This could be it. The round of my life.

We’ve all been there. At some point in the round, having strung together a run of solid holes, we start to have visions of the glory that lay just a few more swings ahead. The reality is few things will bring a more rapid unraveling of a round than these famous last words, as I recently learned the hard way on the host course for The Players Championship, TPC Sawgrass’ Stadium course.

The Stadium Course and I have never really liked one another. In my three previous visits, I was defeated before setting foot on the first tee — a victim of the mystique that surrounds Pete Dye’s legendary venue. From driving past the headquarters to the PGA Tour, to the banners of past champions along the tree-lined entry, to the first glimpse of the $32 million Mediterranean revival clubhouse, the buildup to Sawgrass has always spelled doom for both my swing and the final box on the scorecard.

This time was different.

For the first 13 holes, I had somehow managed to navigate this cold and windy day on The Stadium to a mind-numbing 2-under par. As an 8-handicapper who hadn’t touched a club in over a month, this was the longest I had kept a round in red numbers by a country mile. But this wasn’t my local muni. This was TPC Sawgrass, Home of The Players. I mean, literally home to the players. Something had to give. And just then, it did.

On the 14th tee, that round-wrecking vision of glory cracked the dam I had erected in my mind for the first time, never to be undone. The leak started as a slow trickle of three relatively stupid bogeys, but when I reached the tee on the famed No. 17 — still on track for the score of my life — the flood gate came crashing open.

There are few more nerve-wracking tee shots in the game, and the island green is said to claim 125,000 victims every year. However, until now I had never contributed a Pro V1 to perhaps the most famous man-made hazard in golf. That all changed with two fanned 8-irons to the traditional Sunday pin location. To add insult to injury, my third attempt — this time from the drop zone — wound up in the rough next to the bunker and took three to get down.

Snowman.

I didn’t know whether to laugh, cry or throw my Eye 2’s into the lake. A world-class par on No. 18 salvaged a score in the 70s, a number that typically would have been a reason to cartwheel all the way to the clubhouse, yet it was impossible not to think of what might have been. I tweeted Sergio Garcia looking for some commiseration but to no avail.

No doubt about it, the island green has led to many shattered dreams, while also making them come true for the thousands who play it every year and manage to find dry land. In the end, my experience is exactly what makes The Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass so special. It’s the opportunity for the average weekend warrior to connect with both the glory and agony of the greats of the game. And for yours truly, it will always go down as 17 of the best holes of my life, and one that I might rather forget but certainly never will.