Things aren’t always what they seem to be. Yardage numbers say the Ocean Links Course of the Amelia Island Plantation is short. First look at the golf vacation destination says it’s easy. Actually playing it says otherwise. This prized jewel in Florida’s Amelia Island does not know anything that closely resembles plain and mediocre, be it in beauty, fun or challenge.
Designed by Robert Weed and opened in 1975, The Ocean Links Course is an 18-hole, par-72 spectacle that features sweeping vistas of the surrounding Atlantic Ocean, a good 6 meters of natural sand dunes and seaside terrain, and holes that wind through natural marsh wetlands and lagoons. The golf vacation haven measures just 6,108 yards from the longest tees but the narrow fairways and the small greens make it seem longer and relatively more challenging. On top of it all, 5 of its holes (4th, 5th, 6th, 15th, 16th) play on the oceanfront, thus perfectly combining beauty with challenge. The course ends with a bang – a par-3 18th that is directly on the Red Maple Lake. The seemingly short course ends up leaving golfers short of breath but definitely satisfied.
The Ocean Links Course is laden with oaks, pines, and palmettos, thereby perfectly complementing the natural splendor of Florida’s Amelia Island. This golf trip paradise has earned a good number of loyal patrons, and it wouldn’t be surprising if most of them are women since this has been among Golf for Women Magazine’s list of the “50 Best Courses for Women”. To say that it’s excellent is saying the least. There is definitely more to this course than meets a golfer’s eye, or 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 
The Golf Club at North Hampton
When designer Clyde Johnston was given the piece of land between St Augustine and Jacksonville, Florida, he was given an empty, clean piece of canvass. It would have worked too easily if he were a painter. The thing is, he’s a golf course architect and a little bump on the terrain every here and there would have been helpful; an outright flat and plain piece of Florida lot seemed more a liability. But his genius was tested, and he has successfully turned the handicap into a full asset. And the result is a premier 
Sitting next to tons of other golf courses in the area, the 
An 18-hole par-72 layout, the 
Many golf courses employ risk-reward systems in their layout. It makes for some of the most remembered and most talked-about course designs. The more competitive golfers who are looking for the engaging and the challenging in their 
More often than not, an artist’s creation are reflections of his thoughts, emotions, and experiences. They are likewise an indicator of the creator’s level of expertise. This same philosophy holds true in golf course design. One perfect example is Tom Watson’s 
Two is better than one. Cliché. Two working as one. Romance. Two opposites working as one. Extraordinary. And this is exactly what the 
representing the Hall of Famers, and who else could better carry out a course worthy of a world Hall of Fame but Nicklaus and Palmer no less. It measures more than 7,200 yards from the back tees, playing for a par of 72, featuring bunkers, water hazards, and hole placement that are neither Palmer nor Nicklaus, but both. The natural beauty of the area perfectly compliment the handiwork of the geniuses; the front nine is laden with loblolly pines and open meadows while the back nine is backdropped by a good helping of 200-year old oaks. These features of the 
Numbers are never a guarantee of full satisfaction. Not size, not quantity. It’s always a matter of quality. A golf resort may have at least a hundred courses in it but that does not come with a full guarantee of golfing paradise. Not if none of the ten courses are of championship caliber. Many other 
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 
GolfTrip.com - Golf Tips, Vacations, Packages, Destinations and more! 