replied, "No, I've never been very good at stopping a 5-iron on the hood of a car." J. C. Snead called the course "90 percent horse manure and 10 percent luck." Over the following year, Dye tweaked the course, making the greens less severe and replacing several After the changes, the course became far more playable. "Now it's a darn good golf course," Crenshaw said of the improvements. The course was the site of the U.S. Amateur in August 1994, where 18-year-old Tiger Woods defeated Trip Kuehne in the finals, the first of his three consecutive victories. The Island Green TPC Sawgrass's signature hole is the Stadium Course's 17th, known simply as the "Island Green," although it is technically a peninsula. It measures only from tee to green (requiring only a pitching wedge for most pros), but it consists of nothing but a -long green with a tiny bunker in front of it. Save a small path to the green, the green is completely surrounded by water, and its location amidst many trees causes the wind to swirl over it. Club selection in the weather conditions at the hole is a huge consideration, as there is nowhere to land the ball but on the green, in the small bunker, or in the water. It is estimated that more than 100,000 balls are retrieved from the surrounding water every year, courtesy of professionals and tourists alike. The Island Green design came by accident: the original design for the 17th was to be a simple par-3 green only partially surrounded by a lake. However, the soil surrounding the 17th consisted of sand, which is necessary to build a good golf course, but rare on the otherwise swampy property, and by the time the course was near completion all the sand had been dug from the area, leaving a large crater. Alice Dye suggested the Island Green concept, remembering another course with a similar green. Pete was not thrilled at the idea but went ahead with it, in the process creating one of golf's most recognizable holes. Because of its popularity among fans, Golf Channel devotes eleven cameras to it during the tournament. Probably the most famous incident that has occurred on the Island Green involved Brad Fabel in the 1998 event. His tee shot successfully landed on the green, but then a seagull swooped onto the green and picked up his ball