New tee at TPC Sawgrass No. 9 could mean Players’ first 600-yard hole

Participants in the 2023 Players Championship need to prepare themselves for a long walk — and at least three shots into the green — at the par-5 ninth hole of the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.

How long?

Try 600 or more yards, if rules officials are feeling especially frisky.

There aren’t many changes coming to The Players or the Stadium Course this year but one of them involves the first significant modification to a hole since the par-4 12th was made drivable for the 2017 Players.

A new tee has been built for the ninth hole that can extend the scorecard yardage of 583 yards to the first 600-yard hole in tournament history.

That’s not to say it will happen — just that the tournament rules staff has the option. The weather forecast and the wind for the tournament rounds March 9-12 will play a large part in that determination.

But the longer tee will put some teeth into a hole that originally was designed by Pete Dye to be the most difficult par-5 hole on the course, and a three-shot hole for most players.

In recent years, the ninth hole has at times dipped below Nos. 2 and 11 in difficulty. Players also have tended to get a bit conservative on the hole, even on days when the rules officials move the tee up to entice them. In five of the last 10 years there have been no scores worse than a double-bogey at No. 9, and three triple-bogeys last year matched the entire total of the previous four years.

There have been three 600-yard holes in recent major championships, and one in the works. The par-5 14th hole at the Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, measured up to 625 yards for the 2022 U.S. Open; the par-5 fifth hole at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was 656 yards for the 2022 PGA, and the par-5 13th measured at 632 yards; and Royal Liverpool is planning on 607 yards for its par-5 18th hole for the 2023 Open Championship.

New place to watch shots at No. 9

Players Championship officials have also created a new fan venue to the right of the new tee, giving spectators an up-close-and-personal view of players trying to muscle their tee shots down the right side to set up a rope-hook second shot into the small green, or take the safe play and lay up.

There will be two tents in the area, one housing Tito’s Stillhouse Lounge and the other ABBQ. The deck fronting the area was also built around a large oak tree, with three appearing to spring up out of the deck from a distance.

Fans also can look to the right and see players…