Twilight Rounds: Day 4 at TPC Sawgrass: The Red Jacket Tour

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Day 4 at TPC Sawgrass: The Red Jacket Tour

On the last day of our trip to TPC Sawgrass, hubby and I finally took the "official" red jacket tour of the Clubhouse and Stadium Course. Volunteers wearing claret-hued blazers wait in the lobby of the Clubhouse, and you can ask one for a tour. No appointment necessary. Taking the tour really helped to extend the excitement for me, as you'll see shortly.

After we hopped into a golf cart, the first stop was the roundabout outside the Clubhouse, decorated with plaques for each winner of The Players Championship. The Korean flag currently flies in the center, in honor of the 2011 winner, K.J. Choi.

Then we circled the island green at Hole 17 again, this time with the purpose of getting some better photos.

We lingered here for awhile, taking snapshots. Our tour guide told us that black sand from the Kona coast of Hawaii was imported to serve as the underlayment for the grass. That's why when you take a divot you kick up black dust instead of mud.

What a lovely panorama!

Of course the champions' tees are covered, in preparation for the tournament in May.

That doesn't stop some tour pros from peeling back some of the netting and teeing off. Our tour guide said one of them was Steve Wheatcroft, who I had never heard of, but apparently he is ranked number 396 on the world golf rankings. More than 30 tour pros live around this area, including Vijay Singh.

All the pros made the green. Just like hubby and I did! Those copycats! As we sat in a golf cart with our tour guide, I was literally in 17th heaven. I could sit here all day watching people tee off to this green!

The rest of the tour continued indoors, minus the golf cart. Our guide showed us all around the inside of the clubhouse, pointing out the lovely architecture, paintings, and memorabilia. There's even a display of clubs used by championship winners here...