Category Archives: Top Golf Destinations

Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club – Island Course

Posted on by • Posted in Top Golf Destinations • Tagged , , • Leave a comment

Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Tampa may be known for the Copperhead Course, but what most golfers do not know is that Copperhead is not the only thing there is about this golf vacation destination. There is an equally challenging golf course in the resort that many critics and golfers contend to be even more beautiful than its more famous sibling course: The Island Course.

With a length of 7,310 yards, the Island Course is one of the longer courses in the Innisbrook Resort and features the same beautifully challenging features there is everywhere in the facility. Tight fairways, difficult water hazards, numerous bunkers, and elevation changes not common to Florida topography. What makes this course extra special is the variety in its layout that whilst other courses are characterized by nines, this course has three notable and distinct features. The opening 6 holes has the Lake Innisbrook and several lateral water hazards bordering, the middle 6 is on a rolling hill terrain and some overgrowth of pines and cypresses, while the last set of holes are some of the most picturesque in the state, with the 18th being among Florida’s most photographed hole.This course makes it to the Favorites not only for golf vacations but for important golf tournaments as well.

The Island Course has been the host of such prestigious competitions as US Open Qualifiers, NCAA Championships, and has been the first site of the LPGA Legends Tour Open Championships. Likewise, this course is a favorite recipient of countless recognitions including being one of Golf Digest’s Top 50 courses in America, and 14th in Travel and Leisure Golf’s Top 50 in Florida. This sure is something to discover on the next golf trip to the Innisbrook.

Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club – Copperhead Course

Posted on by • Posted in Top Golf Destinations • Tagged , , • Leave a comment

The Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club is one golf vacation destination that is not only big in size but on facilities as well. That much is known not only in Tampa area, but in all of the golfing nation as well. But there is one component of the resort that tops everything else off. The Copperhead Course is perhaps the most popular of the four championship courses on the resort. And no questions asked, its layout, scenery, and superstar player list will more than suffice a justification.

The Copperhead Course, being the host of the Transitions Championship of the PGA Tour fame, brings in golfing superstars year after year. This Larry Packard creation was made to be a daunting course, that even the world’s best golfers are fazed by its unconventionally dramatic elevation changes, and tight, tree-lined fairways. Not to mention, the surrounding lakes and ponds are not there merely for aesthetic purposes. They will make their presence felt in the game, and it is not going to be as tranquil as they look. Golfers who spend their golf vacations here are in for an unforgettable experience of stellar proportions.

Another thing that makes an appearance – rather frequently – on this golf trip haven is the wide variety of wildlife in the area. From fox squirrels to alligators to bald eagles to countless kinds of water fowls – they all make their presence known to the guests. The Copperhead Course is the perfect place for a round of golf closest to nature. There is no surprise in its being the No. 4 course in Travel and Leisure Golf’s list of Florida’s 50 Finest, and ranked among America’s Top Resort Courses by Golf Digest. A course of this caliber naturally deserves a superstar status.

Lake Jovita Golf Club – South Course

Posted on by • Posted in Top Golf Destinations • Tagged , , • Leave a comment

Visitors should expect something BIG from a masterpiece of two of the best names in the field of golf. Course designer Kurt Sandness is the President and principle owner of Sandness Design Group, an organization that is known for taking any size project from concept to successful completion. While Co-designer Tom Lehman, an award-winning golfer, has brought his experience of playing in countless golf courses to his design. The team up of these two talented course designers resulted to one of the finest golf vacation destinations in Florida, the Lake Jovita Golf Club – South Course.

Lake Jovita Golf Club – South Course is designed to create a golf course of professional quality tour. It is interwoven through valleys, lakes, ponds, hills, and lush vegetation that make it a premier golf destination. It has many strategically placed bunkers on most of its holes while water elements will test the patience as well as the skills of the players. Proper tactics and good course management skills are required to win over its tough holes. To take full advantage of the uniquely hilly terrain is also a key element to overcome the holes. A golf trip to this Sandness-Lehman-design course is indeed challenging but a rewarding feeling awaits them when they finish each hole.

Despite the difficulty and challenge, a golf vacation at Lake Jovita Golf Club – South Course also offers amusement to the guests through its amenities. Aside from its scenic environment, it also features a world-class practice facility and separate teaching tees for beginners. Visitors can stay at the owned three-bedroom, two-bath club villas that overlook the eighteenth green after a round of golf. May it be a professional golfer, or a beginner, the experience of playing in this course that is created by two of the biggest names in golf designing is one to remember.

Lake Jovita Golf and Country Club – North Course

Posted on by • Posted in Top Golf Destinations • Tagged , , • Leave a comment

The North Course of the Lake Jovita Golf and Country Club, along with its sibling South Course, slightly deviate from the norm in Florida golfing. While others are flatter, with only the slightest of elevation changes, this golf vacation destination in Dade, Florida, goes a little more contemporary with rather dramatic elevation and a lot of movement on the greens.

