The beginning of the story about how I ended up playing Sawgrass is a bit of a blur.
It began with a chance meeting on a flight home from Spain. I paid a £5 entry fee to the Hole-in-One Club on the Wednesday evening, and three days later I had an ace on the second hole at Waterton Park Golf Club. With it, a trip of a lifetime to one of golf’s most famous resorts.
I stayed at the Marriott Sawgrass and took in the Dye Valley Course as warm-up for the main event the following day. I’d only seen it on TV before. The excitement was unbearable, despite there being water everywhere I looked!
After what felt like a lifetime, the day finally arrived. I got up early, had a hearty breakfast and got a good session in on the range as preparation.
I made small talk with the starter, trying my hardest not to make it obvious how nervous I was. All the greens, he told me, had been re-laid in major renovations that followed last year’s Players Championship.
He also noted that the opening tee shot was a mere 215-yard carry over water – obviously – and sand. On the recommendation of my caddie, I went with 3-wood and was happy to see my ball land on the green stuff. A wedge and two putts later and I’d opened with a par four on the Stadium Course.
Time to breathe.
After safely navigating the opening three holes, we came to the first real test at the fourth. A drive over water and sand – what else? – followed by an approach shot over more water into a sloping green. But there’s no let up here. The fifth offers similar danger with water and sand, while six and seven are an examination of driving to a narrow landing area while avoiding more water and sand. I have never seen fairway bunkers so long.
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The front nine finishes with a par 5 where water dissects the fairway. I’m only at the halfway stage!
I had already figured out that you can’t miss these greens in the wrong place otherwise getting down in two was impossible – even if sometimes you were on the green.
The back nine starts with a par 4 which is about as straightforward as it gets at Sawgrass, because the next is another par 5 to a green surrounded by water and a huge bunker. Green in regulation and two putts and I was having a round to remember!
Now for the redesigned 12th where they want to tempt you to drive the green. A 250-yard carry off the tees of the day over water and a massive fairway trap with water all the way down the left. Well, I hadn’t come all this way to lay up. After visiting the aforementioned fairway trap having just failed to carry it I walked off with a four – but at least I had a go.
The 13th requires, you guessed it, a carry over water as well as one of the steepest greens on the course. I thought I’d pitched to about 20 feet, but arrived at the dancefloor to find myself at least 75 feet away. Relentlessly having to hole six-foot putts for par that are always outside the cup can take it out of even the best golfer…
What a challenge, though. They say hang on through 14 and 15 because you need to. The 14th is a stunning driving hole over water and sand – for a change – while the second shot is even tougher. Only 52% of the pros hit the 15th fairway at last year’s Players – albeit from tees slightly further back – so I was pretty happy to find the short stuff and followed with a nice iron to the heart of the green.
Despite it being all I could think about in the run-up to the day, I hadn’t really thought about the 17th. It crossed my mind briefly on the 16th tee, but my caddie told me to concentrate on the hole in front of me, a par 5 into a green that appears to be in the lake. My 5-iron approach bounced off the green and ran off to the left, leaving me with Martin Kaymer’s famous shot from 2014.
“Kaymer tried to putt it and left himself a 30-foot downhill putt,” my caddie told me, before adding: “You should chip it, but watch out as the water is only 10 feet past the flag…”
A chip and run to gimme range and a birdie on 16 secured. What a way to get in the mood for 17.
Still beaming from ear-to-ear, we moved to the next tee and there it was in all its glory: one of the most famous holes in the world. And I was about to play it.
To add to the excitement, this is when we found out we would be playing from the championship tees, with the flag at the Sunday pin position for the Players. What a privilege.
So, 146 yards to carry to the island green with wind off the left and talk about intimidating. Anything right of the ridge is wet as you can’t hold the green, anything longer than mid-way up the green won’t stop so gets wet, too.
[skylab_video id=”117719″]Richard Ashmore Sawgrass[/skylab_video]
Front left it is then. I pulled out my 8-iron and spent a few moments just talking myself into a good, true swing. The unbridled joy – or should that be relief? – to see your ball land on the green is difficult to describe. With a helpful read from my caddie, I lagged my first putt over the ridge and down the hill to the flag and a couple of feet left for a three one of the most famous par 3s on the planet. What a feeling.
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The 18th is all about the drive alongside an ocean of water to the left. If I’m being honest, I don’t remember a lot about 18, other than making par, because I couldn’t stop thinking about the previous hole. Try and take that smile off my face!
What a simply sensational experience to walk those fairways and to putt on greens that the best players in the world will play this week. The course was in fantastic condition and everything from the caddies, the TPC storytellers to the starter made it a very memorable day.
Having waited so long to play the course, in particular the 17th, it did not disappoint and my shot to the island green will live long in the memory.
And it all started because I paid a £5 entry fee to the Hole in One Club and then hit an ace. Of course, hole-in-ones don’t come along very often, but one day it might happen and you could get a trip of a lifetime out of it.
Should The Players move from TPC Sawgrass?
‘It takes the breath away’: My experience on the 17th at TPC Sawgrass
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