It`s Florida, but not as you might expect

Across The Pond
Across The Pond
A visit to Streamsong is well worth going
the extra mile
“As you travel west, the
neon signs and rollercoaster rides eventually
give way to a more
sedate and homely
welcome”
It’s Florida,
but not as
you might
expect
By Mark Alexander
Forget oranges, dolphins and Disney; Florida is a sporting state where nearly
1,400 courses vie for your golfing attention. This is a place where 89.3 million
visitors flock to bask in the year-round sun and indulge in Florida’s manicured
fairways and greens.
At its heart is Polk County, which is just a
short drive from Orlando down the I4 – the
long and straight interstate freeway that
dissects central Florida. As you travel west,
the neon signs and rollercoaster rides
eventually give way to a more sedate and
homely welcome.
Eaglebrooke’s testing layout will challenge
even the very best
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Just out of earshot of Orlando’s excesses
are places like Winter Haven and Frostproof,
which give a good indication of the kind of
climate you can expect here. A slower pace
of life replaces the relentless revelry of
Orlando and, more importantly, the county
accommodates more than 30 publicaccess golf courses, many of which are
relatively unknown.
A good example is The Club at Eaglebrooke,
which is conveniently placed in the suburbs
of the city of Lakeland. Combining a series
of dramatic holes, impressive bunkering
and an island fairway, the course was
opened for play in 1996, becoming Polk
County’s first layout to emerge from
reclaimed land. During the intervening
years, all signs of industry have been
replaced by tree-lined fairways, winding
cart paths and elegant homes. These
days, the only sound echoing around
Eaglebrooke is the gentle ‘clunk’ of club
against ball and children’s laughter from
neighbouring gardens.
John Greiner, head golf professional at
Eaglebrooke, believes the course – which
has hosted LPGA Futures Tour events and
Champions Tour qualifying – may be
attractive but is tough enough to
challenge the very best players. He said:
“For a Florida course, it has some
elevation to it. It has some rolling hills and
undulating greens and it has its share of
water and bunkers.”
Indeed, the last six holes all necessitate a
carry over water, with the 13th requiring
two blows over the wet stuff to make the
green. Playing off the back pegs, the
course stretches to more than 7,000 yards
and, with enormous waste bunkers to
boot, you need your ‘A’ game to get round
here with your dignity intact.
named after the colour of ink used to draw
out the routings – there isn’t a sound. The
tee position, on top of a tall dune, provides
a jaw-dropping view of the site and the
flatlands that stretch out beyond. Despite
this huge scope, there is nothing but peace.
There aren’t many reclaimed golf courses
in Polk County, so when two were added
earlier this year, people sat up and took
notice. Indeed, with less than a year under
its belt, the latest golf resort to emerge
from Florida’s industrial past is causing
something of a stir. Found 20 miles south
of Eaglebrooke in a remote part of Polk
County, it takes time to get to Streamsong,
but my word it is worth it! Teeing it up on
the first hole of the Blue Course – there are
two 18-holers at Streamsong, blue and red,
The occasional swish of a nearby practice
swing may break the calm, but for the
most part Streamsong is drenched in
hush. Here there is nothing but golf. While
playing the Blue Course, the idea of
excavators ripping up the soil didn’t enter
my mind once. In fact, it was far easier to
believe I was playing an established
seaside links, with its fast-running greens
banked by wispy grasses dwarfed by
huge, towering dunescapes. All that was
missing was the sound of crashing waves.
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Across The Pond
come as quite a shock. But Ridgewood is
more than just good greens. Despite the
course being at the heart of a gated
community, the houses are kept a respectful
distance, meaning you don’t have to
interrupt someone’s barbeque to retrieve
your ball. Best of all, it is a genuinely good
layout making it fun to play and a real
challenge to boot.
The excellent hotel at Streamsong affords
some wonderful views
You just don’t find sites like it, said Tom
Doak, one of the esteemed team of
designers assembled to create Streamsong.
“The contours of the ground at Streamsong
have a wider variety than you are likely to
find in nature because they were created by
big machines in the course of mining the
site,” he explained. “But they were left to
nature for so long afterwards that the wind
and rain turned them from piles of sand into
real dunes.”
Further Information
Polk County is around an hour’s drive
from Orlando International Airport, into
which you can fly directly from Gatwick,
Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff, Belfast and
Birmingham.
The Club at Eaglebrooke
7,005 yards, par 72
www.eaglebrooke.com
Streamsong Resort
Blue: 7,176, par 72
Red: 7,148 yards, par 72
www.streamsongresort.com
Ridgewood Lakes
Golf & Country Club
7,031 yards, par 72
www.ridgewoodlakesgolf.com
Southern Dunes
Golf & Country Club
7,227 yards, par 72
www.southerndunes.com
For more visitor information go to
www.visitcentralflorida.org
There is nothing like Streamsong in Florida.
For a host of reasons it stands out from the
crowd – the playing surfaces are hard and
firm and, away from the fairways, the ground
has been left in a rough-and-ready state,
emphasising the natural feel of the place.
Streamsong may be a shot in the arm for
Floridian golf, but it’s not the only course
willing to experiment.
A couple of miles south of Ridgewood is
Southern Dunes Golf & Country Club, which
is also part of a quiet gated community. Like
Ridgewood, Southern Dunes is a course
that gives with one hand and takes with the
other. In this case, rather than being relatively
flat but protected by water, the course features
generous, valley shaped landing areas that
help funnel golf balls into the short stuff.
One of the first local courses to move away
from Bermuda grasses was Ridgewood Lakes
Golf & Country Club. The course opened in
1994 and initially suffered from inconsistent
and frustratingly slow greens. That all changed
six years ago when Ridgewood switched to
Champions Bermuda grass.
As receptive as the fairways are, the penalty
for spraying it wide or mis-hitting an approach
is sand – there are 180 bunkers peppering
this 18-hole layout. The dependence on
shingle harks back to the land’s previous
incarnation as a citrus grove built on sandbased soil with a distinctive orange colour.
“Southern Dunes is a course that gives with one
hand and takes away with the other”
The club’s general manager, Charles
McLoone, explained: “It’s a hybrid Bermuda
which means it is very fine and has very little
grain. It is as close as you can get to
bentgrass. The greens are really fast, which
is a big change to what we had before.”
Gone are the soft, bobbly greens that so
often blight tropical courses. Instead, one
finds hard and true putting surfaces that
give an almost links-like feel. For those
unaccustomed to speed in the sun, it can
With this as a foundation, Steve Smyers,
the designer behind Southern Dunes, was
able to dig out dramatic landforms that are
as theatrical as they are intimidating.
Florida may be the archetypal golfing
destination but it’s not afraid to experiment.
At the centre of it all is Polk County, with a
rare combination of established courses,
trail-blazing resorts and a warm welcome.
And all that without a wide-eyed cartoon
character in sight!
.
If the golf experience of your dreams is grounded in beauty, variety and challenge, tee it up in Central Florida’s
Polk County. With 37 courses to choose from, you’ll find spectacular layouts in resort, links and parkland settings.
Naturally, you can experience it all in year-round, short-sleeve comfort. Log on and get the lay of the land today.
800 828-7655
Bunkers are the main hazard to negotiate
at Southern Dunes – 180 of them
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