TPC Sawgrass seventeenth Gap & The Well-known Island Inexperienced

Just one factor is definite when a participant steps onto the seventeenth tee at TPC Sawgrass: something can occur.

A dramatic hole-in-one. A tournament-altering catastrophe. Even a record-setting 12, like Bob Tway’s notorious collapse within the 2005 PLAYERS Championship. 12 months after 12 months, the seventeenth and its island inexperienced have shattered desires, topped champions, and delivered a few of golf’s most unforgettable moments.

However how did this legendary par 3 come to be? And in the event you had a scuba swimsuit and a free afternoon, simply what number of Professional V1s may you fish out of its depths? We’ve received all the small print concerning the seventeenth gap at TPC Sawgrass.

TPC Sawgrass seventeenth Gap: A Temporary Historical past

Arguably probably the most recognizable gap in golf, the seventeenth at TPC Sawgrass wasn’t initially designed to be the stadium-like spectacle it’s as we speak. When Pete Dye started shaping the course within the late Seventies, the plan known as for a extra typical par 3 with a small lake guarding the inexperienced. However a cost-saving determination modified the whole lot.

The realm across the seventeenth was wealthy in sand – a necessary materials for shaping the course and its rolling spectator mounds. As excavation intensified, a small lake was a cavernous pit, leaving Dye with an surprising problem: what to do with the large void. That’s when Alice Dye, Pete’s spouse, recommended the boldest answer of all: fill it with water.

The end result? One of the vital thrilling and nerve-wracking holes in golf. When TPC Sawgrass hosted its first PLAYERS Championship in 1982, the seventeenth rapidly grew to become the defining stage of the match. And the remaining is historical past. 

TPC Sawgrass seventeenth Gap: By the Numbers

137: That’s what number of yards this par-3 is, making it the shortest gap on the course.

100,000: The estimated variety of golf balls dunked within the water surrounding the island inexperienced yearly, which equates to roughly half one million {dollars}’ value of balls. Remember the fact that most golfers who come right here hold hitting till they discover the inexperienced…at the very least as soon as. That stated, some estimates put the quantity nearer to 120,000.

78: The island inexperienced’s size in ft.

14: Gap-in-ones all through the length of the PLAYERS Championship.

4: How deep the water is in ft. So, possibly no scuba swimsuit wanted in any case. Only a sturdy ball retriever. 

TPC Sawgrass seventeenth Gap: Notable Moments

Fred {Couples}’ Gap-In-Three (1999): The seventeenth isn’t all doom and gloom. After lacking the inexperienced and discovering the water along with his tee shot, Fred {Couples} took his drop and made an unbelievable restoration. His third shot dunked straight into the cup, turning what may’ve been a catastrophe into one of the unbelievable pars within the PLAYERS Championship historical past.

Tiger Woods’ ‘Higher Than Most’ Putt (2001): One of the vital well-known calls in golf historical past got here when Tiger Woods drained a 60-foot triple-breaking putt through the third spherical of the PLAYERS Championship.

Sergio Garcia vs. the Water (2013): Tied for the lead on Sunday, Garcia discovered the water twice on 17, carding a quadruple-bogey that in the end value him the match.

Rickie Fowler’s Clutch Efficiency (2015): Fowler birdied the seventeenth a number of occasions on Sunday, together with twice in a playoff, to assert victory in what’s extensively thought of top-of-the-line ultimate rounds in match historical past.

Sort out the well-known island inexperienced your self with a golf journey to TPC Sawgrass and discover a number of the different greatest golf programs in Jacksonville and Ponte Vedra Seashore. Don’t overlook to ship your golf golf equipment to and from house with ShipSticks to make the journey to Florida simply as nice as being there.