Florida Trip 2024

Depending on how you feel about my annual Florida trip profiles, you may or may not be happy to learn that this will likely be my last Florida trip write up for a very long time.  The reason being that we are moving to Florida in October, and I will likely not be doing lengthy trips within my home state.  This trip served as a scouting trip for potential places to live, as well as the usual task of playing lots of golf.  

The Backyard Course at McArthur. My favorite course played on the trip

One thing I found kind of funny is that looking at apartments without your wife is basically a complete waste of time.  I looked at five apartment complexes and twice as many available apartments.  My reaction to every one was "looks nice, I could live here."  I called my wife and told her that she would just have to come down with me in the summer because she has more definitive opinions about our place of residence than I do!

The Park West Palm.  The biggest surprise of the trip

The trip began with a visit to a couple of courses on the drive down to South Florida.  Oceans Golf Club in Daytona Beach Shores was my first destination.  This par three course has thirteen holes, and basically wraps around some large condo buildings.  The holes were fun, and it was a good, low stress way to begin my trip.

Oceans Golf Club, Par three 3rd hole

My next destination on day one was Melbourne and Duran Golf Club.  I started off with the nine hole par three course at Duran named Chipper's Walk, after the designer of both courses, Chip Powell.

Duran Golf Club(Chipper's Walk), Par three 6th hole

I next tackled the championship course at Duran.  The links style course was a stern test from the back tees, and the mirror image finishing holes of each nine on a large lake were very interesting.

Duran Golf Club(Championship), Par five 9th hole

Day two of the trip was the big day.  I played two brand new courses by very famous designers.  The day began at the newly opened Panther National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, designed by Jack Nicklaus and Justin Thomas.  You can see the influence of a current tour player in the design, as it is very different from the standard Nicklaus product.  They took great care to route the par 3's and 5's at the 4 points of the compass.  Something I really appreciated, as the par 5's were particularly strong, and I got to play them in a variety of wind directions.

Panther National Golf Club, Par three 13th hole

The second course on day two was the highlight of the trip, and a real treat for me because it was designed my favorite modern designers, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw.  I headed to Hobe Sound to experience the amazing Backyard course at McArthur Golf Club.  

McArthur Golf Club(Backyard), Par three 14th hole

The original course at McArthur, now called The Front yard, was designed by Tom Fazio, and opened twenty years ago.  The owners hired C&C to give them something different from the first course and were very patient, allowing the course to sit for almost an entire year fully grown in so that members and guests could experience great playing conditions from day one.  The results are spectacular, and the course at opening is already one of the best in Florida.

McArthur Golf Club(Backyard) Par three 16th hole

Day three of the trip took place in the Naples area.  About a three hour drive from my future home of Jupiter/Stuart.  First on the agenda was an executive course called Lakewood Country Club of Naples.  Executive courses are very important in Florida, as evidenced by the three people I was paired with.  None of them could reach a 120 yard par three in one shot, but because of the nature of the course, they were still able to hit a nice variety of shots and not be beaten up trying to play a regulation course with longer distances and carries.

Lakewood Country Club of Naples, Par four 9th hole

I headed quite literally next door for my next two rounds on day three.  The Glades Golf & Country Club has two courses.  The Palmetto, is shorter with more par threes, while the Pines is closer to regulation length and a par 70.  First I played the mostly par three Palmetto course.

The Glades Golf & Country Club(Palmetto) Par three's 12th hole(foreground) and 11th hole(background)

The Pines course, at 5400 yards and a par 70, was a surprisingly humble test for somebody who thinks they are a good wedge player!

The Glades Golf & Country Club(Pines), Par four 18th hole

The last course I played on day three was the reason I came to Naples.  Hideout Golf Club was designed by Philadelphia based architect Kelly Blake Moran, and opened in 2000.  The course plays more links style on the first twelve holes before it crosses the road into the pine trees and plays more like a course in Pinehurst for the last six holes.

Hideout Golf Club, Par three 10th hole

Day four began with the biggest surprise of the trip, The Park West Palm course, completely renovated by Gil Hanse and re-opening just last year.  While I always enjoy Gil's courses, I wouldn't say I'm a great admirer of his work.  With that being said, I was blown away by The Park.  With a mostly dead flat site, he gave the holes a ton of width and used the little elevation change he had to maximum affect.  The back nine in particular is very strong and I'm happy to report I birdied the last four holes, something I haven't done in a very long time!

The Park West Palm, Par three 11th hole

I had some time to kill, so a quick journey around the walking only Lit 9 at The Park was a must.  Also designed by Gil Hanse, the Lit 9 features a very unique 40 yard putt for it's 9th hole.  I loved it and thought it was a very creative way to get nine holes into a pretty small site.

The Park West Palm(Lit 9), par three 9th hole with a 40 yard putt to finish the round

I drove back to the Palm Beach Gardens area for my next round on day four.  I have played four of the six courses at PGA National Golf Club.  The Estates course, designed in the 90's by Karl Litten, would be my fifth.  The Estates is located a few miles down the road from the main clubhouse at PGA National where the other five courses are located.

PGA National(Estates), Par three 3rd hole

The final course I played on day four was my 266th Donald Ross course.  At the request of the course, I will not post a picture of it or mention it on here.  I will say that I was very surprised by the amount of elevation change.  Ross continues to be the master of routing a course even on a small property to get the most out of the available topography.

I headed North from Stuart for day five of the trip.  First up was Island Pines Golf Course in Fort Pierce.  I was very excited to get the first tee time of the day at Island Pines at 7:03.  Of course, I failed to realize that with the clocks turning five days previous, it was not light out at 7:03!  However, the nice people at Island Pines allowed me to wait a few minutes so that I could see where I was going.

Island Pines Golf Course, Par three 12th hole

The reason for my journey north was next up on day five.  The Windsor Club in Vero Beach was designed by Robert Trent Jones II and features his trademark large and flashy bunkers.

The Windsor Club, Par four 5th hole

The last course I played on day five was also quite a surprise.  The Cape Club of Palm City is on its third name, formerly called Cobblestone Country Club and The Fox Club.  It was designed by Roy Case and opened in 1989.  It is located very close to interstate 95 and is about a three mile drive in from the entrance near the I-95 interchange.  The course is laid out in two loops with the front nine looping around the South part of the property and the back nine mostly on the north side.  Even though this is a housing development course, there was clearly a conscious decision to make sure the houses didn't intrude on the design and the golf course is better for it.

The Cape Club of Palm City, Par five 12th hole

On the last day of the trip I broke up the drive home with a stop in the Amelia Island area.  First up was the Fernandina Beach golf course.  This municipal course is over a hundred years old and credits Tommy Bird Song as the designer.

Fernandina Beach Golf Club, Par four 1st hole

The last round of the trip was a lovely walk around the brand new Little Sandy par three course at Amelia Island Resort.  The Oak Marsh course is currently closed for a major renovation so the staff was nice enough to let me play this wonderful course designed by Beau Welling.  The holes wrap around a large lake and are a ton of fun to play.

Amelia Island Resort(Little Sandy), Par threes 3rd(foreground), and 4th(background)

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