A view of the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass’ Stadium Course.
Stan Badz/PGA TOUR
To your average golfer, few courses are more memorable than TPC Sawgrass’ Stadium Course. And that’s why it costs you a good chunk of a mortgage payment to play it.
The world’s best take on the Stadium Course this week for the Players Championship, but every other week of the year it’s a course you can play.
It was built in 1981 by Pete and Alice Dye and the Players Championship debuted in 1982. As PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in his press conference on Wednesday, initial returns from players “were far from promising” back then.
“Since, the Stadium Course has evolved and undeniably grown into one of the stars of the week, and our players understand it’s a course that asks a lot of questions,” he continued.
Amateurs playing it have those same questions to answer. It’s a course that demands strategic play and elite shot-making. Plus, it will test nerves, too — the legendary island-green 17th is no cakewalk.
The bucket-list course — which ranks 10th on GOLF’s Top 100 Courses You Can Play ranking (and 45th in all of the U.S.) — won’t treat hackers well, but that hasn’t stopped thousands of them from trying anyway.
But be warned: the greens fee is no joke. TPC Sawgrass uses dynamic pricing, and over the next 30 days tee times for the Stadium Course are anywhere between $700 and $840. The $840 is the most expensive rate any single player could pay for a round during the year, and that comes with practice balls, a cart fee and forecaddie fee (tax and forecaddie gratuity not included). It also makes it the most expensive public tee time in the U.S.
The $840 is significantly higher than the peak price last year, which was $720 — an increase of a whopping $120.
If you still want to play the Stadium Course but don’t want to bother with peak-season prices, you can save a few dollars and try your luck with off-peak-season pricing from June to August. Those rates start at $400.
And if you really want the ultimate Sawgrass experience — and don’t have a problem opening up your checkbook for it — you can also opt for the Tour Player Experience, a $1,700 package that includes added perks like a walking caddie, player locker-room access, meals and more swag. That rate can also jump to $2,655 per person when including two-nights lodging and a round at the Dye’s Valley course. For more information, click here.
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