Category Archives: Top Golf Destinations

The Palencia Club

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Excellence in a golf vacation destination is measured not only by its supremacy in layout but in the supporting amenities as well. It is one that delivers everything a golfer needs in his vacation, and delivers it on a silver platter. One perfect example for excellence in a golfing facility is the exclusive and elite club that is said to be the best in St. Augustine, Florida: The Palencia Club.

Its most treasured and most popular feature, not that any of its other features are anything less than stellar, is the 18-hole par 72 Arthur Hills-designed championship golf course. Hills designed for the course to mesh perfectly with nature it’s almost as if all he did was place holes around a natural paradise. The course is well adorned with centuries-old maritime oaks among other natural Florida vegetation, and golfers would have to share their golf vacations with the abundant natural wildlife. The Palencia Club golf course winds along the Intracoastal Waterway and the Tolomato River. These facts all combine to give Hills’ design an extra edge in natural hazards and a uniquely challenging topography.

Outstanding as it already is with the course alone, the developers of The Palencia Club did not stop there. The golf trip haven comes complete with a superb teaching facility and a stunning four-story clubhouse that goes all the way out into the greens. It goes without saying that the whole club is pristinely and meticulously maintained. There is nothing at all surprising about why this golf club is named among the best not only in St Augustine but in the entire Florida as well.

Golf Club at South Hampton

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Mark McCumber is a celebrated golfer at the PGA Tour. Mark McCumber is a more celebrated golf course designer at the Golf Club at South Hampton in St Augustine, Florida. And he is rightfully so. The golf vacation destination that he designed is one of the best, most unique in this side of the Sunshine State because of McCumber’s distinct take on the usual elements of a Florida golf course.

Perhaps the best feature of McCumber’s design is not in the hole placement, the beautifully done landscaping, the natural Florida woodland scenery, or the even more stunning water hazards, natural and otherwise. Although these factors are, without a doubt, excellent on their own and greatly contribute to the overall beauty of the course. The most noteworthy part of the golf vacation favorite is in the bunkers. The white, soft sugar sand bunkers at the Golf Club at South Hampton were not just strategically placed, but are contoured and are made to fit the shape and style of the holes. And they come in numbers, having a total of 60. By far these are the best bunkering that has come to the Florida golfing scene.

The 18-hole, par-72 layout of the Golf Club at South Hampton wind through 17 stunning and large lakes and natural Florida woodlands. McCumber designed the holes to test every golfer’s shotmaking skills and their better judgment on which club to use at a most appropriate hole. The course measures 6,952 yards from the back tees, and has several sets of tees to make golf trips hereabouts as enjoyable as it possibly can to as many golfers as possible. Mark McCumber has clearly given guests a reason to celebrate the sport at this creation.

The Golf Club at North Hampton

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Nobody should ever expect anything ordinary from a true genius. Whatever comes out of their minds are always with a touch of being extraordinary, and it does not mind being so – whether spectators like it or not. Proof to this fact is The Golf Club at North Hampton in Northeastern Florida. This golf vacation destination attests to the sheer genius of Arnold Palmer – his attention to detail, his reverence to challenge, and his utter love for the sport that made him a legend.

The Golf Club at North Hampton is Palmer’s own brand of poetry, cemented on Jacksonville terrain. It is laden with man-made sand dunes, bridges, coquina and sand bunkers backdropped by beautiful Florida woodlands. The elevation changes tend to be a little dramatic, and the wild grasses are a most perfect distraction. They are put together rather too well under Palmer’s hands that the ten year old golf trip favorite is a wonderful concoction of beauty, challenge, and perhaps, some madness – from the frustrated golfers who can’t score low. This piece of Arnold Palmer’s mind is nothing but ordinary.

Even the brand of service that this course offers does not come close to mediocrity. They give “customers come first” their own take, and it requires a real golf vacation to experience that. The Golf Club at North Hampton is all 18-holes of exciting, challenging, fun golf course that stretches to 7,171 yards playing for a par of 72. The 5 sets of tees allows for more golfers to enjoy its unique offering. It is perhaps safe to say that guests should expect nothing but the unexpected from this Florida golf gem.

Cimmarone Golf Club

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Jacksonville, Florida may be more popularly known to be the home of the World Golf Village, but there is certainly more to the place where golf is concerned. And why not, Jacksonville has a very interesting natural terrain, beach spots, and the perfect weather to make it the ideal golf vacation destination. True blue golfing fanatics know by heart that some ten minutes or so from the famed Hall of Famer resort, there is an equally stunning golf course: the Cimmarone Golf Club.

