Champions Course at PGA National, home of the "Bear Trap"
The PGA Tour heads to Florida this week with the Honda Classic at the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach. The Champion Course at PGA National was originally designed by George Fazio, and his young nephew Tom in the 1970′s. It was redesigned by Jack Nicklaus in 1990, when the “Bear Trap”, the infamous closing stretch of holes 15-17 was added. It’s the 2nd toughest course out of 51 courses on the PGA Tour, a par of 70, 7,158 yards, 147 slope! The course record of 64 is held by Rory Sabnatini, Luke Donald, and Greg Chalmers. The easiest hole is the par-5, 538 yard 3rd hole, the toughest the 190 yard, par 3 17th. The layout features large undulating greens, plenty of sand, a popular Nicklaus element, with water comeing into play in some shape or form on all but one hole.
The Champion is has been the home of the Honda Classic since 2007. It’s also been the venue for a number of notable professional tournaments over the years including the 1982 PGA Grand Slam of Golf, the 1983 Ryder Cup, the 1987 PGA Championship and the PGA Seniors’ Championships from 1982 to 2000. The Honda Classic started out as the Jackie Gleason’s Inverrary Classic in 1972, and was played at Inverrary in Fort Lauderdale, moving on to TPC Eagle Trace, Weston Hills, TPC Heron Bay, CC at Mirasol.
It’s available to public play, like the four other courses at the PGA National Resort, only if you’re a guest of the resort, and is pricey. There’s plenty of other golf options in the area, our directory of the best golf courses in West Palm Beach features 20 courses within a 30 minute drive.
Why is it called “The Bear Trap”?
It’s called the Bear Trap since Jack Nicklaus, the Golden Bear, redesigned the course, and holes 15-17 were designed for maximum challenge down the finishing stretch.