Tag Archives: golf vacation destination

The Grand Club – Cypress Course

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Planning ahead has always been a wise decision that, if executed well, offers big chances of success. One golf vacation destination in Jacksonville, Florida requires the players to plan critically before they strike their clubs. Playing The Grand Club – Cypress Course is not as easy as it seems. The course challenges them to think of ways to successfully shoot on each hole – strategy, shot placement, and club selection are paramount to get a low score. Its holes are tricky, with the numerous sand traps that guard them.

 This Gary Player-designed course is one of the state’s premier resorts. It was renovated in 2005 by Frank Henegan to maintain the original concept of Player. Having a golf trip in this 6,800-yard course will visually satisfy the visitors with its variety of scenic backdrops, dense woodlands, marshlands, sparkling lakes, and abundant of wild life. The Grand Club – Cypress Course offers playability for every guest with its favorable fairways, elevated greens, and testing par three’s. Its natural beauty, stunning layout, and other twists are among the many reasons why it is considered as one of the finest golf courses in Northeast Florida.

 The beauty of The Grand Club – Cypress Course does not only stop with its beautiful setting and challenging layout. Its courteous staff, world class service, paired with even more wonderful amenities – including its elegant clubhouse – make the course a top choice for golf vacations. Planning for one hereabouts is, undoubtedly, a wise decision that rewards a memorable golfing experience.

The Golf Club at Fleming Island

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Merging two contrasting things in one setting is hard to imagine. But when it is accomplished harmoniously, this only means one thing – it is a must-see. And one golf vacation destination in Florida has this feature. The Golf Club at Fleming Island has a contrasting back and front nine that will absolutely grab the attention of its guests. The front nine consists of wide fairways and strategically placed sand bunkers, creating a classic links feeling. While on the back nine, golfers will find themselves surrounded by native wetlands and densely tree-lined fairways, giving a more secluded atmosphere.

 The Golf Club at Fleming Islandis designed by Robert Weed. It opened in September 2000 and features 6,801 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 71. The course has a rating of 72.7 and a slope rating of 136 on Bermuda grass. A golf trip here will prove to challenge the visitors but with its five sets of elevated tee boxes, they can have an enjoyable round of golf regardless of skill levels. Before starting the game, the players can warm up at the practice facilities that have five practice greens, sand traps, and a driving range.

 The Golf Club at Fleming Island has been the site of US open qualifying and was also named the 5th best affordable course in America by Golf Digest. With its opposite nines and different tees, a golf vacation here will there won’t be a contrast in emotions as they will all be synonymous to one thing: FUN.

Eagle Landing Golf Club

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If there’s one word that best describes this golf club, it would be PERFECTION. A popular semi-private golf area in Jacksonville, Eagle Landing Golf Club has all the characteristics of an ideal golf vacation destination. It incorporates classic design elements and combines great conditioning, unforgettable challenge, and stunning beauty. Designer Clyde Johnston used the best of his skills to make this club technically and aesthetically complete.

 Johnston crafted this open links course that takes the guests on a visual parade through its conservation areas and natural wetlands, all the while providing a stern yet fair golf test. The rolling fairways, undulating greens, and classic bunkers of Eagle Landing Golf Club give more interest to the players especially to those who seek for a challenging golf trip. The six sets of tees makes it playable. However, it doesn’t mean it’s easy, as the course is an enjoyable challenge from any tee, whether close or far.

 Guests who want to learn more than the basics of the game can improve their knowledge and skills at the instruction facility that features a full acre of teeing area. Practice bunkers, target greens, and a lake are included in the practice area to help them tackle the hazards of the game. Eagle Landing Golf Club also boasts one of its finest clubhouses that is perfect for groups – it features a pro shop, restaurant, and sports bar. All the things that visitors look for in a golf vacation is all here – from its perfect layout, challengingly vintage holes, and its other features. These things only show why this golf club is synonymous to perfection.

