World Golf Hall Of Fame Downsizing, Moving Out Of Florida

Tragic news for, um, probably someone out there. Although honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if no one was disappointed the massive World Golf Hall of Fame complex in St. Augustine, Florida was moving back to its original home in Pinehurst. A much smaller, less complex home. I certainly don't have any strong feelings; I never went and had literally no interest in going, which is probably part of the problem the World Golf Hall of Fame faced. A golf museum would be interesting, but the WGHF facility was enormous, with multiple mediocre, overpriced golf courses. It went all in on being a "destination," but you don't just conjure a golf destination out of dull Florida swamp. 

Streamsong? Whatever are you talking about?

Actually, let's talk about that. Streamsong (along with Bandon Dunes, Sand Valley, Cabot Links, etc.) works because the golf is inspired. Golf courses designed by people who care about golf. The WGHF was way too corporate, way too sanitized. And the people behind the WGHF thoroughly overestimated the place's attraction. They hoped for a million visitors a year. They got a quarter of that at most, and for the last 10 years got about 5% of that lofty goal. Frankly, I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did. Golf is just not that popular a sport.

I don't know if the new Pinehurst location will be any more successful than the St. Augustine location, but at the very least, Pinehurst is a golf town. Golfers will be in the area. And it does rain in North Carolina pretty often. I don't think it would make up for a rained-out round at Pinehurst No. 2, but hey, at least you don't have to sit in your hotel room now! That's a great tagline for the new World Golf Hall of Fame: "It's better than doing nothing."

Beer of the Week

The beer: Good Idea

Brewed by: Ology Brewing Company, Tallahassee, Florida

Description (from Untappd): "Blend between a Brown Ale and an Amber. Light, easy drinking, but solid malt complexity that has a nice complete finish. Bready, slight caramel, with a touch of roast. Every-day drinking beer."

Would I buy it again?: Alternatively, was it a good idea to buy this beer? Yes, that's the joke I'm going with. And I'm going to say, kind of. It was okay, but not spectacular. A little too hoppy for my taste, but mostly inoffensive. Which is fine, but there are better options out there.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Florida Cracker

Brewed by: Cigar City Brewing, Tampa, Florida

Description  (from the website): "Among the original European settlers of La Florida were rustic cattle ranchers called Cracker Cowboys whose whip cracks were used to move their herds across the Palmetto Prairie. These hard-working cowhands helped introduce cattle ranching to the emerging territory and established Florida as the young nation’s very first cattle-raising state. Our state’s agricultural history is celebrated with Florida Cracker Belgian-style White Ale, a perfect accompaniment to any outdoor adventure. A base of unmalted wheat and pale barley malt is complemented by European hops, orange peel and coriander that complement the lemon-lime esters of Belgian yeast. Enjoy Florida Cracker Belgian-style White Ale on the beach, in the mountains, or while wandering the sprawling prairies of Florida."

Would I buy it again?: Yeah, I would. It had a nice fruity flavor to it that wasn't overpowering but was definitely noticeable. Not much else to say about it, just a solid easy-to-drink beer.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Invasion Tropical Pale Ale

Brewed by: Cigar City Brewing, Tampa, Florida

Description (from the website): A Pale Ale developed with long days of pillaging, pirating, and marauding in mind, Invasion Tropical Pale Ale’s genesis lies with Tampa’s Gasparilla Pirate Invasion. The annual celebration of apocryphal Tampa history began in 1904 and has been injecting eyepatches, cutlasses, and scurvy into the city’s culture each January for more than 100 years. The brewers at Cigar City Brewing developed this moderate alcohol and tropically inspired beer to perfectly complement the fun and excitement of the Gasparilla Pirate Invasion, with generous additions of Motueka, Galaxy, Simcoe, Pacifica, and Amarillo hops adding tangerine and nectarine notes paired with a moderate body and vibrant carbonation."

Would I buy it again?: I had high hopes for this one. A tropical pale ale from Florida? Surely they'd know how to make a pale ale taste different, especially when they stuck tropical in at the beginning. Floridians know tropical. But no, this tasted like pretty much every pale ale. Which is fine if you like pale ales, but I'm not a huge fan. So I'll pass on this in the future.

