Long before PGA Tour Champions players arrived on Florida's Atlantic coast, the Ocean Course at Hammock Beach briefly became one of the most talked-about venues in golf thanks to a teenage phenom named Michelle Wie.
In 2003, Wie made headlines when she became the youngest player to qualify for a USGA amateur championship at the course, helping put the Palm Coast layout on the national golf map. More than two decades later, the Ocean Course is again preparing for a significant moment in its history as it welcomes the Constellation Furyk & Friends.
From Michelle Wie's early breakthrough to Champions Tour competition and other professional events, the Ocean Course has steadily built a reputation as one of Northeast Florida's premier championship
venues.
Shortly after the Ocean Course opened, the United States Golf Association scheduled the U.S. Women's Public Links Championship for 2003.
Little did they know that a tween golfer from Hawaii would use that tournament to launch her sometimes controversial career.
Wie (now Michelle Wie West) entered the Public Links at the age of 13, came to Palm Coast and became the youngest player in history to win a USGA national championship when she beat Virada Nirapathpongporn 1-up in a 36-hole final.
Wie sprayed 300-yard drives all over the expanse of the Ocean Course all week, hit shots over trees and water, played from hazards and commented, "Golf is more fun if you take risks."
Wie, who hit one measured drive of 320 yards, shot 7-under for the 36-hole final. She began earning sponsor invitations to not only LPGA events but PGA Tour events, then tried to qualify for the USGA men's public links in her stated attempt to become the first woman to play in the Masters.
Wie never made the cut in a PGA Tour event and never came close to winning a USGA men's amateur championship that could have resulted in a Masters invitation. She and her parents were criticized for possibly derailing her development on the LPGA, but she went on to win five times on that tour, highlighted by the 2014 U.S. Women's Open at Pinehurst.
"I really don't know why Michelle continues to do this," Sorenstam said in 2008 at the site of the Women's British Open. "We have a major this week and, if you can't qualify for a major, I don't see any reason why you should play with the men."
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: How Michelle Wie West put the upcoming Champions Tour venue on the map