Eagle Harbor Golf Club

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There is no surprise to an enjoyable and challenging golf vacation destination if Clyde Johnston is listed as its golf course architect. The expectations from this award-winning architect are always high – and he never fails to meet them. Eagle Harbor Golf Club is one of Johnston’s championship courses that offers formidable challenges, stunning views, and first class amenities making it one of Jacksonville’s finest layouts since its debut in 1993. The multiple tees, rolling fairways, multi-tiered greens, and various sand and grass bunkers add to the thrilling features of this one of a kind course.

 A golf trip to Eagle Harbor Golf Club requires golfers to give their best shots on each of its holes no matter what type of tee they choose. They will find themselves shooting around tight 60-foot high tree-lined fairways and over the strategically placed bunkers. The numerous lakes that come into play will be a big challenge for the low handicappers and will force them to use a variety of club strategies. But for the experienced players, this course is fun with its multiple tee boxes and well-manicured greens. So whether they’re new or expert in the sports, they will definitely experience a plethora of emotions ranging from exciting to fun to challenging and somewhere in between.

 The Johnston-designed course has been awarded four stars by Golf Digest Magazine’s “Places to Play” in the 2000-2001 edition. Eagle Harbor Golf Club has a course rating of 73.4 and has a slope rating of 141 on Bermuda grass. Open seven days a week , there is never a dull moment at golf vacations here.

Bent Creek Golf Course

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Bent Creek Golf Course in Jacksonville, Fl., has seen itself in significant growth in the past 20 years since it opened in 1989. From its name down to its many improvements over the years, this premier golf vacation destination has come of age to be worthy of truly representing the city of Jacksonville as its own golf course.

Golf legend Bobby Weed headed the design for Bent Creek Golf Course, with another legend, Mark McCumber as its consultant. The golf vacation haven is heavily mounded, a great way to add attitude to an otherwise flat North Florida terrain. The holes wind through an outgrowth of tall pines, creeks, ponds, and marsh, that make the course both visually stunning and challenging to golfers of all handicaps. The course has also maintained the course to be as close to nature as it possibly can, thus it earned them an Audubon Certificate. Back in the day, the course was known as The Golf Club of Jacksonville. Over the years, apart from changing the name, there have been many significant changes inside the course. Its size, its maintenance crew, among other things that made it even better.

Bent Creek Golf Course now measures 6,620 yards and plays for a par of 71. It is now home to one of Jacsonville’s premier golfing academies, the Bent Creek Golf Academy. As it sees itself in continuous growth, the golf course has also seen a growing number of patrons who have found their favorite golf trip destination this side of town.

 

 

TPC Sawgrass – The Dye Valley Course

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It may be too easily overshadowed by its more famous and fancier sibling course, but the TPC Valley Course at Sawgrass is well deserving of its own merits. This golf vacation destination has its own brand of excellence in golfing play that could only be best described as laidback in the Stadium Course’s standards. But this should not be at all taken lightly. It may be an easier, more relaxed counterpart of the other Sawgrass course, but it is still a Pete Dye handiwork. And not just Dye – Bobby Weed worked on it too, with the Jerry Pate as its player consultant. There is nothing mediocre in that combination of geniuses.

The TPC Valley Course measures some several hundred yards shorter than Stadium at 6,864 yards, playing for a par of 72. But its features are never short of fun and yes, challenging. The golf vacation favorite is characterized by water playing on each of its 18 holes, and deep bunkering, on top of impeccably manicured greens. Golfers would have to battle the many palmettos, pines, and palm trees dotted all over the course.

And while the Stadium Course hosts the famous THE PLAYERS Tournament, the TPC Valley Course has its own roster of championship tournaments in its name. It is the Home of the Nationwide Tour’s Winn Dixie Jacksonville Open, and has in the past played host to such memorable tournaments as the Seniir Players Championship, NFL Golf Classic, and the final stage of the Senior Qualifying School. It could also boast of its own merits, including being listed as the #9 Course in the State of Florida by Golfweek Magazine, on top of being a favorite golf trip destination by countless golfers who want to experience one of Pete Dye’s best creations.