An 18-hole par-72 layout, the Cimmarone Golf Club enjoys as much fame with the championship courses of the WGV in South Florida golfing scene because of the unique challenge it offers. David Postlethwait designed the course that stretches to 6,891 yards from the championship tees, and features rolling fairways and undulating greens. Like most So. Florida courses, it is backdropped by the many beautiful natural scenery and natural wildlife inhabiting the area. However, what sets this golf vacation favorite apart from its neighbors is the fact that each of its 18-holes has a water/marsh feature. Yes, EACH OF ITS EIGHTEEN HOLES. Pristine, yes. Challenging, an even bigger yes. And it does not stop there. The bunkers dotted all over the course do not make it any easier either.

With its five sets of tees and challenging layout, it does not come as surprising the Cimmarone Golf Club is flocked by golf trip enthusiasts. It is home to some of the best golf offerings in Jacksonville. The course might just as well be part of an entire county of Hall of Fame-worthy golf courses!

Ocean Course of the Hammock Beach

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Good opening. Good middle. Good ending. There is nothing about this golf vacation destination that could not be listed as “good”. That should not be surprising though, the Ocean Course of the Hammock Beach is a creation of no less than the living legend, Jack Nicklaus himself. His creation is in contention for being Florida’s best with its sibling course, The Conservatory, a Tom Watson creation. But there is actually no contest. The Conservatory is inland, this one is oceanfront. The first oceanfront course in Florida in the last seven decades.

Six of its holes are directly playing on the Atlantic Ocean, and the rest are winding through the natural wetlands and lakes on site. The most notable feature of the Ocean Course of the Hammock Beach, as if anything else here could easily be ignored, are the final four holes collectively called “The Bear Claw”.These holes are edging the coastline, and have been designed to close any golfer’s game rather unforgettably. And there’s no such thing as “easy” in this course’s definition of unforgettable. Guests should expect no less than the same for their golf trips.

With 7,201 yards of golf from the longest tees, and multiple tee options, there is no reason for any golfer to forget their golf vacation at the Ocean Course of the Hammock Beach. And since its opening in 2000, it has not stopped earning rave reviews from pros and amateurs alike, and has rightfully been ranked as amongst America’s top 100 courses. There’s too much goodness here, it might as well be called the ‘best’.

Slammer and Squire Golf Course

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The World Golf Village in Jacksonville, Fl. is one of the most – if not the most – prestigious golf vacation destinations in North America not only in concept, but in everything. It is home to the World Golf Hall of Fame, and a 36-hole golfing facility bearing the names of no less than certified Hall of Famers. One of its two championship courses, the Slammer and Squire Golf Course was designed by Bobby Weed with Hall of Famers Sam “the Slammer” Snead and Gene “the Squire” Sarazen as consultants after whom the course was named.

The Slammer and Squire Golf Course debuted in May of 1998 and features generous fairways, contoured greens, some heart-wrenching water hazards and the most impressive views of the Golf Hall of Fame, backed by a most golf-perfect weather courtesy of Florida’s climate. The front nine of this 18-hole championship spectacle features a more treelined fairway, while the back nine is water-defined. The golf vacation favorite plays 6,939 yards from the longest tees, for a par of 72.

To say that the Slammer and Squire Golf Course is superb is saying the least. It is a hotspot not only for golf trips but for some of the biggest golfing events in Florida as well, including the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (A Senior PGA Tour Event) and the Handa Cup. Well put together, this course and its sibling course, the King and Bear (a Palmer/Nicklaus creation), and everything else on site spell PRESTIGE like a perfect golf swing for the World Golf Village.

Bonaventure Country Club – West Course

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Size is not all that matters. Shorter does not necessarily mean less exciting or less playable – and that is talking about golf courses. Proof to that is the West Course of the Bonaventure Country Club in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The golf vacation destination may come up shorter than its sister course, the East course, in length, but never shorter on the quality of play. It has as much challenge as there are in longer, bigger courses.

The West Course of the Bonaventure Country Club measures 6,128 yards from the back tees, a good thousand yards shorter than the East’s 7,158 yards, but the par-70 West Course is not an inch short of fun. Its wide fairways and undulating greens, and shorter yardage, may trick golfers into thinking it is gonna be easy. But the hole design will prove them otherwise. The deceiving numbers and easy-looking hole placement will test both the golfer’s choice of club, and his patience. It is a golf vacation made not for the faint of heart.

