There may not be a more entertaining place to watch golf than at TPC Sawgrass, the home the Players Championship since 1982. While the focus is on the signature par-3 hole — the island green at No. ?17 — this course is a far more complex layout. Talking this week to the Golf Channel’s Nick Faldo, he was very clear that the course was built to confuse and confound even the best golfers in the world.
Why is this was one of course designer’s Pete Dye favorite courses?
Faldo » “I use the word awkward because you stand on the tees, and you get left and right tree lines. … Most golf courses, you don’t have a center line. But what Pete does, he puts everything off-center.”
How does the course get into a player’s head?
Faldo » “Wherever you want to hit the ball, where the ideal area to hit the ball is, you’re always running out of yardage. So if you want to lay up to the fat part of the fairway, it usually costs you a good 30 or 40 yards. So to take on the narrow gaps to gain the extra yards, he forces you to play a more difficult shot.”
Why does this course take even a pro a long time to play?
Faldo » “When you play this course it is just an awkward four or five hours. You stand up on the tee, but once you find your line, once you realize where your lines are, you have to take a risk off the tee on almost every shot. He doesn’t give the player a breather, and that makes this course a challenge to everyone no matter how good a golfer you are.”
Examiner columnist Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watch this!
