Hands Down the Best Golf in FL

I know that is a bold statement, especially looking at the list of courses that rank high in FL, but I'm pretty comfortable saying that after playing the two courses at Streamsong Resort in the middle of nowhere FL.  While some are making comparisons to some other great courses around the country, I think these two courses stand on their own two feet.  There is nothing like them in the state of FL and only dozen or so courses around the US that are in a similar style.

Getting to these courses built in the middle of an old phosphate mine isn't really all that difficult.  They are only 1.5 hour from Orlando and 1 hour from Tampa.  While distance or time isn't that big of deal, they literally are in the middle of nowhere.  The closest "town" is 15 minutes away, but that shouldn't stop you from playing these courses.  If you live in the state of FL they are a must play.  If  you live anywhere else in the US, wait a couple months and then put these on the top of your list of places to play, that way the resort hotel will be done and you will have a place to stay.  In my opinion these should be on your top 10 public places to play.  Another benefit these courses have being built in FL is that they will have year round golfing weather which some other great courses don't have.  The only draw back could be the summer months might get really hot with no shade anywhere on the course, but the covered carts should offer enough shade to play even on the sunniest of days.  Once completed Streamsong resort will have 216+ rooms, restaurants, a spa, guided fishing tours, and 36 holes of "hands down" the best golf in the state and really some of the best golf in the world.

For more information: www.streamsongresort.com

Quick Hits
+36 awesome holes of golf
+Doak and Coore/Crenshaw links style golf
+Surprisingly scenic open land(virtually nothing in site)
+Ample landing zones for driver
+Great, yet distinct green complexes
+Impeccable conditions
+FL year-round golfing weather

--Middle of no where FL.
--Shadeless

I played at Streamsong Resort on the official opening of the courses.  Coore and Crenshaw (and Doak) were there for an opening presentation as well as a ribbon cutting and opening tee shots that day.  It really was a fun and festive occasion.  It just so happened there were quite a few other golfers and golf writers there that day so they had a 36 hole shotgun start.  I was paired up with some nice gentleman to play the Red Course.  We started on hole 7.   Although it was a little tricky to keep my bearings as to the normal layout of how this course would play, I'll hit some of the highlights from each nine. 

The front 9 starts with 3 really great holes.  A slight break from many Coore/Crenshaw designs is the fact that there are water features on all 3 of these holes.  The opening hole is not the easiest opening tee shot over water and between the dunes.  It is a big par 4 to begin. especially because it plays slightly uphill after the tee shot.  The 2nd hole takes a big drive to carry the water and then a couple of solid shots to reach the green.  There is water that plays up the right side of this fairway. The 3rd hole again is somewhat intimidating off the tee.  Forced carry over water and a gorge into a fairway with lots of pitch from left to right.  The 6th and 8th hole are excellent par 3s.  The 6th was playing about 185 yards, the green is big and has plenty of room, yet there is plenty of danger too with the green side beach bunker.  The 8th hole is a great short par 3.  It is so unique with the multiple angle which the tee boxes are set at, this small green has a back bunker that is sure to get plenty of play after your tee shot trickles off the green into that bunker.  The 9th hole is a great short par 4 to wrap up the front side.  Fly the giant bunker and you'll have a half wedge or less into the green.  The front 9 is a great collection of holes that will challenge even the best of golfers, but yet played fair from tee to green.  The fairways, approaches and greens were all pretty firm and fast.  Many holes offered good bounce off the driver and the ground game was available on many holes for approach shots.

The back nine of the Red course begins far away from the clubhouse.  There wasn't a snack shop at the turn, but a beverage cart was working its way around so even in the FL heat you will still find beverages and snacks available regularly.  There isn't much fanfare in changing 9s nor is there a distinct change of scenery.  The 10th hole plays very long from the back tees with an uphill tee shot and then another bomb into sloping green from right to left.  While 12 and 13 are similar in length, 12 plays all down hill so some of that distance is gained by the ball rolling down the slopes and 13 plays all uphill and somewhat blind into the green so it could be reached in two by big hitters, but tough.  The 14th and 16th holes are the par 3s on this side and they are both excellent holes.  The 14th hole is kind of a table top style green that played about 180 and the 16th is an excellent multi-tiered green cut into the side of the hill.  It was playing a good 215 with a solid forced carry of maybe 165.  The 18th hole is great big finisher up the hill into the mounds with a giant dune as the back drop.  At the end of your round you come down the cart path right by the main entrance to the clubhouse.  For all 18 holes there seemed to be significant elevation changes even though the property is mostly flat, it had a great rolling feel to it.

