The Champion Course at PGA National – site of the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic this week – was designed by the team of Tom Fazio and George Fazio and opened in 1981, and has been renovated by Jack Nicklaus over the past two decades.
Located in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and home to a stretch of holes dubbed the Bear Trap – Nos. 15, 16 and 17 – the Champion has major history. It was host to the 1983 Ryder Cup, in which the United States beat Europe 14.5-13.5, and it hosted the 1987 PGA Championship won by Larry Nelson in a playoff over Lanny Wadkins. Now PGA National is the first stop on the PGA Tour’s annual Florida Swing.
The PGA Tour reported that this year’s event will show off a recent bunker renovation, with bunkers having been removed on Nos. 13 and 16, plus a “bunker reduction” on the closing two holes.
The Champion ranks No. 8 in Florida on Golfweek’s Best list of public-access courses in each state, and it’s No. 73 on the list of top resort courses in the U.S.
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The course will play to 7,125 yards with a par of 70 for the Honda Classic.
PGA National Resort is home to six courses, including two nontraditional layouts, and has recently undergone a $100 million renovation. The lineup of courses includes the new Match Course by Andy Staples, which features holes that can be played from a multitude of lengths with no set par, and the new nine-hole, par-3 Staple Course.
Thanks to yardage books provided by StrackaLine – the maker of detailed yardage books for thousands of courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges the pros face this week at PGA National.
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