Are you ready for your close-up there? The Stadium Course will close for renovations soon after the Players Championship (March 20-26) until November, so pack your clubs and Dramamine before the curtain falls.

You can pick your hazard at the 529-yard 11th hole at Pete Dye's Stadium Course. Dick Durance II

The first of the stadium courses is still the best—it ranks No. 29 on our Top 100 Courses in the U.S. Don’t make the mistake of treating the first 15 holes as mere appetizers before the famed closing holes that you’ve seen on television for 24 years. If you step on the first tee already thinking ahead to the island green, you’ll find your scorecard shredded long before you get there. The Stadium Course is a superb layout, but unrelentingly punitive for the wayward and the overconfident. Take the fourth hole, a seemingly benign par 4 of 380 yards that only plays short from the middle of the fairway. Find the bunker (or water) on the right or the ankle-deep rough on the left and suddenly the bulkheads (and water) fronting the green look more ominous than the gators that prowl the lakes here. The peninsula green at the 172-yard 13th is less daunting than the 17th, but has more curves than a repeat visitor to the hotel buffet.

But it is the closing holes that draw visitors here. The 497-yard 16th tempts longer hitters to attack the green, and that’s probably not a bad play since the landing area for lay-ups is pinched by water right and a lone tree on the left. The 17th is simply the greatest knee-knocker you’ll ever face. The final hole is distilled Dye: a risk-risk par 4. You can opt to bite off the water on your tee shot, or you can tackle a long approach shot to a severely contoured green that lies hard against the aqua. It's a bit like being asked if you prefer to be hanged today or tomorrow.

The 172-yard 13th at the Stadium Course. Dick Durance II

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