PALM COAST — Long before PGA Tour Champions players arrived on Florida's Atlantic coast, the Ocean Course at Hammock Beach became one of the most talked-about venues in golf thanks to a teenage phenom named Michelle Wie, and more than two decades later the Palm Coast layout is again preparing for a significant moment as it welcomes the Constellation Furyk & Friends.
Shortly after the Ocean Course opened, the United States Golf Association scheduled the U.S. Women's Public Links Championship for 2003 at the venue. Wie, then 13 years old from Hawaii, entered the championship 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, a breakthrough that helped put the Ocean Course on the national golf map.
Wie sprayed 300-yard drives all over the expanse of the Ocean Course all week and hit one measured drive of 320 yards, hitting shots over trees and water and playing from hazards. She shot 7-under for the 36-hole final and commented, "Golf is more fun if you take risks."
The victory launched her sometimes controversial career. 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.
Criticism followed her crossover attempts, including in 2008 at the site of the Women's British Open when Annika Sorenstam said, "I really don't know why Michelle continues to do this. 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." From 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.