Get ready for a lot of talk about the Bear Trap during this week’s Honda Classic – rightfully so, as it is among the toughest closing stretches on the PGA Tour each season. But there’s a lot more to PGA National Resort & Spa’s Champion course than Nos. 15, 16 and 17.
Originally designed by George Fazio and Tom Fazio and opened in 1981, the Champion in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, was renovated by Jack Nicklaus in 2014 – thus the Bear Trap moniker for the two watery par 3s and a par 4 on the back nine.
The 7,045-yard layout was the site of the 1983 Ryder Cup (won by the Americans), the 1987 PGA Championship (won by Larry Nelson), 19 Senior PGA Championships and, since 2007, the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic.
PGA National’s Champion ranks No. 11 in Florida on the 2020 Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list for public-access courses, and it is No. 88 on the 2021 Golfweek’s Best list for all resort courses in the United States.
The bear statue and plaque on display at the beginning of the Bear Trap at PGA National’s Champion course, site of the Honda Classic (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
PGA National is also home to three other full 18-hole courses: the Palmer, the Fazio and the Squire.
Thanks to fairway maps provided by Puttview – the maker of detailed yardage books for more than 30,000 courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges that players face in this week’s Honda Classic. Check out each hole below.