Sensational Sawgrass

Augusta National aside, the Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass is arguably the most recognizable course in the United States—if not the world. As host of THE PLAYERS Championship, images of the course’s beautifully manicured fairways and railroad tie-supported greens have been beamed to all corners of the globe for over twenty-five years. Not everyone will remember then-PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman being pushed into the lake fronting the eighteenth green by Jerry Pate after the latter won the course’s debut event in 1982, but any self-respecting golf fan can’t fail to forget the tournament’s highlight reel over the last decade. There was Tiger’s “Better than Most” 60-foot rollercoaster putt at the seventeenth for birdie in 2001; Davis Love III’s sublime 6-iron from the trees at sixteen which set up an eagle in 2003; and Adam Scott’s gutsy bogey-save on eighteen to win the event in 2004, to name but a few. Augusta might have “Amen Corner,” but holes sixteen thru eighteen at the Stadium Course are as easily identifiable as any stretch on the planet. And what’s more, unlike the home of the Masters tournament, you can actually play them.