TPC Sawgrass: The Red-Headed Stepchild

[Jason Thurman]

Obviously a certain par 3 dominates the Sawgrass discussion, for better or worse.

My question is: What hole gets most overlooked in wake of the buzz surrounding the Par 3 That Will Not Be Named? Which hole deserves more note and discussion, and why?

[Matt Kardash]

The course is full of really good and great holes. A few of my favourites include the drive and pitch 4th, the long par 5 9th, the head-scratching 11th,  the  mid length par 3 13th with a crazy green, and the straight, yet double doglegging 14th.
I don't think there is a bad hole on the course.

[David_Tepper]

"TPC Sawgrass is an excellent course that has the potential to be even better," per Geoff Ogilvy in the current issue of GolfWorld.

http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/2012-05/gwar-geoff-ogilvy-final0say-0507

 

[Matthew Essig]

Probably the hardest hole that very few people talk about is the 13th.

[Jay Flemma]

Fourteen and fifteen.  Alternate shot requirements.  Sawgrass's greatest feat is how it keeps the golfer off balanbce shot to shot, never letting him repeat the same shot twice in a row...in theory at least.

[Mac Plumart]

I really liked 11.

[Tom_Doak]

How severe is the green on 11 now?

When the course opened, it was sort of a Biarritz green, though you had to fly it onto the putting surface if you were trying to get there in two.  I remember Tom Weiskopf telling Mr. Dye that he didn't like the hole because a long iron might hit the downslope and skip through the green and you'd make five after being easily within reach of the green in two.  Pete asked him why he didn't just miss it in the bunker hole-high and get up and down from there, like everyone else did.

I always thought #14 was the most underrated hole.  #9 is a really good three-shot par five, too.

[noonan]

The green complex on the 13th is underrated for being a "modern" green.

There is no free lunch to 2 putt if you are on the wrong level.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Best TPC ever built.

[Matt Kardash]

Jerry,

What is a "modern" green?

Tom,

I think the 11th green has the same slopes but has been softened over the years. I think all the greens have been softened over the years.

[Howard Riefs]

The green complex on the 13th is underrated for being a "modern" green.

There is no free lunch to 2 putt if you are on the wrong level.

The 13th green, thankfully, was one of six greens that Dye made "more docile" last year, according to Golf Digest:

http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-courses/blogs/wheres-matty-g/2012/01/a-conversation-with-pete-dye.html

I say "thankfully" because of the stories and experiences (including my own) shared in this related thread:

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,48239.msg1085695/topicseen.html#msg1085695

[Steve_Lovett]

I think 14 is pretty highly regarded... Hard to underrate it.

IMO I think #'s 7 and 8 are terrific holes - demanding par-4 and really long par-3 with a lot of recovery shots. I live in Jacksonville and attend the tournament every year and find the recovery shots around the 8th to be the most interesting place to watch a wide variety of short game play. 

[Matthew Rose]

I think the other par-3s are especially overlooked, considering the notoriety of the final one. #8 at 230+ yards is a brute and while it doesn't have the intimidation factor that #17 has, it is arguably a much tougher hole. #13 is great too.... it is just as much fun for me to watch as #17 because of the green..... a lot of things can happen there after the ball hits the ground.

I also quite like #9, which is one of the hardest par-fives on tour. I'm a big fan of really difficult par-fives, if for no other reason than there simply aren't that many for tour pros.

[Matthew Rose]

Here's an interesting question I thought of after I posted....

If #17 was just a "normal" par-three, do you think the course might be more respected or appreciated as a whole, rather than the sum of the parts? Does that one hole overshadow the rest of the layout so much that perhaps its true greatness is not recognized?

Just some random musings on a night where I'm trying to forget about hockey....

[Matthew Essig]

Here's an interesting question I thought of after I posted....

If #17 was just a "normal" par-three, do you think the course might be more respected or appreciated as a whole, rather than the sum of the parts? Does that one hole overshadow the rest of the layout so much that perhaps its true greatness is not recognized?

Just some random musings on a night where I'm trying to forget about hockey....

I like how Lefty explained the 17th. It is a normal hole compared to the other holes. The difference is like a balance beam. If it is one foot off the ground, it seems easy, but you make the drop 10 stories, and the task seems much more daunting even though it is the exact same task.