Qualla: TPC at Sawgrass https://qualla.com/tpc-at-sawgrass en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:14 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/q/5/tpc-at-sawgrass-wp/2019-image-of-author-t-l-willi.jpg Qualla: TPC at Sawgrass https://qualla.com/tpc-at-sawgrass TPC at Sawgrass: Introduction https://qualla.com/tpc-at-sawgrass/ Photo credit Philip Larson from McLean, VA, US, CC BY-SA 2.0. "It's Star Wars golf, designed by Darth Vader." That was Ben Crenshaw's verdict when TPC Sawgrass opened in 1980, and he was not alone in his contempt. Jack Nicklaus, asked if the new course suited his style, replied that he had never been very good at stopping a 5-iron on the hood of a car. The professionals despised it. The course, built on swampland a mile west of the Atlantic in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, was supposed to honor them. Instead, it tortured them with narrow fairways lined by marshes, deep pot bunkers that swallowed even slightly errant shots, and greens so fast they might as well have been polished marble. But Pete and Alice Dye had built something that would outlast the grumbling. After strategic softening, Crenshaw himself came around: "Now it's a darn good golf course."

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Image: Philip Larson from McLean, VA, US | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/q/5/tpc-at-sawgrass-wp/djq5-tpc-at-sawgrass-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full TPC at Sawgrass: A Stadium for Golf https://qualla.com/tpc-at-sawgrass/ Photo credit Craig ONeal, CC BY-SA 2.0. TPC Sawgrass was the first Tournament Players Club, a course designed not just for players but for spectators. Pete and Alice Dye borrowed a concept from other sports: the raised mounds of grass lining each fairway serve as natural grandstands, giving 36,000 fans sightlines that ...

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Image: Craig ONeal | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/q/5/tpc-at-sawgrass-wp/djq5-tpc-at-sawgrass-a-stadium-for-golf.mp3 0:06 2 full TPC at Sawgrass: The Accidental Island https://qualla.com/tpc-at-sawgrass/ Photo credit Craig Oneal, CC BY-SA 2.0. The 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass is one of the most recognizable features in all of golf, yet it exists because of a construction mistake. The original design called for a simple par-3 green partially surrounded by a lake. But the soil around the 17th happened to be sand, a precious...

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Image: Craig Oneal | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/q/5/tpc-at-sawgrass-wp/djq5-tpc-at-sawgrass-the-accidental-island.mp3 0:06 3 full TPC at Sawgrass: Fifty Balls and a Seagull https://qualla.com/tpc-at-sawgrass/ Photo credit minds-eye, CC BY-SA 2.0. The Island Green has generated legends. During the gusty opening round in May 2007, a single-round record of fifty balls found the water, smashing the previous mark of 45 set in 2000. But the most famous incident belongs to Brad Fabel at the 1998 Players Championship. His tee sho...

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Image: minds-eye | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/q/5/tpc-at-sawgrass-wp/djq5-tpc-at-sawgrass-fifty-balls-and-a-seagull.mp3 0:06 4 full TPC at Sawgrass: Where Legends Arrived https://qualla.com/tpc-at-sawgrass/ Photo credit Mathew105601, CC BY-SA 4.0. TPC Sawgrass has served as a proving ground for golf's biggest names. In August 1994, an 18-year-old Tiger Woods defeated Trip Kuehne in the finals of the U.S. Amateur on this course, 2 up, the first of his three consecutive Amateur victories. During the week of Super Bowl XXXIX ...

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Image: Mathew105601 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/q/5/tpc-at-sawgrass-wp/djq5-tpc-at-sawgrass-where-legends-arrived.mp3 0:06 5 full