TPC Sawgrass - The Tree on the 6th returns...

[Simon Barrington]

Thought provoking return of the original Pete Dye intent...

PGA Tour's Youtube Channel has a great little video on the process and reasoning w. Davis Love III:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEf_2y48om0

[Matt_Cohn]

That link didn't work (maybe just for me?) but here's an article. The picture makes it look like you need to hit it super low?


https://sports.yahoo.com/pga-tour-iconic-oak-tree-100835351.html

[Simon Barrington]

That link didn't work (maybe just for me?) but here's an article. The picture makes it look like you need to hit it super low?

https://sports.yahoo.com/pga-tour-iconic-oak-tree-100835351.html

Fixed link above, Thanks

[Kalen Braley]

Another link with a video to the changes, plus discussion on the changes to 14...

https://www.pgatour.com/article/news/latest/2025/03/10/famous-overhanging-tree-replanted-sixth-hole-pete-dye-tpc-sawgrass-the-players-championship-renovation

P.S.  Some of those pics make the tee shot look almost impossible now

[Simon Barrington]

Another link with a video to the changes, plus discussion on the changes to 14...

https://www.pgatour.com/article/news/latest/2025/03/10/famous-overhanging-tree-replanted-sixth-hole-pete-dye-tpc-sawgrass-the-players-championship-renovation

P.S.  Some of those pics make the tee shot look almost impossible now

That's the interesting bit, Dye intended to force (or get into the players head at least, that they ought to use) a lower flighted shot.


"Almost impossible" for modern drivers are not designed that way, so the feature essentially is a "rollback" of the drive...3D design and ahead of his time

[Rob Marshall]

Looks like a gimmick to me.


I used to have dreams when I played in a lot of tournaments of getting to the tee and I couldn't find a place to tee it up because a tree branch was in my backswing no matter where I went........

[Kalen Braley]

Looks like a gimmick to me.


I used to have dreams when I played in a lot of tournaments of getting to the tee and I couldn't find a place to tee it up because a tree branch was in my backswing no matter where I went........

Especially given Davis Love was one of the loudest critics of it back in the day and repeatedly asked for its removal...and then eventually advocated for its replacement, and did the work. 

[Matt Schoolfield]

Gimmick or not, what? Some on this forum sure seem to care about architectural integrity and intent until we find a feature we don't like, and then it's all "bah humbug."

The tree was obviously left there on purpose, the course is meant to be challenging, and this feature seems like an extremely interesting challenge. Good on them for restoring some of Dye's intent.

[Rob Marshall]

Gimmick or not, what? Some on this forum sure seem to care about architectural integrity and intent until we find a feature we don't like, and then it's all "bah humbug."

The tree was obviously left there on purpose, the course is meant to be challenging, and this feature seems like an extremely interesting challenge. Good on them for restoring some of Dye's intent.

Looks like you are teeing off through a clowns mouth. I’m sure Tom knows what Mr Dye was thinking.


The original tree is in the video. It doesn’t look as obtrusive as the new tree to me.

[Michael Felton]

Looks like a gimmick to me.


I used to have dreams when I played in a lot of tournaments of getting to the tee and I couldn't find a place to tee it up because a tree branch was in my backswing no matter where I went........

Especially given Davis Love was one of the loudest critics of it back in the day and repeatedly asked for its removal...and then eventually advocated for its replacement, and did the work. 

The key difference between those two being whether he was playing in the tournament or not

[mike_malone]

If it’s original it’s fine. The tee placement then becomes the question.

[Kalen Braley]

If it’s original it’s fine. The tee placement then becomes the question.

Well that's just it, the current tee is a newer tee that is further back which brings the tree much more into play.

And its possible the tee that was in use in 1980 when it first opened, was likely further up under the tree and not nearly as intrusive as now, which would make Pete's original intent far less contrived....

[Ira Fishman]

Looks like a gimmick to me.


I used to have dreams when I played in a lot of tournaments of getting to the tee and I couldn't find a place to tee it up because a tree branch was in my backswing no matter where I went........

That often actually happens to me on my second shot.

[David Kelly]

Looks like a gimmick to me.


