Review: Wentworth Golf Club (Part 1)

It's time for more Floridian golf! The course on tap this month is Wentworth Golf Club in Tarpon Springs. While it isn't the longest course I played in Florida, it is definitely the most difficult. The fairways are often tight, and there's a decent amount of water around as well. It punches well above what you'd expect from a course that weighs in at less than 6,500 yards.

You may notice that this course looks distinctly different to Clearwater Country Club, and that's because it does look a lot different. While the two courses are 15 miles apart, if that, they manage to have completely different aesthetics. Clearwater (along with the other two courses I played in Florida), have similar looks. No dense forests, many palm trees, the look people think of when they think of the Florida look. Wentworth is a bit further inland, a bit further north, neither by much, but apparently it makes a difference. There are almost no palms, but lots of pines, cypress, and live oaks. You'll get a better idea once you start seeing pictures.

The first hole is a not quite short par 4 at 360 yards. While there's no picture from the tee, I can assure you that there's not a lot of room between dense cypress forest right and oaks left. But since there's a hole left of the first hole, left is definitely the place to miss, especially if you can miss with authority and end up with a shot at the green because you've gone THAT far left. There's really no need to use a driver here, it's narrow, and there's a pond that comes into play about 280 yards off the tee. You don't want to mess with that, and it's a short enough hole that you'll still be using a wedge if you use a 3 wood or long iron. The second looks fairly intimidating, but the pond doesn't really come into play. The green is fairly undulating and interesting, which is the case in general for the entire course. I've got almost no complaints about the greens at Wentworth.

The first green. If you'd laid back off the tee, the pond isn't a concern.

The second hole is the rarest of Florida beasts, a long and difficult par 4 that manages to go all of its 450 yards without a single pond. There's no water needed to make this hole tough. The tee shot here is similar to the first, but with a little more room. The second shot, if you've gotten your tee shot into position A, is a mid-iron to a small, well-bunkered green. Here is a hole that's difficult without being stupid.

The second hole.

An intimidating approach, but at least there's no water in sight!

The third hole is the best hole on the golf course, and a welcome respite from the narrow fairways of the first two holes. At only 300 yards, there are a lot of golfers who will step up to this tee thinking they'll have a go at the green, especially seeing as the player is given lots of breathing room. And who knows, maybe a lot of people do. But it's a terrible idea. The green is narrow, and pinched by two huge bunkers. There is almost no margin for error if you try to drive the green. The better play by far is to lay up with a long iron, and leave yourself a little wedge. Do that, and it's a very birdieable hole.

The third hole.

There's a lot of sand around this green.

The fourth hole is a medium length par 3 to a green surrounded with sand. I don't have anything clever to say, it's a fairly difficult hole, for bunker-based reasons. I do like the look of it, surrounded by Spanish moss-covered oaks.

The fourth hole.

The fifth hole is a narrow, straightaway short par 5. The tee shot is obviously the most important shot here, hit a good one, and you won't have much more than a mid-iron to the green. The second shot isn't difficult, there are some bunkers and the green isn't very big, but there's no real significant trouble around. If you hit the ball straight, it's a real eagle opportunity.

The fifth hole.

No trouble in the fairway.

The fifth green is a bit more protected.

The sixth hole is a fairly long par 4 at 420 yards, and if you can hit a draw off the tee, that gives you a big advantage. The hole doglegs left around a cypress-choked pond, so you'll probably want to give that a wide berth. You've got some wiggle room right off the tee, but not a lot. It's definitely not an easy drive. The second shot is a short iron to a small green well-guarded with bunkers. The second hole is tougher, but this hole isn't too far behind.

The sixth hole. It helps if you can hit a draw.

The sixth green.

There's really not a lot of green on this hole.

The seventh hole is a fairly short par 3, and there's not a lot to this hole. There's one bunker in front of the green, and a fair amount of trees clustered about so you'll need to hit your tee shot high. But I like the way it looks, even if there's no way that mounding was there originally. I like the little bits of exposed sand, it looks good. The entire hole looks good.

The seventh hole.

The eighth hole is a par 5, not much more than 500 yards, that plays more difficult than you might expect. The green is reachable in two, but only if you drive down the right side, close to bunkers and a bunch of bushes and trees. After that, the second (and third if you're not brave) play through a narrow corridor of grass winding through marshy cypress forest. There really isn't much margin for error on this hole, you may be better off being safe and playing it as a three shot hole.

The eighth hole

Not a lot of room for missing.

The eighth green.

The ninth hole is a fairly short par 4, but again, accuracy is important. There is a pond short-right of the green, and it is very much in play on the second shot. So you'll want to hit your drive down the left side, but how about that there's a fairway bunker on the left side. The green itself is very small and is well guarded with both the pond and a group of bunkers. So yes, it's only 355 yards, but you definitely just can't blast away.

The ninth hole.

This is not a big target.

That's it for the front nine, next week we'll get to the back nine.