PALM BEACH GARDENS — How many of us have imagined standing at the free-throw line shooting two to win the NBA championship?
Or in a softball game at the plate with two outs and the winning run on third, envisioning a Game 7 scenario in the World Series?
Or maybe standing over a 10-foot putt with a chance to win the U.S. Open?
Anyone who has played sports — and is not even close to the professional level — has “Walter Mitty” adventurous daydreams like that, as a kid and even as an adult.
I decided to come as close as possible to fulfilling that fantasy by putting myself to the ultimate test: playing the championship tees — or the “tips” as they say in golf — from PGA National’s Champion course in Palm Beach Gardens, home of the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches on the PGA Tour.
It’s where the best of the best tee it up and I always wondered, how would I do? I’m a 12-handicap so my scores generally range from 83 to 95. But could I break 100 on a par-71, 7,081-yard track? I set out to try.
I had a few things going for me on that August day. According to Paul Gallo, director of tournament operations, the course isn’t exactly set up the way it is in February for the pros.
For one, the green speeds are significantly faster for the pros during the February tournament. The USGA Stimpmeter, used to measure speeds, generally has the PGA Champ course at a lightning-fast 12.5 (Oakmont was 14.5 for the U.S. Open). On this day, it was a 10.5, still moving quickly compared to the municipal courses I play, but not insanely fast.
Also, beginning in November, the rough is overseeded with rye grass, which thickens it and “completely changes the playability of the golf course anytime you are not in the fairway,” Gallo said. So while the summertime Bermuda rough is about 2 inches long, the pros are looking at 3.5 inches of overseed.
The pin placements I had were standard and generally in the center of the green. But during tournament week, they are more tucked into corners and not as accessible, he said.
Finally, I had a gallery of one — my playing partner who doubled as a videographer and photographer. So I didn’t have a gazillion eyeballs and pressure on every shot like the pros do.
Still, do you know how absurd it is for someone like me to try and tackle the course from the tips? Those yardage markers aren’t even on the regular scorecard. You have to request a separate one reserved for the pro tees.
Biggest challenges on PGA National Champion course are length, water
Only three par-4s were less than 400 yards, including No. 1, so I figured if I could at least bogey one of them and steal a par or two that would give me some confidence.
Of course, I pulled my first drive left and into the water (I attribute that to nerves), but I salvaged a double bogey out of it.
From there, though, I settled down and got into a steady rhythm, playing bogey-golf (trust me, that’s good for amateurs like me) the rest of the front nine for an 11-over-par 47. That included a birdie putt on the 225-yard par-3 7th hole that I left short by just an inch.
One of the biggest mental roadblocks was the sheer length of some of the holes. My playing partner was sometimes 100 or 150 yards in front of me on tee shots. We’d drive up to the general set of tees and the back tees would be out of shouting distance.
Still, I was in a decent groove and really striking the ball well, particularly my tee shots, which are often my nemesis.
All I had to do to break 100 would be to shoot a 52 or better on the back nine.
How difficult is it to play PGA National Champion course?
The back nine, however, was a different ball game. In short, it mercilessly punishes the greedy.
I parred the par-5 10th hole and was starting to almost get a Tiger Woods-like adrenaline of swagger in my step.
On the 449-yard par-4 11th hole, I smashed a drive about 245 yards down the middle of the fairway. That left me with 204 yards over water to the green and the existential question I asked myself — lay up or go for it?
“Oh, you gotta go for it,” my playing partner Jay Rose urged. “You’re playing so well. You can do this!”
“Yes, I can do this,” I thought. “I can carry a 3-wood 200-plus yards into the wind. I did it on the par-3 7th. Why not here? Yes, I’ll go for it. Hell, you only live once!”
Two balls ended up in the water and I walked off the green embarrassed and daunted with a quintuple-bogey 9.
It didn’t get much better as my confidence took a major punch to the gut.
My ultimate demise, though, was the Bear Trap, the notoriously torturous three-hole stretch (15th, 16th and 17th).
The 15th was a 178-yard par-3 into the wind and over water. Looking back, I should have just hit two 7-irons and gone around the water. But wow, how unmanly would that have been? No, on principle alone, I had to go for it. Of course, I overswung and dropped another into the water. I took my medicine along with a double bogey.
The 16th was similar in that I had a 200-yard-plus second shot over water on the 444-yard par-4. This time, I decided to play it safe and aim to the left, away from water and trouble. At worst, I’d end up in the left rough by the green.
Good thought, except I pulled my 5-wood into the water on the other side of the fairway. I staggered out of there with a triple bogey.
By the time I got to the 568-yard par-5 18th, I was reeling. I felt like a boxer getting relentlessly punched against the ropes while trying to hang on, praying for the bell to ring.
I hit another two into the water but managed to get out of the trap and two-putt for a triple-bogey 8, which gave me a 51 on the back nine and a 27-over-par 98 for the round.
Takeaways from playing the Champion course at PGA National
During my decompressing time at the 19th hole with a beverage, I made some observations:
So should I feel good about a 98?
“I would say a 12 handicap playing from the tips in the offseason would have a tough time breaking 100,” Gallo said. “During tournament week, that number would probably be closer to 120. The overseeded rye rough is brutal, and many 12 handicaps would find themselves being unable to advance some shots more than a few yards.”
So I guess I have that going for me … which is nice.
I broke 100, but I suffered. It was the ultimate reminder that even though I parred a few holes out there, there’s no way I could consistently play with these guys, especially on a beast of a layout like PGA National’s Champion course.
Pro tip: Don’t play the pro tees.
James Coleman is a journalist for the USA TODAY NETWORK FLORIDA. You can reach him at JColeman@USATodayco.com and follow him on social media platform X at @jimcoleman11.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: I played PGA National’s Champion course from the tips. It was brutal
Reporting by James Coleman, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
