Golfest 2010 Tackles Florida

GolfestOnline.com was on the move again in late May, tackling Golfest 2010-Florida, in the continuing annual quest to pursue and play the Top 100 Public Golf Courses in the United States.

All of those killer glossy photos seen in our favorite golf publications came to life as Florida dished up all of its best attributes for our week long adventure. And yes, it was a blur, because it flew-by. So in the words that follow, here is an abbreviated rundown of the 145-holes that we squeezed into the fastest paced 168-hours in golf.

5/25 - Travel Day - DESTINATION ORLANDO
It's not often that people fly all the way across the country to Orlando, get within 1/2 mile of the front gates of Disney World, and never visit the place. But we didn't come here to visit the tourist trap. In fact, if Mickey has standing between us and the first tee of the Bay Hill Club, that big rat was going to get a severe beating with a seven-iron. Get out of our way - this is Golfest 2010 baby!

5/26 - Reunion Resort Golf Club - Legacy Course - Reunion, FL
The first round of the Golfest 2010 was set at the Reunion Resort and the Arnold Palmer's designed Legacy Course. This 18 of the 54-holes on the property, was built on a former citrus grove and opened in 2004. It was a great track that looks wide-open and includes 15 different varieties of native grasses, azaleas and camellias. This course has more hill, humps, and gullies than your average motocross course and some scorecards reflected that fact. That wasn't a bad thing, as much as it made things entertaining.

5/26 - The Bay Hill Club & Lodge - Orlando, FL
It was really cool playing on a course that hosted the popular (32nd annual) Bay Hill Invitational just two-months earlier. Arnold authorized a full-course remodel in 2009 that included changing out all the greens with Emerald Bermuda grass. They also tweaked the bunkers. They had aerated Bay Hill the week prior to our arrival, but it was in better shape than most local courses, that are in (alleged) pristine condition. Either way, it looks different in real life than from my sofa.

5/27 - World Woods Golf Club - PIne Barrens Course - Brooksville, FL
After checking out of Bay Hill, we headed Northwest 78 miles to a town called Brooksville, home of the World Woods Golf Club. Opened in 1993, the facility has two Tom Fazio designed courses; with Pine Barren's labeled as their crown jewel. It was voted the best new course in the United States when it opened and comes in at number 26 on the current Top 100 list in the U.S. If someone didn't tell you that you were in Florida, you might guess you were in Michigan or North Carolina. Pine trees, rolling hills, gullies, and lots of rugged looking waste bunkers accent a natural postcard setting. The greens are large, but extremely FAST-FAST-FAST! On top of that, they had subtle undulations that caused balls to ROLL-ROLL-ROLL!

5/28 - TPC Sawgrass - Stadium Course - Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
Sometimes our sport gets lost in the actual act of hitting a little white sphere around a glorified park. While that is good in one regard, the spirit of the game may get lost in the shuffle. Today, we not only experienced golf at its finest, but we also experienced the history and traditions that the sport really stands for. That happened at TPC Sawgrass, the home of the annual Players Championship.

The staff at TPC Sawgrass rolled out the red carpet for us in an incredible way. Whether it was an engraved bag tag or personal locker, setting us up with fully-engaged and informative forecaddies, to filming every shot on the 17th island green, to taking us on a private tour of the entire clubhouse ... TPC Sawgrass had us covered! No loose ends, nothing left to question ... just the ultimate golf experience on a perfectly manicured golf course. Call it what you want ... two thumbs up ... a perfect 10 ... or golf excellence!

As far as the Stadium Course goes, it was perfect in a way normally reserved for a facility like Augusta. Every plant and seemingly, every blade of grass was perfectly maintained. It's one of those things you appreciate when playing, but had a deeper appreciation when perusing the photographs afterwards. Nothing is out of place - anywhere! It's definitely a shot-makers course. If you don't hit your shots where they need to be, you will find yourself recreating every sand shot you've ever played, or dropping more balls than a lottery drawing. This is not an easy course.

5/29 - Cimarrone Golf Club - Jacksonville, FL
The Memorial Day weekend started with what can best be described as a "change of pace" day. It was a good change-up from the weekly series of events.

The Cimarrone Golf Club served up a decent challenge, featuring water hazards on 17 of the 18-holes. Or better put, only one hole didn't have water! However, a low-profile scramble took a lot of pressure off the "avoid the water" game. It was more about having fun, telling more bad jokes and hitting some PGA-quality shots every once in a while.

5/29 - World Golf Hall of Fame - St. Augustine, FL
About 10 minutes up the road from Cimarrone in St. Augustine is the World Golf of Fame and the World Golf Village. Here we enjoyed a great 2 1/2 hour tour of the WGHoF. Call it a walk through golf history, beginning when a balata ball was beat around a field with a stick in the early 1800's, to the high-tech equipment and players of today --- and just about everything in between. It's amazing how much technology has changed, especially in the past 20 years. How the heroes of the past were able to accomplish what they did with the gardening tools they were given is remarkable. I wouldn't use half the stuff for a walking stick, much less a golf club.

5/30 - Ocean Hammock Golf Club / Conservatory Course - Palm Coast, FL
The Conservatory Course should be regarded as a hidden gem in the Southeast. In fact, many of us with extensive Top 100 course experience felt it should be rated on a national level. This is one of those places where it looks like Tom Watson never needed a bulldozer to design it. It's a course form-fitted into the natural surroundings; one that was very pleasing to the eye and dished up more than its share of screen savers. They also have an "over the top" classy looking clubhouse that features an atrium in the center.

5/31 - Ocean Hammock Golf Club - Ocean Course - Palm Coast, FL
The sister venue of the Conservatory Course features five holes right on the Atlantic Ocean. We were treated with 18 scenic Jack Nicklaus golf holes that didn't beat us up too bad ... if you kept it in play. We played the resort friendly tees and just about everyone posted their best score of the week.

No matter how you break it down, Golfest 2010-Florida was a blur. But it was a simply awesome seven day, 168 hour, 145-hole, eight course, 600 photograph blur. If I was ever going to get blurred vision, I have come to the conclusion that this is the only way to do it.

Special thanks to Mike Fitzgerald of Golf Exclusives for arranging our trip. This was our 3rd year working with him.

For a complete run down of the trip, please visit us at www.GolfestOnline.com. If you are interested in joining us on future adventures, drop us a line at Top100@GolfestOnline.com