The TPC at Sawgrass - Dye's Valley Course

About 12 months ago, Pam and I bought a golf vacation package at the Sawgrass Marriott including a round of golf for two on the Stadium course at the TPC Sawgrass. That's quite the mouth full. Every year the Albuquerque chapter of the EWGA has a breast cancer fund raiser, which includes a silent auction. We won the trip as part of the auction. I had no idea what I was getting into.

The Stadium course at the TPC Sawgrass is the where the PGA tour holds its flagship event. Yes, this is one of the courses you see Tiger Woods playing. But I don't want to jump ahead. We don't play the Stadium until tomorrow. Today we played the Valley course which was designed by Pete Dye.

I was really freaked out about playing both these courses. I am simply not a good enough golfer. But my money is green and that's all that really matters. We'll see how it goes tomorrow, but today on the Valley wasn't so bad. I shot 120, which is typical of me on a course like this. Although the style of the courses are completely different, I would say it's about as difficult as the Paa Ko Ridge course.

The rough was thick and swallowed up balls. I spent a lot of time looking for balls that were 3 feet away. You have to stay in the fairway or have someone help you spot your shots. The sand is very fluffy as Pam likes to say. It will also swallow the ball.

We played with a very nice couple Dave and Cheryl, who are members of the Valley course. They play the course a couple times a month, so they were a big help figuring out how to play the course. With their help, we managed to play in about 4:20 which is really good for me. My rounds usually take about 4:45.

So we played ok, which gives me hope for tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.