards middle view with 295 through the fairway into the rough at the 'hillock' - but you must be in the fairway here.
The 4th Green - Here's an example of that separation and sloping with a left hand pin should you have your golf ball in the middle of this green. And these greens are rolling a good 10 or more on the Stimpmeter add to that downhill slope and you'll have to 'DYE' your putts in! Right side pin is a good example of that shot value.
Par 4 12th Green. Another good short hole where wrong side misses will come back to bite you. There's only about 8 paces of green here to land and stop your ball. Miss it over and it runs down and off making a simple par on this great short hole an uncertainty.
Par three 17th Hole. Only a sadist - (Or Pete Dye) - could design one more nerve wracking than this shot requires. You've only got two holes to go to protect a big check or a win and one bad play here and you could be ruined. A fan favorite & potential car - train - wreck zone. Okay so you got by #17 okay eh? How about having to face the tee shot on the Par Four 18th? Especially if you're not trusting it?!
That bushy tree where the caddy is in view is about 290ish off the tee. If you can place it in the fairway just in front of it, you're golden, with a fair angle 2nd shot view into the green. The 18th green is protected and tiered with drop offs, water, and waste areas protecting wrong side misses. A gem of a hole and fitting to hold the Tour's 5th Major! Thanks for viewing! Bob
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