TPC Sawgrass - THE PLAYERS Stadium Course

In my humble opinion, it's like every TPC Course I have ever played.... Way too expensive for what it is. The TPC brand tends to inflate rates by 2-3 fold.

Obviously it's a beautiful course, an iconic clubhouse, and in fantastic condition. It has a very resorty feel like most Florida golf courses do. I think it's a $250 golf course. With the history behind it, I could see that going to $350-$400. But $800 and being the second most expensive course in the US outside of shadow Creek in Vegas... Seems crazy. I would say the course itself lands somewhere in my top 30-40 courses played.

The course is challenging with a lot of water and sand everywhere. I was lucky enough to play one ball all the way through 17 (don't ask). The course had had 12" of rain in the last 7-10 days so it was sopping wet. I don't hold that against tpc as that is nothing they can control. For as much rain, the course was still in great condition. I played with a member who said the water around 17 was the highest he had ever seen it and a Korn Ferry friend of mine said the same thing. The member was super great btw .
It's a very fair course as several holes favor a fade and several holes favor a draw so it takes lots of different shots. The caddy was great. The breakfast in the clubhouse was great. The staff was friendly. Just don't know that the course is worth the massive hype. Hole 17 looks completely different than I was expecting without the grandstands around it. It's actually a little underwhelming honestly but still an iconic hole and a bucket list course due to the history.

Played this course for the first time in a practice round and then a tournament a couple days later. Got a break on the green fees with the group and staying at the Marriott for about $475 + forecaddie tip. I heard green fees are $700+ without the hotel stay.
Immaculate conditioning. Not a blade of grass out of place. Greens looked a little fuzzy, but still measured 12 on my Stimpmeter. Can't imagine how fast they can get them for The Players. Forecaddies both days were very nice and helpful.
They were setting up the grandstands when I played and 17 did have an arena. I imagined playing it full of spectators (hit the green both times i played too!).
Would I pay that much to come and play it every year? Probably not. Once or twice in a lifetime - Absolutely!
Had lunch at the clubhouse. Ran into a couple of tour players who hang out/live/practice there. Food was good and reasonably priced while we had beers and a burger after the round.
Do it all at least once if you can.

What can be said about TPC Sawgrass that hasn’t already been written? By happy coincidence, the Stadium became the 600th golf course I’ve played in my life – a round I’d looked forward to as long as I’ve been aware of the game. It was as hoped: endlessly varied, strategic and tough without being brutal. If the mark of a great course is that it makes you want to play more golf – to get better at the game and to seek out more opportunities to play it – then the Stadium is one of the greatest that is publicly accessible.

As for the steep cost, I was able to play it in a professional capacity so can’t comment directly, but one of the gentlemen I was paired with was paying full freight and he enthusiastically replied, “Yes!” when I asked him at the end of the round if he had considered the experience worth the expenditure. Take that endorsement as you will.

My wonderful wife give me a round at the Stadium Course for my birthday, and it may have been one of the best days of my life. This may be obvious, but the course itself is immaculate. The greens are like glass and have subtle breaks, but our forecaddie Armando gave me excellent reads. His advise - when I was smart enough to listen to it - was spot on. Be prepared to spend the day in the sand (there's miles of it), every bit of it groomed to perfection. The 77,000 sq ft clubhouse is a must see. They give free tours of it on the hour between 9am and 4pm. Be sure to get a drink from the bar and sit outside on the patio overlooking #18 when you're done. The views are stunning. As many here have said, the practice facility is second to none, and yes, there is a replica of the 17th green on the driving range to practice on, and I'm so happy to say that the practice paid off. I'll brag long enough to say I birdied the real thing a few hours later from the back tees. I don't see what all those pros are worried about..... As a parting gift, they also give you a very nice, really beautiful metal bag tag, and they engrave it for you for free. Be sure to take advantage of the free use of the locker room/showers to get the full experience....all of it highly memorable

TPC really needs no review. A top 10 course in the US, that challenges the toughest field in the world year after year. Immaculate conditions and very, very tough. If you're in trouble - which you will be, maybe often - just getting out is a challenge. Bring your A+ sand game. Our forecaddie Austin made the round: here there everywhere with tips, ball locating, taking clubs, reading greens, etc. When you hit the island green on #17, you can die a happy golfer.

On a scale of 0-100, this was a 98.
Olympic Gold.
I’m so lucky to have the chance to experience this course when it was a sunny 78 degrees with a tiny breeze.
I’ll be dreaming about this for a long time.

