Almost everyone who is a fan of golf recognizes the 17th hole on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in its current guise.
It is a 137-yard par-3 over a seemingly endless body of water that tasks players with sending their ball onto the island green using a short iron or wedge. The hole requires a shot that - with a little bit more dry land around - would be described as 'quite simple.'
But, such is the openness of the space between the path and gallery running all the way down the left side and a lone tree on its own private island protecting the target area from the adjacent fairway over to the right, it is anything but straightforward.
Plus, with swirling wind to factor in and an anxiety-inducing lake in front of you that plays tricks on the mind, more than a few good golfers have been made to look quite foolish here. And, for the pros, they have thousands of fans baying for either an ace or their golf ball to end up in the soup.
But who designed it that way? And why would they make it so?
Arguably the most iconic hole in world golf was never originally drawn up to host such extreme features. After the PGA Tour's second-ever commissioner, Deane Beman purchased the land on which TPC Sawgrass now stands for just $1 back in 1979, legendary course designer Pete Dye was hired to form a stadium course fit to host the PGA Tour's flagship event as well as its headquarters.
After beginning to dig out certain areas in order to facilitate lakes and provide soil for banks, Dye and his team realized the sandiest subsoil was in an area in front of the proposed 17th green. Ideal for building a good course but rare in areas of swampland, it was nearly all removed.
As a result, what was initially pencilled in as a lake between tee box and green ended up being expanded slightly to surround the target area. It was during this period of the construction that the defining moment occurred for TPC Sawgrass.
Dye's wife and Dye Designs partner, Alice suggested an island green and eventually successfully convinced her husband to change his original plan. A putting surface which is 26 yards from back to front and around the same distance widthways, surrounded by water that is four feet deep, was then created.
Due to the Alice's inspired influence, what golfers and fans from all around the world now see is said isolated piece of land with a thin path stretching back to safety from its north-west corner.
The Stadium Course, in its entirety, went on to open in 1980 and its first time hosting The Players was in 1982. However, the entire property's layout was not well received by many of America's best, with criticism arriving from the likes of Jack Nicklaus and Ben Crenshaw, who described it as “Star Wars golf designed by Darth Vader.”
Dye took the criticism on board and quickly altered the design, though, including sanding the edge of some pretty severe greens. “Now it’s a damn good golf course,” admitted Crenshaw.
It has hosted over 40 editions of The Players Championship since and is set to host the 50th running in 2024.
