Inside the 5th Major with Josh White
London based golf coach and friend of MANORS, Josh White, was lucky enough to take on TPC Sawgrass during the week of the Players Championship, we checked in with him to get the inside scoop from the 5th Major.
Watching from home, I can’t think of many golf courses that intimidate me more than TPC Sawgrass. Hole after hole of tree funnels off tee boxes and fairways lined with water. Of all of those nightmare inducing tee shots, which were the most intimidating?
I would go for 14, there's water all down the left hand side, you've got these grass dips, almost grass bunkers up on the right hand side and they are just full of thick rough. You go in them and it's almost worse than being in a bunker. You're just hoping to get it back onto the fairway 20 yards up. Its also a tight tee shot which is normally into wind, one of those where you just have to stand up and hit a shot with the bog dawg. Then you’ve got 17 and 18.
If you're standing on that 17th tee in that wind, sometimes the water is moving one way in front of the tee, and the complete opposite closer to the green. It plays tricks with your brain and makes it so hard to commit to a shot. Its 140 yards, that hole, and if it was just normal grass around it, I would like to think you'd hit the green quite a lot but with that stadium atmosphere and the water catching your eye, there’s a good chance you miss the green, and its a goner. Especially so close to the end of your round when you're trying to get the score over the line and you just know if you hit it in the water you're making double or worse.
I’m getting nervous just thinking about it. I’m curious to hear from a good player who’s stood on that tee, if you were to play the 17th 20 times in tournament conditions, what would your score to par be?
WelI I would like to say three on average, I'm backing myself here.
There's pins on that hole where if you hit it in the right spot, you're giving yourself a really good chance for a two. So out of 20 times, I would like to say I'm going to get a two, maybe five to six times. And then the rest of the time since I’m aiming at the middle of the green I’d like to think I could get away with par. Obviously I'm going to hit it in the water maybe once or twice. So, yeah, I’m thinking it averages out around level par. But if it's for $4.5 million, I could make a 10.
It does feel like you could be there forever if you started missing. And even if you do escape unscathed, that 18th tee shot looks near impossible at times, what did you make of it?
Ye that tee shot is a hell of a lot tighter than you realise, especially when you're hitting across the fairway and if the wind is off the left you either hit a hard draw to hold it up or you've got to start it over the water. If you go with option 2 and it doesn’t fade back, you're re-teeing, so it's just as bad as hitting it out of bounds. And then you get to this tricky two tiered green, so even if you get it off the tee its no guarantee of a par.
TPC has an Augusta feel and look to it, so refined in its appearance and with so much history around it, did the experience at the event differ from golf tournaments you’ve attended in the past?
The place literally looks like CGI. I've never seen such green grass. The rough is so lush when they do the overseed for the tournament: so thick with no bare patches. If you’re in there, its a penalty shot, there's no getting lucky. You’d eat your dinner off the fairways, they're unbelievable. Then the greens are obviously as fast and slopey as they come.
Because it is The Players' Championship and it's run by the players, for the players, you can see that the golf course is set up for the best field in the world. That's why it's so challenging. If you're on, you'll get rewarded, if you're off, you really get punished. The place asks so many questions and requires every shot you’ve got in your armory.
The way the undulations have been built around the closing holes, it really feels like you're playing golf in a stadium with the grandstands surrounding you. It really is a grandstand finish in the most literal way.
I truly think it is the best stadium golf course in the world.
There’s a different feeling when the land creates the perfect viewing gallery for the audience, something more natural and old school. What did you make of the surrounding area at Sawgrass and Jacksonville?
You don't realise at Sawgrass, you're actually very close to the coast. So it's actually a bit of a beach feel around the area. The presence of the golf tournament is inescapable, you see everyone walking around with their Players' tops on, there’s a sneaky nod to each other when you recognise a fellow golfer. You get a similar feeling in St Andrews.
TPC Sawgrass is high up on a lot of people’s bucket lists. I know you’ve ticked off quite a few, but are there any that you still need to conquer?
I've got to say I've been super lucky to have played a lot of the best golf courses in the world and travel playing golf. So even if I was to stop playing, I would consider myself a lucky man. But if I could tick one more off my bucket list, it would have to be Cypress Point.