A foursome with a forecaddie (Jason, who was nice, funny and knowledgeable). Course was in great condition, though you could see that it will be brutal in March.

Out of the 95 golf courses I have played, TPC Sawgrass is by far the best and most fun I have ever had during a round of golf.

It all starts with the drive into the property with the huge clubhouse there to greet you. They give you a TPC Sawgrass flag when playing here and have a lot of good stuff for sale in the pro shop.

The practice range is the best practice facility I have ever been to. It has a replica 17th green (without water) and an abundance of options to help you prepare for the round.

The course is so good. I got to play in August when there weren't any grandstands up, all the rye from the spring overseed had died and they hadn't started overseeding for the next year yet. So conditions were perfect Bermuda all around. The course was pretty firm when I played and the greens were very fast.

In terms of favorite holes, obviously 16, 17, 18 are the main event and they certainly lived up to the hype. I think I could only play those 3 holes for the rest of my life and be perfectly content. Other than that, 4 is my favorite hole on the front 9. It is a short par four with a terrifying approach over water to a well guarded green. My other favorite hole on the front is #9, which is a long, but reachable double dogleg par 5. On the back, I really enjoyed #11, another long but reachable par 5 with an exhilarating approach shot.

Lets talk about 16, 17, 18. When you come around the corner off 15 green and see the big lake surrounding 16 and 17 green, you immediately get chills. Uncontrollable adrenaline flows through your body on every shot from 16 tee through the end of your round. 16 is the best par 5 I have ever played, 17 needs no introduction and 18 is the scariest tee shot I have ever hit. Lucky for me, I played the 3 holes in +1.

I know that it is expensive, and expect the round to take at a minimum 5 hours, but it doesn't feel that long at all .It is well worth the money to play once, just to say you have played the famous 17th where some of the biggest moments in the sport have happened.

What a magnificent course. Conditions were MINT! Every shot makes you think - mentally one of the toughest courses that truly tests every facet of your game. Wish this course was listed on GolfNow. All in all, a great experience and worth the money to play - might even be willing to pay more. Looking forward to the next time!

This was an expensive round of golf and a last minute decision, $500 for the round and an additional $50-$200 a bag for the caddie (what you pay the caddy in gratuity is your choice, I caddied for 15 years an in my last 5 years was getting $150-200 a bag when carrying $50 a bag when fore caddying). For the price I paid I felt it was worth it.

If you are a golf junkie, like me, this course is a must! The course was in perfect condition, and had that 'Augusta National' look and feel. Our caddie was the man, and had a great time chatting with him and sharing golf stories.

I have read reviews that say the price is not justified. Yes, it is expensive and hurts when you pay the bill, but this blows Ferry Point and Whistling Straights outta the water, which were 300-400 dollar rounds.

Pull the trigger and play if you get the opportunity!!

I joined three other women on a trip to TPC Sawgrass. We enjoyed brunch, 18 holes of golf and dinner. Everything was exceptional! All of the staff were friendly and helpful! Our food was excellent!
About the golf... we were a little nervous because we had never played but it was the greatest experience!!!! We were paired with four amazing caddies, Mark, Don, Ryan and DeVie. They were extremely patient and a lot of fun!!
I definitely recommend this course to anyone, beginner or pro!

This course is BEAUTIFUL and I enjoyed every minute of my experience!!!

Thank You TPC SAWGRASS!!!

LAnderson

Wanted to take a long weekend trip to Jacksonville area, then Savannah and then Hilton Head. Stopped first to play the Stadium. I'd played it back in the early 80's after it first opened and certainly a lot had changed. The most recent changes are by far the best. What an amazing course...although not near as difficult as it once was. Perfect conditions, perfect staff...and the practice areas are phenomenal.

The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass is perhaps the most sought-after public access course on the East Coast. For many including myself, it represents the closest you can get to playing like the pros. But every dream has its reality and while this is an exceptional course, if you go in playing your first round here with the wrong mindset, you may come away thinking otherwise.

The hardest thing to do when writing up a review of a new course is to separate your performance-based feelings immediately following your round from how the course actually presented itself. To give this review some perspective, I scored 18 shots higher here than I did at a similarly challenging course (Tobacco Road) just a few days before. To say I was disappointed with how I played would be an understatement but Pete Dye’s diabolical design of this course shoulders at least part of the blame.

