Sawgrass vs Pinehurst: PGA Tour Pilgrimage

Sawgrass vs Pinehurst: PGA Tour Pilgrimage

Two destinations let you play the course you watched on television. Sawgrass, home of THE PLAYERS Championship, offers the par-3 17th island green and Pete Dye's stadium design at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. Pinehurst, home of six U.S. Opens, offers Donald Ross's No. 2 in the North Carolina Sandhills. Both deliver tournament-course golf to visiting players willing to pay the premium. The trips surrounding those rounds are quite different.

The Signature Course

TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course plays 7,352 yards with a slope of 155. Pete Dye and Alice Dye designed it in 1980, and it has hosted THE PLAYERS Championship since 1982. The stadium mounding that Dye pioneered here became the template for modern tournament courses. Green fees run $550 in summer to $750 in peak season (September through May). Stay-and-play packages through the Sawgrass Marriott provide the most common booking route. Carts are mandatory.

The par-3 17th island green is the most recognisable hole in professional golf.

Pinehurst No. 2 plays 7,588 yards at par 70 with a slope of 138. Donald Ross refined the course from 1907 through 1948. The Coore and Crenshaw restoration in 2011 returned native wiregrass and removed rough, revealing the strategic complexity of Ross's crowned greens. Access requires a two-night resort stay; the green fee is embedded in package pricing with a $250 surcharge or $595 for a second round in peak season.

The course rewards precision and creative short-game play rather than raw power.

The two courses represent fundamentally different eras and philosophies. TPC Sawgrass is a modern stadium design built for spectacle and difficulty. Pinehurst No. 2 is a pre-war strategic design that reveals its challenge gradually. Playing the Stadium Course feels like stepping onto a stage. Playing No. 2 feels like entering a conversation with the architect.

Supporting Courses

Sawgrass offers Dye's Valley Course, Pete Dye's original 1987 design rebuilt by Bobby Weed in 2014. Green fees run $225 to $325, making it an accessible complement to the Stadium Course. A 30-minute drive north reaches the Amelia Island courses: Long Point (Tom Fazio, $150 to $200) and Oak Marsh (Pete Dye, renovated 2025, $100 to $155). The World Golf Village courses in St. Augustine, King and Bear (co-designed by Palmer and Nicklaus, $80 to $200) and Slammer and Squire ($80 to $199), provide mid-range options.

Pinehurst's supporting cast is stronger architecturally. No. 4, Gil Hanse's 2018 redesign, is among the best modern resort courses in the country at $395. Tobacco Road, Mike Strantz's sand-quarry design 30 minutes away, plays at a slope of 150. Mid Pines and Pine Needles, Donald Ross designs across the street from each other, provide refined Sandhills golf at $155 to $295. The resort's other courses, No. 8 (Tom Fazio, $275) and No. 9 (Jack Nicklaus, $275), add further options.

Pinehurst offers more architecturally significant supporting courses. Sawgrass offers more geographic variety, with the Amelia Island and St. Augustine options extending the destination's footprint.

Beyond Golf

Sawgrass sits 40 minutes from St. Augustine, America's oldest city (founded 1565). The Castillo de San Marcos, St. George Street, and Flagler College provide a full day trip. Ponte Vedra Beach offers uncrowded Atlantic coastline within walking distance of the Sawgrass Marriott. Amelia Island and Fernandina Beach, 45 minutes north, add a Victorian downtown and Fort Clinch State Park. Jacksonville Beach is 20 minutes away.

Pinehurst's non-golf content is limited. The USGA Golf House and World Golf Hall of Fame, opened in 2024, is the standout attraction for golf enthusiasts. Pinehurst Village is charming and walkable. Weymouth Woods Nature Preserve provides a free outdoor option. Southern Pines' developing downtown has shops and restaurants.

For the non-golfing companion, Sawgrass offers considerably more to do, with St. Augustine providing a genuinely compelling historical attraction.

Price

A three-night Sawgrass trip with one Stadium Course round and two supporting rounds runs $2,200 to $3,500 per person. The Sawgrass Marriott at $300 to $550 per night anchors the accommodation.

A three-night Pinehurst trip with one No. 2 round and two supporting rounds (No. 4 and Tobacco Road) runs $2,000 to $3,500 per person. The Carolina Hotel at $400 to $530 per night leads the accommodation.

The Decision

Choose Sawgrass for the visual moment. The 17th island green is the single most photographed hole in golf, and standing on that tee is an experience that transcends your score. The Ponte Vedra Beach setting, the St. Augustine day trip, and the beach provide a more rounded trip for mixed groups.