PGA NATIONAL RESORT (800-633-9150) The Haig Course
Florida Golf Course Review
PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens is a full service resort featuring a variety of accommodations with upscale amenities, to compliment world class golf experiences that
include 90 holes of championship golf along with some of Florida's most comprehensive practice facilities. Resort features include a variety of fine and casual dining opportunities
(including Shula's Staekhouse), spacious meeting/conference rooms (35,000 square feet total), multiple swimming pools and Jacuzzis, a 33,000 square foot health & racquet
club (with 17 tennis courts and spacious gymnasium with 2 separate aerobics rooms), a full service European-style spa (with 56 treatment rooms, steam rooms & saunas plus
the unique "Waters of the World" mineral baths),and more. Memberships are available at this AAA 4-Diamond resort and golf club, and golf here is available for members and
guests of the resort only! For more info, visit our page for the resort, with direct link to their website by clicking here.
The Champion Course(home to the PGA Honda Classic), Squire, General and Haig courses are all on resort property and are serviced by the same beautiful clubhouse, which
includes a nicely stocked pro shop. There are locker rooms with showers for men and women, and the 19th Hole, Bear Trap Bar & Grill, plus hall of fame lounge are all accessible
. Members also have the luxury of a private locker room with full time attendant. Practice facilities include three driving ranges plus multiple short game areas and putting greens.
The Golf Digest Academy is also on property, providing a variety of lessons and clinics, and the PGA of America also calls this resort home.
The Estate Course (Bay Hill Estates) is located about 8 miles away, and features its own clubhouse with snack bar and pro shop, plus beautiful practice facilities. All five courses
have carts with rear weather protectors, and coolers are also standard on the carts at the Estate Course. Guests playing any of the other four courses can fill up with
complimentary ice and water at the clubhouse station on resort property. Tees and towels are also provided. On course yardage markers are positioned on the fairways and cart
paths at 100, 150 and 200 yards, with 150 stakes also present on all par fours and fives. Each tee box has yardages plates, and color coded flags on the greens indicate the front,
middle or back pin placements. Sprinkler heads on all courses (except the Estate Course) are also marked to the center of the green.
The Haig
The photos in this review are of the Haig, one of the four championship layouts on resort property and the original course at PGA National. Named in honor of Walter Hagen and
dedicated to him on March first 1980, the Haig opens with a score-able par five with a large pond situated along the borders on the outside of the dogleg. This provides an
indication of things to come, as many holes are sculpted by water hazards. Some of the par fours and fives play tightly between lines of trees, lakes and residential neighborhoods,
but there is generally ample room off the tee.
The Haig is similar to the Estate, Squire and General courses, in that the green complexes are small in size, gently raised and well bunkered. In total 57 soft white sand bunkers
come into play greenside or along the landing zones off the tee. Land in one of the high lipped fairway traps and recovery for par can be difficult. Water affects the tee shots or
approaches on 14 of the holes, though most of the hazards are situated on the perimeter.
Three sets of tees play to distances and slopes measuring 6806 yards/139 slope, 6335 yards/134 slope for men and 143 for woman, and 5645 yards with a slope of 135 for
ladies hitting from the forward tees. The course plays fairly, rewarding good shots and penalizing bad ones. None of the courses at PGA National are easy and the Haig is no
exception, as the 134 slope from the white tees attests. For more info, visit our page for the course, with direct link to their website by clicking here.
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