The design of this course may seem really familiar from TV or a video game but I struggled to recognize many of the holes from the ground level. Even the iconic 17th looks a lot different when not surrounded by 30,000 spectators. In the end, you’re playing a golf course and how the design features interact with your play matter a lot more than how familiar a scene may seem to you.

I can’t overstate how much water comes into play on this course. More than any course I’ve played and seemingly on every hole. I recorded a water hazard penalty on 7 different holes during my round and I lucked out of a couple others. Bunkers too are a true hazard with not only fluffy sand but steep sides both greenside and along the fairways. Those two aspects alone can make for a long and frustrating round but Sawgrass also throws in extra thick rough and some pretty unreceptive greens to go along along with it.

When you’re spending $200-500 on this round, most of your money is going towards the course conditions, facilities, and staff. The conditions of nearly every square inch of the course are perfect. The greens aren’t as fast as you might think but they still have plenty of speed and subtle break and you’ll be fighting 3-putts all day. Fairways, rough, bunkers, and tees are all world-class. The practice facilities are unrivaled with a superb driving range (complete with a replica 17th green), chipping/pitching green and multiple putting greens that were all in fantastic condition as well.

Overall, I found the staff to be extremely professional and several of them were friendly but you get the sense from the time you drop your bag to the time you haul it back to your car that TPC Sawgrass is a massive operation. I interacted with a higher number of staff members than any other course and got the impression everyone had just enough time to greet me and provide me with the information I needed but maybe not enough time to be truly warm and friendly. With a place that’s getting in 400+ rounds a day from golfers expecting the moon it’s pretty understandable that you aren’t going to get the personalized experience you might be used to at a local club. There was a scheduling mix-up around the time I tee’d off that caused our starter to be a bit more flustered than I would have liked, but hopefully that was a rare circumstance.

I was pretty nervous that my 3:10 tee time would run too long to finish with enough daylight but with an unusual 20-minute spacing between us and the group in front, my foursome made decent time and finished right at 7:45. That said, the permanent cart-path only rules make it hard to play efficiently. I highly recommend walking with a caddy.

I am above all else a value golfer. Whether I’m paying $15 or $300 for a round I want to feel like I got more out of the experience than what I paid. I was able to snag perhaps the last sub-$300 tee time of the season and even that didn’t feel like an exceptional value when I drove away. Yes, the clubhouse is REALLY nice and yes I can tell people I’ve played there now. But I definitely feel there are public-access courses that offer a better value. Will I be back? Probably. But I’m not “dye-ing” to go back right away.

This is a bucket list course, and I'd say play it once, but after that, not worth the $400. There are other Bucket List courses that would be more worth the $400. I think I'd save the small fortune and go play Streamsong for less than $200 (this time of year). Can't say anything bad about the conditions or layout, but I keep coming back to the $400. I admit to having golfers remorse. I should have stopped after my first visit. Not worth a second visit. Overall, I guess hold your nose and play it once, but many other similar caliber courses that you can get more value out of. Also, cart path only makes for a long day.

This was my second time playing the course and it still has that special feel and excitement when you drive up and see the spectacular club house. It looks like you are driving up to a castle.

Everyone of the staff is friendly and helpful from the bag people to the proshop to the caddie we had (Ryan).

The locker room attendant was great. He polished our golf shoes and replaced the spikes. He was great.

The course conditions are amazing and the course is immaculate. They have the best practice facilities and practice area of any course I have ever been to and played.

The ONLY draw back is the $400 price tag. I expect $400 or $500 at Pebble Beach. This course seems like it should be a $300 or #350 course and not $400. However, it is worth the price even if it is a little more than expected. Once at TPC, you will be treated excellent from arrival to departure.

This was my second time playing this course and it still has that great feeling when we drive up. The staff is super friendly from the bag people to the proshop to the caddies. We had Dave as our caddy who we specifically requested from last time. He’s the best caddy we have ever had and my group has had many caddies at different courses. He knows the course so well and was just a great conversation. We made his work cut out for him and he was still all smiles. Also when you get there, speak to Brad, he is the locker room attendant. We played Dye Valley a few days before and talked with him for over an hour. We came back a few days later and he remembered us and was super welcoming again. He didn’t have to talk to us besides the usually pleasantries, but he did. He also gave us great courses to play outside of TPC. Dave and Brad are worth the price alone. When it comes to course conditions there’s no point reviewing them because the course is immaculate and this is their offseason. Spend the money to play here. It’s worth every penny and you’ll be treated like a king or queen from arrival to departure.