Local knowledge from local guys: Dye's Valley

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The Nationwide Tour has reached their final full-field event of the season. There are spots in the Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island up for grabs and PGA TOUR cards on the line. And this week at TPC Sawgrass is going to be anything but easy.

After last year's inaugural Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open, the reviews of Dye's Valley from players seem unanimous: the rough is, well, rough. It was the only 2010 event on Tour to have a single-digit winning score.

What makes Dye's Valley one of the toughest courses on this Tour? Veteran Frank Lickliter II put it simply: "It's the tightest and it actually has rough."

"It's definitely hard," said Steve Wheatcroft, who lives in nearby Jacksonville Beach, Fla. "I haven't played here in tournament conditions, but I played here a couple weeks ago and saw what the rough was like then and I can only imagine how it is now. The way they grow the rough here, you have to hit fairways, you have to hit greens. It's definitely a good test."

Local Len Mattice agrees. "It's a top 3 course on the Nationwide Tour, if not the best. I would say the rough is very strong; it's very deep. And the par has been changed to par-70 so, in relation to par, it's a very demanding course."

During the year, Dye's Valley is played as a par-72. Two par-5s are converted to par-4s for the Nationwide Tour event: Nos. 8 and 17. These two holes will be among the toughest players will face.

"It's a great golf course. To me, it's the best we're going to play all year out here on this Tour. I think it's just the design," added former Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. resident Stephen Gangluff. "I think they get it in the best shape. They'll get it to how the PGA TOUR gets their courses. They'll get it a little faster, a little harder."