TPC Blue Monster course at Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami is a PGA Tour stalwart

MIAMI - The TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa, a Marriott Resort, hosted its 50th tournament featuring PGA Tour players at the 2011 World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship, an unprecedented run only bested by Augusta National and Colonial.

Memorable moments, from Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson's epic battle in 2005 to Craig Parry's hole-out from the fairway in the playoff on No. 18, are as commonplace as double bogeys by average Joes at this historic 7,356-yard Dick Wilson design.

Raymond Floyd and Jim McLean, Doral's director of instruction, collaborated to tweak the layout in 1993, but the teeth of the original Blue Monster from 1962 remain the same: thick Bermuda rough, a devilish diet of fairways that zigzag around water and demanding propped-up greens surrounded by bunkers. Any player who makes par on No. 18, the knee-knocking 467-yard par 4, will feel like Parry did when he sank his eagle in 2004, a golfer on top of the world.

Staying at the 693-room resort to enjoy the Spa at Doral and the Mesazul steakhouse or the rooms and suites of the 10 lodges only enhances the experience.

TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa - hole 18

The finishing hole of the TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa glows at dusk.

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TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa - hole 17

This view looks back at the 17th hole at the TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami.

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TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa - hole 18 moon

The moon hangs over the 18th hole on the TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami.

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TPC Blue Monster at Doral - hole 16

Tiger Woods once drove the dogleg par-4 16th at the TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami.

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TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa - hole 11

The 11th is the shortest par 4 from the blue tees on the TPC Blue Monster at Miami's Doral Golf Resort & Spa.

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TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa - hole 10

The 10th on the TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa is an epic par 5 around water.

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TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa - hole 9

The par-3 ninth on the TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa plays over water.

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TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa - hole 8

The par-5 eighth snakes around two lakes on the TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami.

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TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa - hole 6

Unique bunkering is found on the sixth hole of the TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami.

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TPC Blue Monster, Doral Golf Resort & Spa - hole 4

The 236-yard fourth on the TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa is a long par 3 over water.

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TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa - hole 3

The par-4 third on the TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa skirts a lake.

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TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa - first tee

Head Professional Cory Head prepares to hit his drive off the first tee on the TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa.

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TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa - hole 1

Bunkers line the par-5 first hole on the TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa in south Florida.

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Doral Golf Resort & Spa - aerial view

Miami's iconic Doral Golf Resort & Spa will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2012.

Courtesy of Doral Golf Resort & Spa