PGA National Resort (The Champion)

Three holes with a reputation, and a room key to reach them.

The Champion is the course the PGA Tour visits every spring for the Cognizant Classic, and its 15th to 17th holes, the Bear Trap, are some of the most watched water holes in the sport. It sits at the heart of PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, north of West Palm Beach. You cannot simply phone for a public tee time here. The route in is a room at the resort, a golf package and a surcharge for this course. Plan it that way and the Champion is a straightforward booking.

PGA National Resort (The Champion) green fees and tee times.

Third-party reports, including Golf Monthly and GolfNewsNet, say the Champion is not sold to the public and is played as part of a resort stay; members and their guests also play. The resort’s golf packages include one round per night on The Match, Fazio, Palmer or Champion, with a surcharge on the Champion that is confirmed when you book the tee time. Package terms say tee times can be booked up to 180 days ahead, rates assume double occupancy, and a US$49 nightly resort fee is added. Replay rounds at the discounted rate are booked on the day. The tee-time office answers on 561-627-1804 or teetimes@pgaresort.com, Monday to Friday from 7am to 3pm. Groups of golfers can send a request through the resort’s group golf page.

The round, in perspective.

Tom and George Fazio designed the Champion for big events, and it opened in November 1981. Jack Nicklaus later redesigned it; the resort dates his rework to 2014. It is a par 72 that measures 7,081 yards from the Bear tees, with a 75.4 rating and 144 slope, and five sets of tees go down to 5,061 yards. The ground is flat South Florida land, so lakes, canals, bunkers and the wind supply the difficulty. The Bear Trap begins at the 15th, a par three to a diagonal green with water in front, to the right and over the back. The 16th tightens as drives get longer, then asks for a carry over water to a two-tier green. The 17th is a downhill par three over water to a green tilted towards the hazard.

Know before you go.

Access

Resort guests and members; book through the resort

Booking window

Up to 180 days ahead on packages

Forecaddie

Included in the surcharge, 1 Dec to 15 Apr

Package golf

Cart, range balls and bag storage included

Make the trip work.

Most visitors build three or four nights around one Champion round and fill the other days on the resort’s cheaper courses. Take the Champion early in the trip, so that if a thunderstorm washes it out you have spare nights to rebook. The Champion page links to a hole-by-hole tour with tips from a PGA National Golf Academy instructor, worth watching before your round. The resort says a photograph at the Bear Trap statue has become a tradition for Champion players. If you are coming for the Cognizant Classic, 24 to 28 February 2027, the resort sells stays that include a daily grounds pass for up to two people, and as the tournament venue the Champion will not be part of your golf that week.

Palm Beach International (PBI) is the closest airport, roughly 25 minutes south by road along I-95 or Florida’s Turnpike. Fort Lauderdale (FLL) is about an hour south, and Miami (MIA) about an hour and a half. The resort sits off PGA Boulevard (State Road 786), near exit 109 of the Turnpike. A hire car is the practical choice.

Where it is.

Nearby: 1. The Breakers (Ocean Course) (16 km) · Compare all Palm Beach & Miami tee times

Somewhere to settle in.

Golf packages require a stay at PGA National Resort itself, which Wikipedia lists at 339 hotel rooms. Henderson Park bought the resort in January 2025 with Salamander Hotels & Resorts and South Street Partners. Restaurants and shops at Downtown at the Gardens and The Gardens Mall are a short drive east on PGA Boulevard. Jupiter and Juno Beach, to the north-east, have beach hotels for non-golfing partners who want the sea on the doorstep.

Make a trip of it.

On site, The Palmer carries a smaller published surcharge (US$80 to US$100 this season) and The Fazio and The Match are included in packages. The resort also lists The Wee Bear among its courses. The Breakers in Palm Beach, about half an hour south, has the Ocean Course for its own guests. Off the course, the Juno Beach pier and the Loggerhead Marinelife Center are close by, and the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse sits a little further north.

Find your season.

Peak season runs from December to April, when the surcharge is at its highest and forecaddies are included. From June to September the surcharge drops to US$120, but afternoons bring heat, humidity and storms. Atlantic hurricane season lasts from June to the end of November. The PGA Tour arrives in late February.