|
|
|
 | | | |
 |
|
A seminal moment in the history of golf course development in the United States occurred on Feb. 12, 1979, when Deane Beman, then commissioner of the PGA TOUR, broke ground on his dream golf course being constructed on a 415-acre tract of soft marshland in northeast Florida.
|
|
|
|
|  | | | |
The course that sprung up from the swamp – the Stadium Course at the TPC at Sawgrass – would become one of the most famous in the world, but, more importantly, served as the model for an ever-expanding network of facilities, each unique in character, yet consistent in quality.
The ground breaking was nice. But breaking new ground was the true occasion. Certainly, no one had ever seen anything like TPC Stadium at Sawgrass Course when it opened in 1980. Designed by Pete Dye, the new home of the PGA TOUR was an architectural wonderland that players contemplated with a wide-eyed, through-the-looking-glass astonishment. They found contoured fairways with confounding angles and small, undulating greens that repelled all but the most precise approach shots. They found waste areas and bumps and hollows and water hazards, and, of course, an island green on a par 3 that so captivated audiences and haunted players that it became a signature hole not only for one golf course, but also, arguably, for the entire game.
And there it all was, enveloped in huge artificial mounds, earthen amphitheater-like shapes that at once evoked intimacy while inviting audiences to take up unparalleled vantage points from which to see the game unfold.
But the Stadium Course at Sawgrass was built to be more than just a tournament course for the world’s best golfers. It also is a resort course and a daily-fee club, offering the finest amenities and services to meet lofty, diverse standards.
There is nothing like TPC Sawgrass – except, that is, other TPC.
The TPC network, which includes 23 facilities (some still in development) across the U.S., has become a wildly successful venture for the PGA TOUR.
First and foremost, the TPC network is comprised of top-flight golf courses designed by some of the elite contemporary architects, including Dye, Tom Fazio, Bobby Weed, Arthur Hills and PGA TOUR members Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer Gary Player, Tom Weiskopf, Greg Norman, Hale Irwin, Mark McCumber and D.A. Weibring. These courses, maintained to the highest quality, serve as tournament sites and are complemented by quality practice facilities for TOUR members. When applicable, the course routings incorporate a development community – no easy feat. Yet four TPC facilities are among the top 10 master-planned communities in the U.S. (Summerlin and The Canyons in Las Vegas, and Eagle Trace and Heron Bay in Coral Springs).
Further, a number of clubs meet stringent environmental standards, helping to preserve and protect wildlife habitats on the golf course, thus earning certification in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program.
"We are meeting the mission we set out for the TPCs as the best golf courses and facilities you will find anywhere," said PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem. "They were intended to create venues for tournaments where we can effectively reach the marketplace. The golf courses are built to hold modern golf tournaments, which are always presenting new challenges as they grow and the game becomes more popular. Of course, they achieve many other objectives."
Such objectives represent opportunities.
Tournaments Players Clubs have been a boon to the game by offering an ideal – not to mention idyllic – opportunity for those who love to play the game to enjoy golf in optimum opulence. Whether private clubs, daily fee courses or resort venues, TPC courses present a unique value to the general golf public.
Before Sawgrass, few recreational golfers had a chance to play courses on which the game’s elite professionals competed. But TPCs – most of which host PGA TOUR, SENIOR PGA TOUR or BUY.COM TOUR events – opened a new world for all players, allowing them the chance to test their skills on championship layouts.
"There’s a magic to playing on a golf course that hosts a PGA TOUR event," said Vernon Kelly, president of PGA TOUR Golf Course Properties, Inc., a subsidiary of the PGA TOUR, which owns and/or operates TPC facilities, clubs and licensed facilities. "That’s a huge advantage for us in growth and marketing. We can offer a special experience, and then deliver on that promise with a great golf course that is well maintained and a club that is first-rate."
Eight golf courses, including Sawgrass, operate as daily fee/resort facilities. The others are Heron Bay (Coral Springs, Fla.), Tampa Bay (Tampa, Fla.), Scottsdale (Ariz.), The Canyons (Las Vegas), Virginia Beach (Va.), Deere Run (Moline, Ill.) and Myrtle Beach (Murrell’s Inlet, S.C.).
The remaining TPCs are private membership clubs, but membership has its privileges like nowhere else on the American golf scene. Members and their guests have access to all of the other TPC facilities and limited access to licensed courses – a particularly attractive feature to men and women who travel frequently and would otherwise miss out on the country club experience.
Benefits are not exclusive at TPCs, however.
TPCs are an important element to the overall strategy of the TOUR to provide value for players, tournaments, fans and corporate sponsors. By providing rent-free venues for tournaments over the past 21 years, TPCs have provided more than $50 million in savings. That has helped boost purses, but more importantly, has increased charitable donations.
"Every time an event moves to a TPC, it improves the quality of the event, its growth and the charity dollars," Kelly said. "The track record speaks for itself."
It’s a track record that is unparalleled in golf course development. It’s a track record that is at once exclusive, because of its quality, and yet inclusive, because of its benefits.
That track record could only have been realized by breaking ground - new ground.
|
|
|