I used to have dreams when I played in a lot of tournaments of getting to the tee and I couldn't find a place to tee it up because a tree branch was in my backswing no matter where I went........

I often have the exact same dream. I have another where I have to tee off through a window or opening in a building, and chairs and desks get in the way.

[mike_malone]

If it’s original it’s fine. The tee placement then becomes the question.

Well that's just it, the current tee is a newer tee that is further back which brings the tree much more into play.

And its possible the tee that was in use in 1980 when it first opened, was likely further up under the tree and not nearly as intrusive as now, which would make Pete's original intent far less contrived....

Always need to look at both.

[Ian Andrew]

Like it or not ....

How they did it was pretty amazing.


Around 40 years ago (holy crap) I saw a presentation by the architect who designed Williams Square Plaza in Las Colinas, Texas. The Mustang Sculpture Park. They moved those live Oaks in to create the setting. When you see anything like that done, from start to finish, its remarkable what's possible.

[Tim Gavrich]

Gimmick or not, what? Some on this forum sure seem to care about architectural integrity and intent until we find a feature we don't like, and then it's all "bah humbug."

The tree was obviously left there on purpose, the course is meant to be challenging, and this feature seems like an extremely interesting challenge. Good on them for restoring some of Dye's intent.

Looks like you are teeing off through a clowns mouth. I’m sure Tom knows what Mr Dye was thinking.


The original tree is in the video. It doesn’t look as obtrusive as the new tree to me.

Given it's only really part of the tee shot from the back tee(s?), only players who are less likely to be spooked by it have to deal with it.


Given that most golfers tend to play from too long a set of tees (this is even more a problem at Sawgrass than other places given golfers' desire to "see it from where the pros play"), features like the overhanging tree function as a clear suggestion as to which tees to play.


One side note: the hole crossed the 400 yard mark for the first time this year, lengthened to 413 yards from its previous yardage of 393.


At 7,352 yards, TPC Sawgrass is now more than 500 yards longer than it was when it opened (6,851).

[Marty Bonnar]

That is one mahoosive rootball.
Is it just me, or is there - currently - more, eh, ‘tree’ than there used to be? With a bit of judicious pruning it could be made to replicate the old situation a bit closer. Even just removing the lower limb of the overhanging branch might take off enough weight to allow the branch to spring up a bit, recreating the shape of the old space a bit better. Hard to tell as I’ve never been there to know the actual situation so all a bit theoretical from me!
 
F.

[Simon Barrington]

Some Player feedback, short c. 2 min PGA Tour Video (not yet on their Youtube Channel) from Practice Round, interesting comments (some surprisingly positive):

https://x.com/PGATOUR/status/1900211643990077902

[James Brown]

Ordinarily, I am pro-quirk, but I hate [size=78%] trees like this on golf courses, especially on courses that most will only play once or rarely.  Played it once with and once without the tree.  This course has plenty of character and this seems gimmicky to me.  [/size]

[Kalen Braley]

Hard to get a precise then and now...but the latter pic appears to have a significantly less amount of space to hit thru.

Then..


Now...

[Brett Hochstein]

The key to it all is something they said in the video--Mr. Dye (paraphrasing) didn't actually want it to be in the way but feel like it's in the way. It reminds me a bit of when you are on an old wooden roller coaster with your hands up, and you go underneath another part of the track structure and instinctively retract your hands and duck a little, even though it's physically impossible to actually touch those parts above you.


The whole tree thing goes along with many of the course's themes of providing mental discomfort, especially visually.  I like that as an idea, especially for top level players. I'll reserve any final judgment on the execution though until seeing how it plays out (or seeing it in person). Pretty amazing process to see though, and I'm glad they documented and shared it. Kept waiting for them to reveal the price tag--anyone have any idea on that?

[Jason Topp]

I thought the old version was pretty fun.   It definitely gets in your head. 

[Matt_Cohn]

If you're trying challenge players from the back tees without affecting players on the forward tees, this is pretty brilliant, right?

[Rob Marshall]

Why not just put up a plywood clowns mouth? What great golf course has a tree like that? The original didn't look too bad. It looked like the tree was closed to dead.

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