Both courses are known for their finishing stretch - but which is better?
Quail Hollow Sawgrass
#16 Par 4 / 480 yards Par 5 / 523 yards
#17 Par 3 / 217 yards Par 3 / 137 yards
#18 Par 4 / 478 yards Par 4 / 462 yards
My take:
#16 -- I think Sawgrass provides better angles, from the hill on the right side of the fairway to the tree 100 yards out; maybe their just more noticeable. How to score it? I would rather play Sawgrass 7 times out of 10.
#17 -- Sawgrass is in your head from the moment you tee off on #1 - love it or hate it you still have to play it. Quail's tee shot is very imposing, and despite the small bail-out to the right is still a big boy's shot. I want to split these 50-50, but in deference to the uniqueness of Sawgrass am going 60-40.
#18 -- How much of the water do you dare to bite off at Sawgrass? Difficult, but I've seen it before, and I don't like the mounds near the green. I love the creek at QH which is constantly in play but allows for recovery shots, plus the green is more interesting. A clear winner at 8-2, maybe higher.
Based on the math above, it's a tie in my book at 15-15. I didn't try to make it this even, but overall this feels about right. If anything maybe I would give #17 at Sawgrass more love. And if they moved #16 QH green closer to the water it might get more votes.