The Blue Monster is the most historically significant resort course in Florida and one of the most recognizable tournament venues in American golf. It’s hosted more PGA Tour events than any course in the state, it’s where Tiger Woods won four times, and in 2026 it returned to the Tour’s Signature Event schedule for the first time in a decade with the Cadillac Championship. The nickname isn’t marketing. The course earns it.
The History
Dick Wilson designed the Blue Monster in 1962 as the centerpiece of the original Doral Country Club. The resort took its name from founders Alfred and Doris Kaskel, a combination of Doris and Alfred, and the golf course Wilson built on the flat South Florida land immediately set the template for South Florida design: elevated greenpads above the fairways for drainage, lakes positioned throughout, deep bunkers, and Bermuda rough that punished every errant shot. The course hosted its first PGA Tour event in just its second year of operation in 1963, the beginning of a run that would stretch for over five decades.
The Doral Open ran on the Blue Monster from 1963 through 2006, then became the WGC-Cadillac Championship from 2007 through 2016, drawing the world’s best players to Miami every spring. Tiger Woods won here four times, in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2013. He and Phil Mickelson share the 72-hole course record at 19 under par. Twenty-four victories across the event’s history were claimed by World Golf Hall of Famers. Adam Scott was the last PGA Tour winner here before the tournament departed in 2016.
The Trump Organization purchased the resort out of bankruptcy in 2012 and undertook a $250 million renovation of the entire property. Architect Gil Hanse and his partner Jim Wagner were commissioned to restore the Blue Monster to its competitive best, adding new elevation changes across several holes, excavating new lakes at the par-3 15th and the drivable par-4 16th to sharpen the finish, and wisely leaving the legendary 18th nearly untouched. The renovation was completed in 2014. The course hosted LIV Golf events from 2022 through 2025, and returned to the PGA Tour in April 2026 as the Cadillac Championship, a full Signature Event with a $20 million purse, its 56th Tour event at the venue.
The Golf
The Blue Monster plays to 7,510 yards as a par 72 from the championship tees. The course is built on the classic South Florida model: fairways lined by water, bermuda rough that narrows effective landing zones, elevated greens that require aerial approach shots, and deep bunkers positioned to catch anything that misses the putting surface. Water comes into play throughout the round, and the trade winds that move across the flat terrain add a variable that no yardage book fully captures.
The 18th is the hole that defines the course, a long par-4 with water running the entire left side that has decided more tournaments than any other hole in Doral’s history. Hanse’s additions at 15 and 16 give the finishing stretch genuine bite before the final hole delivers its verdict.
Want to play the Blue Monster on your next Florida trip? Coastal Golfaway has been packaging stay-and-play golf vacations since 1986. Reach out and we’ll put it together.
