The Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida: The joy of intimidation

• Mike Bailey
• Jun 1, 2011 8:46 AM ET

Half the thrill of playing the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass is not only tackling the same course that humbles the pros, but standing tall when faced with an intimidating shot and pulling it off. Indeed if you can beat this Pete Dye gem, ranked No. 14 among on Golf Digest's list of the 50 toughest courses, even for a moment, you win.

Everyone knows about the 17th, the par 3 that was suggested by Pete's wife Alice, and the island green that's so copied on other courses around the world. Just a wedge or a 9-iron on most days for the pros, it's the hole that has the best players in the world checking their pulse, especially when the lead is on the line.

But it's hardly the only intimidating hole on the golf course. The Players Stadium Course is littered with them, around every corner, it seems. But here are a handful that will increase your blood pressure, and perhaps a few tips to deal with them.

No. 5, par 4, 471 yards: This is the Players Stadium Course's longest par 4, and it's also the most difficult on the front nine. It's a slight dogleg right with water to the right of a huge, long bunker off the tee, and water on the left as well.

To have a good shot at the green, players are better off if they favor the right side of the hole, even if they put it in the large fairway bunker. It's really about staying safe and staying dry. For those who don't hit a good tee shot, a lay-up is their best bet, but even that's difficult with a narrow sliver of fairway, with trees on the left and imposing bunkers on the right, leading the green.

No. 9 Par 5, 583 yards: While the par 5s at most courses are indeed scoring opportunities, most of the par 5s on the TPC Sawgrass Players Stadium Course can also loom as disaster. The key here for most players is to play it as a three-shot hole. With water off the tee to the right and crossing the fairway, hitting a hybrid or 3-wood off the tee makes sense if you don't think you can get there in two. Then you can lay up to a reasonable distance on the second shot, but even that's not easy on this double dogleg. With trees to the left, anything left is usually jail to this tiny green well guarded by bunkers, including one of Dye's famous pot bunkers.

No. 11, par 5, 558 yards: This is one crazy hole. During the 2006 renovation, the par-5 11th got another 20 yards, and you can still go for it in two with a big tee shot, but there's trouble everywhere. There's a large bunker with islands of turf to the left off the tee. Find that, and you might not have a shot at a decent layup. Most players will try to hit their second shot over water to the left in front of the green, but it's easy to get blocked out if you hit your tee shot left. Then you're left with a punch-out to the right, which leaves a long shot over the water to the green. Even with a good tee shot, you have to pay attention to where you want to approach the green, which sits out on a peninsula, protected by sand on the right.

No. 16, par 5, 523 yards: The 16th can be tantalizing for players trying to make a move. But those who hope to make birdie here or even eagle, have to be precise. With tall trees on the left and water in front of the tee and all down the right side, you have to shape your tee shot right to left on this double dogleg, yet keep it right enough to have a shot to hit it in two. Anything left of center usually means lay-up, but even that's not easy.

If you do go for it in two, there are all sorts of bad things that can happen. Just ask David Toms, who eventually lost the 2011 Players Championship in a playoff after he bogeyed the 16th. Toms went for the green in two and found the water and wound up making bogey. But even if he had avoided the water and missed the green to the left, making par from there would have been no cinch. Many players in the left greenside bunker have either been too aggressive and found the water on the right side of the green, or left it short and three-putted for bogey.

No. 17, par 3, 137 yards: This is the little island green that PGA Tour players think about on the practice tee long before their round even begins. Add a little wind, and the shot becomes that much more daunting. Each year, divers retrieve 120,000 balls from the water that surrounds the 17th green. And because the hazard stakes are yellow, hitting it over the green or even finding the green and spinning it back into the water, means you're re-teeing or using the drop zone. And the drop zone, which is usually around 50 or 60 yards, is no bargain either. It's no wonder we've seen the best players in the world record double-digit totals on the 17th.

By the way, there have been six aces recorded in The Players Championship: Brad Fabel (1986), Brian Claar (1991), Fred Couples (1997), Joey Sindelar (1999), Paul Azinger (2000) and Miguel Angel Jimenez (2002). Also, K.J. Choi birdied the 17th at the 2011 Players, then made par on the same hole to beat Toms in the playoff. For Toms, his missed three-and-a-half-footer was the only time he failed inside of 5 feet the entire tournament.

No. 18, par 4, 462 yards: The finishing hole on the Players Stadium Course features one of the most intimidating tee shots in all of golf. With water down the entire left side and trees on the right of this dogleg left, players are left with a dilemma. If they like to fade the ball, the tee shot has to be started out over water, but if it goes straight and never makes land, it's a re-tee and most likely a double bogey or worse. The preferred shot is a draw, but if you don't get the draw -- or worse, if you double cross and hit a fade -- you're well into the trees with no shot at the green. Still, the draw is the favored shot, but it still usually leaves a long to mid-iron approach to a green that's guarded by water on the left.

Toms, who found himself trailing a by a shot with a hole to play, hit the fade perfectly, and then launched a high 6-iron to within 18 feet of the cup. Then he calmly drained the birdie putt to force the playoff. Perhaps being one down gave him the freedom to let it all hang loose on the final hole, which is exactly the mentality you need to play the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.

View the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass photo gallery.