Nicklaus Tweaks Champion Course at PGA National

PGA National Resort & Spa's Champion Course - the Jack Nicklaus-designed host of the PGA Tour's Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. - has reopened after a major re-grassing with Celebration Bermuda and a renovation of the 14th hole. The new turf is now on fairways, green surrounds and tees.

In addition to seven Honda Classics, the Champion Course hosted the 1983 Ryder Cup, 1987 PGA Championship, 18 Senior PGA Championships and this year's final stage of the Web.com Q-school.

"The Celebration Bermuda will provide us with major-like conditions," says Lukus Harvey, PGA National Resort & Spa's Director of Agronomy. "The Honda Classic field is perennially on par with golf's four majors, and now we have the turf to provide similar conditions. Our resort guests and club members will love it because it provides a better year-around product, including upgraded irrigation. The grass is so dense you won't get a bad lie."

With the new turf, Champion will no longer require over-seeding during the off-season, while allowing faster, firmer conditions. "We can all use an extra 20 yards of roll," noted Harvey.

Four of the greens - at Nos. 1, 9, 15 and 17 - have also been expanded to their original size, creating more pin locations for the event that kicks off the PGA Tour's Florida Swing. The greens remain TifEagle.

The Bear Trap Evolves

The Champion is home to the daunting "Bear Trap," comprised of the 15th, 16th and 17th holes. Water figures prominently in play on each hole. USA Today called the trio "one of the toughest stretches in golf."

As part of the renovation Nicklaus moved the green on the 14th - which leads into the feared Bear Trap - 17 yards to the right, bringing water into play on the approach. The tee was also moved back 10 yards, and bunkers were built in front and behind the green to further strengthen the 465-yard par-4.

"It seemed a shame not to have the water nearer to the green," says Nicklaus, who re-designed the original George and Tom Fazio design in 1990 and makes annual tweaks to the course in consultation with Harvey's staff. "It produces a little more freedom and it produces a very strong par-4 going into the Bear Trap. I honestly believe it will be more exciting, but I don't think it will be any more difficult."

"Probably some of the toughest three holes in world golf, really," said 2010 U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell of the Bear Trap. "You kind of just have to man up and hit the shot. You start bailing out, and you're in trouble."

Sergio Garcia, an eight-time winner on the PGA Tour, agreed, saying, "They're very challenging holes, all of them. Without hitting terrible shots, you can make a double, a par and a bogey, and you leave those holes shooting 3 over and you don't feel like you hit bad shots."

To accommodate the large crowds that aid in raising millions for the Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation every year (the Honda Classic set another record this spring with more than 190,000 attendees), 20,000 square feet of spectator mounding has been added to the 14th, giving fans a birds-eye view of the green, the 15th tee and 15th green.

"The revered Champion Course is a major component of our puzzle when it comes to creating championship experiences and makes us a world-class golf resort and lifestyle community," said Joel Paige, Vice President and Managing Director of PGA National Resort & Spa.

Played as a par 70 and 7,140 yards in tournaments, the Champion has ranked as the most-difficult course on the PGA Tour (for non-majors) three of the last five years. It ranked second overall in 2010 and '11.

The Honda Classic has produced world-class winners, including current No. 1 Rory McIlroy, who held off Tiger Woods in 2012 after Woods charged home with a final-round 62. Hall of Famer and local resident Ernie Els won in 2008, and 2009 winner Y.E. Yang went on to claim the PGA Championship later that summer, becoming the only golfer to chase down Woods in the final round of a major.

PGA National also boasts the Palmer, Squire, Fazio and Estates courses. The resort is home to the David Leadbetter Golf Academy and Dave Pelz Scoring Game School, along with the PGA National Club Fitting Lab.

For more information, visit www.pgaresort.com or call 561/627-2000.

Tweet