Although that being said, let it not be known that the West Course of the Bonaventure Country Club is a sadist of sorts. The lush tropical vegetation and the abundant wildlife in the course will soften any toughie on the course. It could be the course’s way of making up for the heartbreak on the scorecards. The 18-hole Mark Mahannah design that debuted in 1975 does not need to live up to the reputation of its sister course. This is not a place for short golf trips, but for rounds and rounds of golf.

Grand Palms Golf and Spa Resort

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Florida is known to be an American tropical paradise. Thoughts of vacations in the Sunshine State are made of a thousand palm trees, the best sunshine, and the most abundant outgrowth of tropical vegetation. These are also some of the qualities that make Florida golf vacations extra beautiful and unique. While some golf resorts promise the most exquisite, most complete golf paradise, others stop there – with the promise. Fortunately, though, there are those that actually deliver an unforgettable, uniquely Florida tropical golf escapade; and such is the Grand Palms Golf and Spa Resort.

Seated in a lush, 500-acre tropical haven in Pembroke Pines, the Grand Palms Golf and Spa Resort is a world-class vacation destination made of facilities and services fit for royalty. Even more so than anyone else, the golf vacation destination is a wonderland for golfers who want nothing more for their Florida getaway than the best golf they can have. The resort offers three nine-hole courses, Grand, Royal, and Sabal nines – all three allowing the golfers to mix and match the nines for a unique game everytime. Golfers, skill levels regardless, would definitely find something amusing, challenging, playable and beautiful about this 27-hole paradise, and they could only wish they have forever to do it over and over.

This fun-challenge play of the Grand Palms Golf and Spa Resort are complemented by its many other features, including more than a thousand palm trees, stunning water hazards, the best grass carpeting on the greens, excellent conditioning and maintenance and an even better practice facility. Vacationers on the lookout for the most authentic Florida golf trips will find exactly what they are looking for here.

Hillcrest Golf Club

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If there is one word that could possible surpass the grandeur of the word “classic” to describe a golf course, that word would perhaps be perfectly designated to Hillcrest Golf Club. The famed golf vacation destination situated between Fort Lauderdale and Miami in the Sunshine State was once a classic that’s been given a face lift. And the result does not come short of superb, it may as well be called a “classic-er”, better than classic, at that.

The Hillcrest Golf Club is a timeless piece first opened in the 1960’s, an exquisite Von Hagge/Devlin design that has been among the best courses of South Florida. To keep it up to date, the management hired the services of the renowned designer, Joe Lee, in 2001 for remodeling. Joe Lee, being a true artist and a genius at that, managed to maintain the course’s classic beauty whilst adding his own touch to it, thereby escalating the already high standards of the course. Lee added more than a hundred bunkers, new water features, and improved the tee boxes to the course laden with a variety of mature trees. The result is a golf vacation paradise for any golfer.

And that is any golfer, considering the Hillcrest Golf Club has four sets of tees playing up t 7,076 yards from the longest tees. It’s a golf course that could entice and challenge a pro, but keep the novice golfer amused; impress the traditional golfers and fascinate the new-age non-conservative ones. And all that are the makings of a true classic; after all that has been said, it must be safe to say of this golf trip favorite that it is a classic on its way to becoming a bigger, better classic.

Jacaranda Golf Club – West Course

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It takes a lot of guts for a developer to decide putting a classic course on a full-blown renovation. And it builds too much pressure on the hands of the architect who will handle the job. It requires heart than talent to put his own mark in someone else’s masterpiece. Bobby Weed carried this exact burden when he was given the task of giving Mark Mahannah’s original design in Jacaranda Golf Club – West Course a full make over. Fortunately, or rather as expected, the renewed design brought out the best in the golf vacation destination without overwhelming its original charm.

The new Jacaranda Golf Club – West Course bears the same shotmaker’s challenge that it was known for, only with more edge to it. The addition of more lagoons and strategic placement of the sand traps make the course even more exciting. The hole placement requires golfers the accuracy of a sharpshooter paired with the patience of a private investigator – as each hole needs discovering, from the deceptive greens. This feature of the course makes it a favorite choice for challenge-seeking, competitive golfers for their golf vacations. It touches on both the physical and mental strength and skills of golfers.

Bobby Weed undoubtedly did well on his version of the Jacaranda Golf Club – West Course. Even the East course in the club looks supreme after his renovation project. There is not a reason to doubt, too, when South Florida golfers would name this as among their favorite local golf trip haven. Weed has proven he has the right amount of guts to go with his talent to be able to take the known course to its next level of best.