The pandemic caused many organizations to dramatically rethink their office space, often leading to redesigns intended to persuade people to come back to work in person.

No such redesign was necessary for the PGA Tour. Even though its new headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, was designed before the pandemic hit in March 2020, the structure seems custom-made for the post-pandemic model of office space.

The 187,000-square-foot building is surrounded by wetlands and sits on a platform over a lake, making the structure appear as if it is floating on water. Two design elements recall the verandas of antebellum Southern homes: wide porches topped with an overhanging roof and white columns supporting the roof.

Wraparound windows fill the interior with natural light. Balconies invite employees to step outside for conversations yet still offer protection from direct sunlight.

When the PGA Tour headquarters opened in 2021, much of the corporate world was struggling to retrofit offices for the new normal and make them more appealing. In one such effort, the owner of Chicago's Aon Center spent $6.5 million to add fire pits to its outdoor plaza.

The PGA Tour clearly didn’t need to rethink any of its plans, said David Rifkind, director of the University of Florida School of Architecture.

“A building like this seems like it would be a real delight to work in,” said Rifkind, who wasn’t involved with the design. “It seems to engender a sense of well-being, and there’s a real effort to create spaces outside.”

PGA Tour employees may need some of the tranquility that their new office building offers, considering the massive changes sweeping through professional golf.

Earlier this year, a rival pro tour for male golfers called LIV Golf held its first tournament in England. Backed by billions of dollars from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, LIV has persuaded many star players to join its tour while some critics have said that taking part in the tour isn't appropriate, citing the Saudi government's regular abuse of human rights.

Major championship winners such as Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson joined LIV, lured by the promise of higher prize payouts and easier schedules compared to the PGA Tour. Mickelson is also a plaintiff in an antitrust lawsuit filed Aug. 3 against the PGA Tour in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The PGA Tour has denied the antitrust accusations.

The PGA Tour hasn’t taken any of this lying down. Its commissioner, Jay Monahan, said any player who joins LIV will be banned for life from the PGA Tour. On Aug. 24, the PGA Tour increased the size of its prize checks.

Meanwhile, the PGA Tour’s schedule of events continues. Its flagship event, the Tour Championship in Atlanta, took place last weekend with an $18 million bounty for winner Rory McIlroy.

The PGA Tour is a separate organization from the PGA of America, which opened its own new headquarters this month in Frisco, Texas. The PGA Tour, founded in 1929, runs competitive golf tournaments for pro players. The PGA of America, founded in 1916, is an organization for individual golf professionals that stages some of its own tournaments, such as the yearly PGA Championship. Both are nonprofit organizations.

The PGA Tour has grown into a global sports league, and the size and job responsibilities of its workforce reflects that fact, said Kirsten Sabia, a spokeswoman for the company. A staff of 800 employees work at PGA Tour’s new headquarters around the clock handling things including managing television broadcasts in North America, Europe and Asia.

“Yes, we’re a sports league, but we’re also an entertainment business,” Sabia said. “We have fans around the world.”

Before the new Ponte Vedra building opened, PGA Tour headquarters staff were spread out among 17 different buildings in the Jacksonville suburb.

Architecture firm Foster + Partners of London surveyed PGA Tour employees in 2016 about what they wanted in a new office and what they deemed as most important.

“There were two main points” that employees identified, Sabia said. “They wanted a sense of community and they wanted everyone to be together in a single building instead of being spread out.”

In the new building, “I walk through it every day and see people who I don’t know who they are,” Sabia said. “That’s because before they were in a building a mile away from me.”

The organization has an unofficial policy on remote work, allowing employees to work from home if needed but encouraging them to come to the office. PGA Tour leaders also wanted the new building to stress the connection between golf and the outdoors, a tenet that led to the huge amount of outdoor space at the new building.

“We probably had only four picnic tables previously” at Sabia’s former building. “Now people are eating outside on a regular basis,” she said.

Visitors are immediately presented with the large outdoor space. A porte-cochère occupies the central outdoor area, separating the building's two halves. The overhanging roof and large windows are expected to help the PGA Tour save on energy costs.

“That canopy shades the windows and keeps direct sunlight out of the offices,” said University of Florida professor Rifkind.

And if PGA Tour employees start to get the urge to hit some balls, there are a few opportunities at their disposal. The building has a full-swing golf simulator, though there are no practice putting greens on-site as there are at PGA of America's new headquarters in Texas.

Then there's the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass, a hole that is one of golf's most recognizable and difficult holes where the green is mostly surrounded by water. The 17th tee box is located just a few steps from the headquarters, and all employees are club members. The course, in fact, is visible from some of the building’s balconies.

Jamie Kennedy, senior director of championship management marketing at the PGA Tour, said it can be a little too tempting sometimes.

"Being so close to the golf course and having the possibility of playing a few holes after work makes it a pretty cool 'office,'" Kennedy said.

CoStar photographers capture images every day of distinctive buildings, each with its own story. Snapshots is an occasional feature showcasing one of them.