This Kurt Sandness creation opened in 2002 on 253 whooping acres of Florida goodness. Though the North Course of the Lake Jovita Golf and Country Club is a more contemporary design by Florida golf standards, this course still holds some of the best features that make Florida an ideal golf vacation spot. It has the signature wetlands and a good helping of lakes, ponds, valleys, hills, and native Florida vegetation that all contribute to the natural hazards of the course. They also accentuate the impeccably maintained golf facility.

All the goodness in layout and scenery of the North Course of the Lake Jovita Golf and Country Club is complemented by the world class amenities in the club. There’s the top-ranking Pro Shop (listed by Golf Business World as among America’s Top 100), the 15-acre putting green, and another practice facility made specifically for private lessons. That being said, maybe this golf course is not exactly being “deviant”. It simply upped the ante of Florida golf trips, with a layout so dynamic, and a surrounding facility that does not overshadow, but rather, highlight what already makes the Sunshine State the best, most ideal golf haven in America.

World Woods Golf Club – Rolling Oaks Course

Posted on by • Posted in Top Golf Destinations • Tagged , , • Leave a comment

Tom Fazio is known for his excellent layout designs. That much is true. Out of all his array of “excellent” designs, he singles one out as the “best”: the Rolling Oaks Course of the World Woods Golf Club and its sibling course, the Pine Barrens, in Brooksville, Florida. And he’s not alone in saying that. The Rolling Oaks, for example, is rather comparable to the legendary Augusta National. The golf vacation destination makes the most out of Fazio’s undeniable genius and Florida’s gift from nature.

The Rolling Oaks Course of the World Woods Golf Club is characterized by huge old oaks draped in Spanish moss. The course also features some stunning rolling fairways and undulating greens, accented by beautiful azalea bushes. Unlike its sibling course whose bunkers are rather wild and huge, the bunkers on this golf course are defined sharply with bleached white sand. The holes are pretty much forgiving, and are more accommodating to golfers of all skill levels, making golf vacations here a perfect retreat to just about anyone who loves the sport.

Proof that the Rolling Oaks Course of the World Woods Golf Club is as excellent as the designer says it is, three of the world’s largest golf publications have either picked this out among the rest, or have ranked it as among the best. Golf Digest, out of the more than a thousand courses in the Sunshine State, ranked it 24th best in design. Golf Magazine has it 53rd in its list of Top 100 You Can Play. And Golfweek ranked it 74th Best Course Built since 1960. But the best proof, undoubtedly, are the countless golf trips spent here season after season of people who want nothing but great golfing experience.

Emerald Greens Golf Resort – Meadows Course

Posted on by • Posted in Top Golf Destinations • Tagged , , • Leave a comment

The Emerald Greens in Tampa is one golf vacation destination for everybody. It has a scenic Tampa view, complete vacation facilities, and three distinct and equally beautiful nine-hole courses that could be played as 18-hole combinations, or a site for short lounging games on the greens. One of these nines is the versatile Meadows Course of the Emerald Greens Golf Resort.

Whether paired with the Cypress Course or the Pines Course, or as a short course, the Meadows Course of the Emerald Greens Golf Resort is a delight to play. It is arguably the most versatile of the nines – and the most forgiving too. Though its greens are shorter, the more open nine makes it an easier course to meander through for golfers of any skill level. It has all the goodness of Floridan golfing – from a good variety of bunkers to an abundance of water on most every hole, playing under the perfect sunshine in the Sunshine State. Golf trips here are defined by the golfers’ creativity in pairing the nines, and in tackling each unique obstacle they present.

The Meadows Course of the Emerald Greens Golf Resort, as well as the Cypress and the Pines Courses were all originally designed by Ed Ault back in the early 70’s but was renovated in 2004 by Dan Maples. The Emerald Greens may be the only golf resort in all of Tampa Bay, but it sure does give more than any golfer would expect. It makes up for what everyone needs in their golf vacations.

Atlantis Country Club

Posted on by • Posted in Top Golf Destinations • Tagged , , • Leave a comment

Whoever thinks that a shorter course is easier to conquer than a longer one obviously needs to expand his golf experience. There is much reason to believe he has not played the Atlantis Golf Club in Palm Beach, Florida yet. And there is much reason to believe that he needs to plan his next golf vacation here, so as to know just how lethal a short layout is as a long one. This is totally unlike anything else in the state. Or anywhere else in the golfing world, for that matter.

