Pete and alice dye's tpc stadium course, the most demanding of the three public courses at the pga west golf complex, hosts the pga tour "q-school" finals every two years. Because of the facility's size, three additional 18-hole layouts – constructed by arnold palmer, jack nicklaus, and tom weiskopf – are available for private play.

The tpc stadium course, which first opened to the public in 1986, was one of the early venues for the end-of-season skins game – the famous televised 4-ball match that lasted for twenty-six years – and golfers of a certain vintage may recall lee trevino's hole in one at the par three 17th in 1987, which secured a carry-over skin of $175,000 for the winner.

Water features prominently on most of the holes on the deck, most specifically at the 5th and 7th holes, at the corner, and on the final two holes. The 168-yard 17th hole, "alcatraz," is perhaps the most challenging of all these water-challenged courses, since it necessitates a do-or-die tee shot to a tiny island green – where have we seen that kind of dye element before?