Ranked as a top course in the USA, Tournament Players Course at Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra, Florida is a true bucket list course. It's home to the 5th major, the Players Championship, the most famous hole in the country, the Island green 17th, and a course that anyone with the $$$ can arrange to play. I teed it up at 12:30 on Thursday.
The course did not disappoint. It's a dedicated track so the visual of it is very striking, expansive, manicured. Similar look to Augusta National, down to the wide expanses and the pine straw. It's at home in Florida, with water and palm trees. Designed by Pete Dye, the noted architect in the 70s, what was cutting edge at the time (pot bunkers, large mounds, crowned greens, sharp angled water hazards and bunkers) is now mainstream. It also reminded me of another Dye course, my old home of Austin Country Club.
Conditions were excellent. I played from the White tees and it was just challenging enough without taking all the fun out. Good driving, sharp iron play, tricky putting. It is a fitting place for true players like winners, Tiger Woods, Davis Love, Calvin Peete and Webb Simpson this year.
Hard rain and lightning cancelled the back nine, so I didn't play the famous 17th. But I got plenty of the taste and would rank the course very high on my list. I would recommend it as a Must Play.
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