PGA National Resort: Match Course

Built over the top of the resort’s former Squire Course, Andy Staples designed The Match exclusively for, you guessed it, match play, with no tee markers, gambling half-par holes and assertive putting surfaces that reference famous Raynor/Macdonald templates like the Knoll, Biarritz, Redan and Punchbowl, among others.

Everyone who comes here wants to play The Champion, the Jack Nicklaus-designed host of the Honda Classic, to see if they can run through the Bear Trap at 15, 16 and 17 without losing a dozen balls. They should see that course: it's prototypical Florida golf imbued with more muscles than Thor. But after fighting a superhero for five hours, the more human-scaled holes of the Match Course begin to look mighty inviting, and the prospect of making pars and birdies using wit and short-game finesse rather than bogeys and doubles with power drives and long-irons over lakes is likely to inspire greater repeat desire.