As many times as I've done blog posts about trips to Florida, this one was different. This was probably my last trip to central Florida for a very long time. My good friend who I have been staying with is moving on to bigger and better things in another part of the state, so I tried to make this trip about hitting courses in Orlando and Tampa that I haven't had a chance to play over the past twelve years I've been going down to visit him.
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| Streamsong Blue, 4th and 5th holes |
The trip began with a stop just south of Jacksonville to check out the newly opened Stillwater Golf & Country Club. The course was designed by Bobby Weed and is located in a new 55+ community. You can see the influence of Pete Dye in this design, as Weed spent many years working for the great Pete Dye. I was pleasantly surprised to find the course was very playable and not as hard as I had thought. Overall a very good design.
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| Stillwater Golf & Country Club, Par three 15th hole |
Day one of the trip continued at Mission Inn Resort in Howey-In-The-Hills. Mission Inn has two courses. I was here to play the Las Colinas course which was designed in the 1990's by Gary Koch. I played the much older El Campeon course a few years ago. The Las Colinas course was built through a development and has a very disjointed routing. I was happy I played it, but found it to be overly penal, especially for a resort course.
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| Mission Inn Resort(Las Colinas), Par five 5th hole |
Day two of the trip took place in the Clearwater area. First up was an early morning round at Cove Cay Golf Club. Cove packs a punch, despite being a 6000 yard, par 70 course. They have a collection of several good par threes, and the finishing stretch on the water is a great way to conclude a round.
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| Cove Cay Golf Club, Par five 17th hole |
We made a short drive to Largo for our next round on day two. East Bay Golf Club is a very busy municipal course with many holes running next to each other. Bring a hard hat if you are going to play this course.
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| East Bay Golf Club, Par five 18th hole |
The last course we visited on day two was the reason we were in the area. Belleair Country Club recently renovated their Donald Ross designed West course.
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| Belleair Country Club(West), Par three 4th hole |
Jason Straka did the renovation work, and I can't say enough about the job he did. He created a few new holes, restored some Ross holes, and transformed an average course to one of the best in Florida.
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| Belleair Country Club(West), Par three 7th hole. 7 is one of the new holes that was created in the renovation. |
The third day of the trip was the sentimental day as it began with one last sunrise round at Streamsong. The Blue course at Streamsong is one of my favorite courses in the world, so of course it would be the course we played for this last early morning round.
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| One last sunrise round at Streamsong Blue, 2nd Hole |
I have been visiting Streamsong for twelve years now. I saw it under construction and got to play it many times before any resorts guests did. I often joked that people ruined Streamsong for me because I got to experience it as one of the only people on the massive property.
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| Really going to miss mornings like this |
Over the years I got to play all three courses early in the morning as the sun came up before the resort guests teed off. For me, playing at sunrise is a magical experience, and being able to do it on great courses makes it that much better. I am really going to miss these early mornings at Streamsong.
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| 18th hole at Streamsong Blue, a great finishing hole |
After my emotional round at Streamsong, we headed to Tampa for a round at Avila Golf & Country Club. Avila was originally designed by Ron Garl. If you've played almost any golf in central Florida, you've played a Ron Garl course. He was the go to architect in Central Florida in the 80's and 90's. The course was renovated by Nicklaus Design a few years ago.
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| Avila Golf & Country Club, Par five 11th hole |
Day four was the day I referred to as the Orlando clean up day. There were three multi-course complexes where I needed to play one course to finish up all the courses at the complex. First up was Walt Disney World Golf Resort and the Joe Lee designed Palm course.
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| Disney Palm Course, Par three 3rd hole |
I headed north to the site of the largest golf range in the country, Orange County National Golf Center. I was here to play the Crooked Cat course, soon to be host of a LIV Golf Tournament in a couple months. Both of the courses at OCN were designed by Phil Ritson. I found the Crooked Cat course to be a little more playable than the Panther Lake course, which I played a few years ago.
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| Orange County National Golf Center(Crooked Cat), Par three 6th hole |
The last course I played on day four was the International course at ChampionsGate Golf Club, designed by Greg Norman. The National course was designed with a US Classic theme, while the International course has more of a Scottish Links feel. I was genuinely surprised how much I enjoyed the International course, as I am generally not a fan of Greg Norman designs, but the course works well with the constant wind and offers lots of shot options. The one mistake they made was grassing the fairways in zoysia, which is a sticky grass that doesn't allow for run out or bump and run shots. Something that should be absolutely essential if your designing a Scottish Links themed course.
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| ChampionsGate(International) Par three 5th hole |
On Day five I headed down to the Bradenton area. Up first was the The Preserve Golf Club at Tara. This course was designed by Ted McAnlis in the early 2000's and could really benefit from some tree removal. It's both a good and bad thing that courses in this condition can command greens fees north of $75. It's a good time to be a golf course owner in Florida right now! You don't have to put too much into the course and people will stay pay a premium price to play it.
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| The Preserve Golf Club, Par four 7th hole? Maybe? don't remember and don't care |
I had some time to kill before my next eighteen hole round so I headed to The Concession Golf Club to check out their new par three course, called The Gimmie. The course is a ton of fun and has a wonderful 80 yard Biarritz.
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| The Concession(Gimmie), Biarritz 4th hole |
They also have a wonderful Volcano hole and a eighteen hole putting course. It's a wonderful place to spend an hour or two and the members at Concession are lucky to have such a great place to have fun with friends.
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| The Concession(Gimmie), 1st hole |
The last course on day five was the reason for my visit to Bradenton. The Ritz Carlton Members Club was designed by Tom Fazio and is everything that you hope for in a design by him. Very pretty holes with forgiving greens. I particularly enjoyed the driveable par four 5th hole. A hole like this is something I rarely see from Fazio.
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| Ritz Carlton Members Club, Par four 17th hole |
On the last day of the trip I stopped in to St. Johns Golf Club south of Jacksonville to see the results of a recent renovation in a Seth Raynor theme. I was fortunate to be accompanied by the architect, Erik Larsen, which was a real treat for me. Getting to pick the brain of an architect is always a great thing for a golf junkie like me. The course has some wonderful Raynor template holes, like the Biarritz, Redan, and Punchbowl.
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| St. Johns Golf Club, Par five 4th hole |
Erik did the bunkers in a Raynor style all over the course. His original holes, like the driveable par four 5th hole, are some of the best on the course. I predict big things for the future of St. Johns. The decision to renovate in a Raynor style is a great idea when implemented with an understanding of what the style is about.
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| St. Johns Golf Club, Par three 17th hole |
That's a wrap on my last trip to central Florida for a few years. I'm sure I'll be returning to Streamsong at some point to play the new C&C designed Chain course, but I'll most likely be visiting south Florida consistently over the next few years.
FLAGS
SCORECARDS