The Red course is certainly one of the best golf courses in FL.  It is hard for me to decide which 18 is better at Streamsong.  I played all 18 of the Red and only played 9 holes of the Blue.  I really seem them as equals.  Each one is slightly different, but both were excellent in their own way.  There are some distinct features of the Red course: most holes have ample driving room, almost every green is accessible via a low running shot, but will still hold aerial shots and all of the greens have very subtle undulation.  If you have played a Coore/Crenshaw course before, there will be many similarities in how you attack the course and the greens.  They did have few more forced carries and water holes than I seen on their other courses, but the layout is as good as any and the variety of length and width made for an enjoyable round for all the skill levels in our group.

After I got done playing the Red course, I found my way over to the Blue course.  The day was done for the other golfers, but there was still a solid 1.5 hours of sunlight left.  I hopped in my cart and away I went to the 1st tee.  It is the highest point of the 36 holes and you can see a variety of holes from there, as well as the beautiful clubhouse and putting green.  I didn't think there was time to play the front 9 along with the fact a few groups were still wrapping up and finding their way in, I decided to just take some photos of the first 9 holes of the Blue course.   I did really enjoy how this course started.  The first hole is a short par 4 with lots of space, there were multiple options off the tee, which is always a nice way to start a round.  The second hole is a solid par 5, but again nothing too demanding, just a solid hole.  The next couple par 4s were both demanding.  The 5th and 7th holes are 2 great par 3s  The 5th is a great short, raised green par 3 and the 7th is the signature hole of the hole property.  There are probably more photos taken here than anywhere else at the resort.  It is  a really tough hole too.  Some 210yards from the back tees with most of it being carry, and no real bail out area right or left.  The front side closes with two long holes; a demanding par 4 and a long par 5 to conclude the front 9.

Once I made the turn, I realized I would have enough time to play the back 9.  It starts with an intersting par 3.  While it is at about the same level as the tee, the green has severe banks and valleys in front of it, so the only way to get on this green is to fly it there.  The 11th hole is another monster par 4, but thankfully there is plenty of room to bomb away on both your first and second shots.  Hole 13 is a great short par 3 that continues to narrow as you reach the green; you can go for it or lay back in order to use a more precise club to attack the green.  The 14th hole is a tough hole because it require you to really plan out how you are going to play this hole.  It seems unlikely for too many golfers to be going for this green in 2, thus laying up to the right yardage is key.  The 16th hole is the longest par 3 on the property.  It plays really long at 24oyards uphill.  I ripped a 3-wood still just barely reaching the front edge.  The finishing 18th is a great hole to close your round with as it bounds down toward the clubhouse.

The Blue course is another Doak master piece.  I only played 9 holes so I'm not sure how I would have scored compared to the Red course, but I thoroughly enjoyed all 18 holes, especially the 9 I played.  While the holes intertwine with the Red course and the land seems almost the same, it is definitely a different 18 holes.  The Blue course does offer wide landing areas, but the approach shots often need to be aerial because of the danger in front of the green.  The greens themselves have much greater undulation and the over all feel of the course is flatter.  You can tell which course was designed by Doak and which one was designed by Coore/Crenshaw.  I personally putted much better on the Blue course than I did on the Red course.  I think I do better with the big breaks and turns of the Blue rather than the little subtle bumps and humps of the Red.

I wouldn't even think of going to Streamsong to just play 18 holes.  All 36 holes are so good, it would be hard to choose which 18 is better.  I liked different aspects about each course.  While it might seem all the same, the discerning golfer will notice the differences between the 2 courses.  If you go, make sure you play all 36 holes, if possible play them more than once while staying on site.  They are easily hands down the best golf in FL.