It seems like such a long time ago that Jerry Pate took the plunge, dived into the greenside lake at the 18th hole after winning The Players Championship and took the commissioner and course architect with him. It was a celebratory moment for Pate, but it also was a moment of christening for the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.

Pate's victory in 1982 was the first on the course built by Pete Dye, a maddening layout of railroad ties, bulkhead greens and pot bunkers that was panned by the players as everything from unfair to awful. Ben Crenshaw called it "Stars Wars golf, designed by Darth Vader." When Jack Nicklaus was asked if the course suited his game, he said, "No, I've never been very good at stopping a 5-iron on the hood of a car."

Pate, now 54, laughs at the memory of that first year at the Stadium Course. He remembers he and other players being invited by PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman for a sneak peak of the course weeks before its unveiling and being the only player who showed up. He also remembers making birdie at the island 17th hole three of the four rounds in 1982, when he posted a two-shot victory over Brad Bryant and Scott Simpson.

But, most vividly, he remembers doing a swan dive into the lake after his victory, and throwing Beman and Dye into the water, as well.

"I liked to have fun when I played," Pate said the other day over the phone. "I would use orange balls, joke a lot, smile to the fans. You don't see that a lot [on the PGA Tour] anymore. They act like they're doing brain surgery."

It was Beman's vision to create the Stadium Course, and it was Dye who brought the project to fruition. Now, after 26 years of makeovers and refurbishments, the tournament is beginning its 35th season today in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and complaints about the course have been replaced by compliments. Said NBC announcer Johnny Miller, who never won The Players championship during his playing career, "This course gives you the heebie-jeebies." Shouts about the course being unfair have disappeared like the orange balls Pate used to play.

Trivia

No player has won back-to-back titles at The Players championship, and only three defending champions have ever finished tied for fifth. Jack Nicklaus did it in 1977 and Tom Kite in '90. Who was the other? Answer at end.

Special invite

Frank Fuhrer will begin a five-year run at the Pittsburgh Field Club with a three-day, 72-hole invitational July 7-9, a select event featuring 34 professionals, six amateurs and a $25,000 first prize.

The tournament, which has a $150,000 purse, will include the defending champion, Ryan Sikora, an assistant at Totteridge Golf Club and one of the best young players in the area.

Sikora, 29, won last year's Frank B. Fuhrer Invitational by six shots at Valley Brook, shooting 9-under 279 over four days to win the largest paycheck of his career.

"It gets tough some times for an assistant because you don't always make a lot of money," Sikora said. "And you're working long hours so it's tough to stay competitively sharp."

That's why tournaments such as the Fuhrer Invitational are so important to players such as Sikora and even last year's runner-up, Fox Chapel assistant Jason Martin, who was given a sponsor's exemption into the elite field in 2007.

Fuhrer has four sponsors exemptions, but he said he might use two for local amateurs because there are so many good collegiate players who come from Western Pennsylvania.

"I never want to forget about the amateur players," Fuhrer said. "I can never do enough for them."

Gibsonia gem

There are various reasons public courses such as Pheasant Ridge have watched the number of weekly leagues jump from seven to 21 in one year.

Some of it has to do with nearby courses such as Buffalo Valley and Oakmont East not opening this season. Another is the construction on Route 28 that has made travel to other courses difficult.

But it also could be the country-club like conditions at Pheasant Ridge, an 18-hole course in Gibsonia that just seems to get better each year.

"I grew up playing on public courses," said course owner Eric Knapp. "And I never dreamed a public course could look this good."

It has been more than 10 years since Knapp, 47, bought a nine-hole course called Sandy Hill from Herb and Flo Eichler and revamped and expanded the layout into an 18-hole facility featuring North Carolina-style holes, demanding par 3s that average 196 yards and some of the best public-course greens in the area.

But Knapp didn't stop there. Despite being treated for recurring bouts of cancer for more than 2 1/2 years, he has continued to improve the layout and clean up problem areas on eight holes to make it easier to find wayward shots. In addition, he has a fleet of 60 new carts, installed cart paths on many of the holes, and added 100- 150- and 200-yard markers in the fairway.

"I think the course is reaching its full potential," Knapp said.

Dissa and data

• Furman women's golf coach Jen Hanna, a former LPGA Tour player, was the coach of the year in the Southern Conference. Hanna, whose parents are members at Treesdale, is instrumental in the Paul J. Wilhelm LPGA Pro-Am July 21 at Treesdale that benefits the Mars Home for Youth. Hanna is among 20 LPGA Tour players who will participate in the event.

• The Dave Pelz Scoring Game School will be June 10-14 at Birdsfoot Golf Club in Freeport. Each six-hour clinic includes a three-hour putting session and three-hour wedge session by instructors from the school. Fee is $375 per student. Call 512-263-7668 or visit www.pelzgolf.com.

• The Tri-State PGA section is accepting registration applications for the 2008 Tri-State Junior PGA Championship July 2 at Fox Run GC in Beaver Falls. Winners of the boys' and girls' division will qualify for the national Junior PGA Championship Aug. 13-16 at TPC River's Bend in Cincinnati. Applications are available at local PGA facilities or by calling 724-774-2224.

Trivia answer

Hal Sutton in 2001.