After a cocktail and some lunch at the iBar, I made my way to my round at PGA National. On route to the Pro Shop, I couldn't help but get caught up in the fact that I was walking the same corridors as some of the greatest in the history of golf have walked. Since opening in 1981, PGA National Resort and Spa has hosted more than 19 major PGA Tour events including the 1982 PGA Championship, the 1983 Ryder Cup, the Seniors Tournament, and, now is home to the PGA Tour's Honda Classic.

This resort boasts a multi-million dollar world-class European spa, more pools than I could keep track of – meaning more than I could count on one hand - five championship courses (The Champion, The Haig, The Squire, The Palmer and The Estate) and seven spectacular restaurants. PGA National Resort & Spa is more than just a golfer's paradise; this is a stunning retreat that provides leisure and business travelers with experiences both exciting and memorable. It is also home to the Dave Pelz Scoring Game School.

On the second day of my visit, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to play The Champion, and if there is ever a Palmer Course around, you can bet that I am going to try to play it, too. It did not let me down.

It was a rather calm start to the day with very little wind and clear blue skies. The clear blue skies remained for the day, but unfortunately the winds did not remain calm. For the most part, though, the wind was not an issue as we deal with it all the time on the course.

I am not sure that a course with a slope rating of 145 can be described as one that can ease you into a round, but compared to the finishing holes it certainly feels that way. From the Gold Tees, the front nine is relatively short at less than 3,300 yards and gives you an opportunity to build some momentum for the backside. I felt the most memorable on the front nine was the par 5, 6th. It's only 479 yards but water lurks all down the left hand side and the green is tucked around more of that same water and marsh. Very much a risk reward play.

Back-nine, fasten your seat belts and get ready to bomb a few if you are going to keep that momentum going. Only one par 4 is less than 400 yards. When you get to the 15th, you are now entering the true test of the course – The Bear Trap 15, 16, and 17. And 18 is no slouch, either. Two par 3's in the 160 plus yards range sandwiched around a par 4 and at the 2009 Honda, the cumulative over-par-score for the 3 holes reached a plus 895 and more than 3.58 for the 4 rounds. Tough, tough, tough!