Stadium Course of the TPC Sawgrass

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There is probably no other course in the world more famous and more recognizable than the Stadium Course of the TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. As the home of the annual PLAYERS Championship, millions of golf fans all over the world watch some of the best in the sport battle each other and try to overcome its many difficulties – including the notorious par 3, 132-yard 17th hole “Island Green”. This signature hole is so notorious it is named the signature hole of the sport itself; it is something no other golf vacation destination could offer.

It is not surprising why this course turned out as superb as it is. The original design (1979) and remodeling (2006) of the course were both handled by no less than Pete Dye. And Pete Dye, for all that he is, would never let any of his creations come short of amazing and extraordinary. The Stadium Course of the TPC Sawgrass winds through the natural wetland landscape of North Florida and features the most unbelievably challenging combination of snaking fairways, tall trees, water hazards, and 93 signature Pete Dye sand bunkers. Golf vacations here never fall short of championship quality, and players of all skill levels will find themselves bringing out their champion plays.

The Stadium Course of the TPC Sawgrass measures 7,215 yards from the longest tees and plays for a par of 72. Because of its excellence in layout quality, not to mention natural beauty, it is always ranked among the “Top 100 Courses in the World” year after year after year. This golf trip paradise is also the birthplace of the TPC Network and the backdrop to the PGA Tour Headquarters.

Amelia River Golf Club

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It was formerly known as the Royal Amelia before it changed its name into Amelia River Golf Club but none of its royal splendor had gone with the old name. The golf vacation destination has remained to be amongst the best and most beautiful ones in Florida’s Amelia Island, both in layout and conditioning.

This Tom Jackson creation is an 18-hole, par 72 spectacle that coasts along the Amelia River and the forest of live oaks, sabal palms, wax myrtles and pines encompassing it. In many of its holes, these trees make an appearance – and golfers must not expect it to be anything other than grand. True, they make the holes rather picturesque, but it goes without saying they make them difficult as well. Apart from the trees, the smooth and strategically placed bunkers also add challenge and beauty to the course. Add to that a good helping of Alligator Creeks that meander through the whole layout, golfers get a really unique course. The Amelia River Golf Club ends rather majestically, with the final hole edging the Amelia river and its tidal marsh, making golf vacations hereabouts more interesting.

The impeccable conditioning of the course’s TifEagle greens make the Amelia River Golf Club even more regal than it already is. With its promise of a challenging game through and through, made even more challenging by the constant blowing of the wind, it is a must for golfers to pack along an extra stash of ball control and accuracy skills along with their other golf trip essentials. Other than that, they are well on their way to a golfing experience of royal caliber.

Amelia National Golf and Country Club

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The excellence of a golf course designer is always reflected in the goodness of his creations. But in the case of the Amelia National Golf and Country Club in Ferandina Beach, Fl., the golf vacation destination did not only showcase the genius that is Tom Fazio. More than that, it highlighted the nature’s endowment of the Amelia Island area, where it abounds of tropical vegetation, and a unique natural topography that makes golfing here more interesting.

Tom Fazio and his team of experts from his design firm worked on the natural attributes of this part of Amelia Island, and added a good helping of smooth bunkers, swales and lakes to make the course both challenging and visually stunning. He closely followed the existing terrain, thus creating a course that seems to have come straight out of Mother Nature’s hands themselves exactly for those golf vacations made in heaven. The Amelia National Golf and Country Club opens with a par-4 hole guarded by a large lake, and ends with a dramatic 18th hole that is heavily guarded on both sides of the green, overlooked by the grand clubhouse.

The Amelia National Golf and Country Club was designed to be a Championship course, and it is by its own merit. But the course is forgiving and generous enough to make room for players of all skill levels; another proof of Fazio’s skill in golf architecture. The golf trip haven plays for a par of 72 and measures 7,166 yards from the back tees, and opened in 2006.

Ocean Links Course

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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.