The Atlantis Golf Club, a Robert Simmons creation, measures just 6,610 yards from the back tees, and looks shorter than it actually is. With the old growth pines lining the fairways, it does look shorter than it actually is, but there is nothing so simple and easy about it. Unlike in most other Florida course, golfers here do not have to worry about endless greens and gigantic water hazards in this golf course; they only have to battle the quick and undulating greens and unpredictable fairways. And they are not necessarily easy. Golf vacations here require an extra set of patience and technique, as well as good judgment to know when the next shot are actually what they seem to be.

Its multiple tees, as well as its many other world class amenities including a fine dining restaurant, makes this golf course one for everybody. The Atlantis Country Club is a must-see, a must-try, and a must play course for that unique golf trip.

Madison Green Golf Club

Posted on by • Posted in Top Golf Destinations • Tagged , , • Leave a comment

A truly great golf course goes beyond having a legendary designer to its name or having merits and accolades from award-giving bodies, or being a preferred site for prestigious golf tournaments. The greatness of a golf course is mostly found in the ordinary, little golf vacations that it transforms into epic, truly memorable, truly happy ones. It is in the face of the simple golfer, made happy by a challenging and fun round of golf. But of course, the aforementioned merits do deserve credit. Such is one of Florida’s finest, The Madison Green Golf Club.

The golf vacation destination in West Palm Beach is characterized by more than a thousand palms, palmettos, and native vegetation that make the course both interesting and beautiful. The layout of the Madison Green Golf Club, which measures 7,051 yards from the longest tees and plays for a par of 72, also features unique sand traps and a whooping 42 acres of water hazards. If that is not challenging enough, let alone distinct to its character, then nothing would come close to being surprising AT ALL.

Its being an unexpected layout makes the Madison Green Golf Club a favored tournament site. It has seen itself as the home of the Florida State Championships, US Amateur Championship Qualifiers, and soon, the 2012 Florida Golf Association Men’s Senior Championship. It has also been awarded Best New Florida Public Course (Florida Golf Magazine, 2002), “Must Play” and one of the Top 20 Golf Courses in Florida (Golf LINKS Magazine, consistently), 4.9 out of 5 stars (Golf Digest). But more than all of that, this John Sanford creation is a favorite and well-known spot for the happiest golf trips – and that is what this place is all about: happy golfers.

PGA National – Squire Course

Posted on by • Posted in Top Golf Destinations • Tagged , , • Leave a comment

The PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach, Fl., is founded on the PGA of America’s standards on quality and excellence. It is reflected not only on their services and other amenities, but more importantly on how great the golf courses here are. It is not even a matter of size because even the shortest/smallest of the courses in this golf vacation destination, the PGA National – Squire Course could easily equal the grandeur of its bigger counterparts.

The PGA National – Squire Course is one of the Tom/George Fazio creations on the resort, and measures just over 6,400 yards from the longest tees. What it lacks in length, it makes up for in hazards and other elements for just the right amount of challenge to complement its unmatched scenery. It wouldn’t be called a “thinking man’s course” for nothing. The golf vacation favorite tests foremost of all a golfer’s accuracy and precision in his shots; the long hitters will surely catch themselves scratching their heads more than once on the several doglegs on the course.

And for every heartache and headache it causes the “thinking” golfer, it makes up for in beauty. The PGA National – Squire Course is one for the naturalist. The golf trip haven runs along parts of a natural wildlife reserve and has an abundance of natural vegetation. The course plays for a par of 72, and is named after the first ever Grand Slam winner, The Squire himself, Gene Sarazen. The PGA of America lives up to their dedication to superb golfing, from the biggest down to the minutest detail.

PGA National – Haig Course

Posted on by • Posted in Top Golf Destinations • Tagged , , • Leave a comment

The PGA National Resort and Spa was built on high hopes and high dreams, founded on the PGA of America’s high standards. Proof to this is the quality of its first course – the PGA National – Haig Course. Built in 1980 by Tom and George Fazio, and surrounded by several other high caliber golf courses, the Haig has remained to be amongst the finest in the resort and in the Palm Beach area. And with scenery all too unique to the Sunshine State, no room is left for questions and doubts as to why this is a favorite golf vacation destination.

Along with four other courses, the PGA National – Haig Course makes up the five courses of the PGA National Resort and Spa. It measures 6,806 yards from the longest tees, the third largest in the resort, and plays for a par of 72. The Fazio duo created the golf vacation haven to be playable and relaxing for all golfers, regardless of skill levels. And so the designers played on with the location of the water hazards. The result is a course that never requires a cross over water shot, giving the golfers more options for their shots.

Apart from that, the PGA National – Haig Course is also very versatile. Its 9th and 18th holes both lead to the clubhouse, giving the golfers an easy option for a full game or a shorter afternoon game before lounging at the clubhouse. This makes for golf trips that are fun at the most, relaxing the least, and perfect at its best. And all that are standing on the PGA of America’s standards on quality and excellence in the sport.