Review: The Landings Golf Club of Clearwater

And that is the only time I, anyone, or anyplace other than the official website will refer to it by its full name.

I'd like to tell you that we're in for an exciting time here, and that The Landings is a high-quality, fun, and challenging golf course. But it isn't, and we're not in for an exciting time. I'm not even sure I can be funny about how bad it is. It's not even a good enough course to get to bad. Well, we can try anyway, maybe inspiration will strike.

If you're smart, you may suspect that The Landings has that name for a reason, and you're right! It's located right next to the Clearwater Airport. If you're now thinking that Floridian golf didn't need any help being flat and that the land next to a Florida airport must be some of the flattest land in the world, well, you're right again! I'm really not doing a good job of convincing you that reading this will be worth your time, am I? Well, before I do any more damage, let's get to business. Oh, don't worry, I won't take up two weeks of your time with this. One week, and I'll only hit the most noteworthy holes (ie., the least boring ones).

The second hole is a medium length par 4, weighing in at just over 400 yards. But because this is an executive course with a par of 63, and an overall length of less than 4,500 yards, this is the longest hole on the course. And it's interesting for more than that reason too! This is one of the two holes that plays directly against the airport. You can slice a drive right onto a runway! Sadly, I didn't do that, so I was deprived of the opportunity to say that I hit a golf ball onto an airport. The greenside bunker vaguely favors a shot from the right, so you're better off hitting close to the OB line, and I can't believe I just implied that there was some sort of strategy at this course.

The second hole. The airport is on the right.

The third hole is a shortish par 3, and isn't really that interesting, but you can see the runway in the picture, so here you go. It's not in play, really, but it's providing scenic interest!

It's like Pebble Beach here.

The fourth hole is a fairly short par 4, and it also plays along the runway. So if you didn't slice one over there on the second, you've got another opportunity here. The second shot is fairly tough, I suppose, a pitch to a well-bunkered green.

The fourth hole. More runway right.

Literally the most difficult shot in the universe.

The ninth hole is a short par 4, with a pond sort of in play on the left. If you lay up with a long iron, it's not a problem, but if you use a driver, it is something extra to think about. Since I started on 10, this was my last hole of the day.

The ninth hole

The eleventh hole is the longest hole on the back nine, and considering this was the first actual drive I hit during the round (the tenth hole is a 130 yard par 3), it's not the easiest tee shot in the world. The OB left is a concern. The green is very wide open though, so as long as you get your drive in play, you shouldn't have too much to worry about.

The eleventh hole, with OB left.

Hit a good drive, and it's a definite birdie opportunity. Not much trouble around the eleventh green.

The thirteenth hole is, and I use this phrase lightly, probably the best hole on the course. It's another short par 4, just over 310 yards, so probably just out of reach with the driver unless you're really long. The road to the left isn't really in play, but that group of trees just to the right of the fairway definitely is. If you want the best angle into the green, you'll have to at the very least get near them, if not challenge them directly. You don't want to leave yourself an awkward half-shot over the greenside bunker. Again, this isn't anything earth-shattering, just a hole with a basic amount of interest. That makes for a good hole here.

The thirteenth hole

You don't want to approach this green from too far left.

The fifteenth hole is a par 3 that's only 94 yards. I know it's an executive course, but still, you don't often come across holes this short. Plus, you can see the landing strip behind the green, and I don't know, I was alright with this hole. The green wasn't dead flat, and sometimes it's nice to hit little wedges off of the tee. It's okay in my book.

The fifteenth hole. A tiny little par 3.

The sixteenth hole is a long par 3 at 217 yards. I kind of like the way the fairway on this par 3 moves, so that's why I'm including it. After a round of basically runways, even a little bit of elevation change is noticeable.

The sixteenth hole.

Hey, I said it wasn't much, but it felt like it. It's Florida, what do you expect?

The eighteenth hole is a very, very short par 4, playing just over 250 yards. If you can hit your driver any sort of reasonable distance, you're almost certainly thinking eagle on this hole. And that's fair enough, but just consider the two bunkers flanking the green, they do provide a bit of challenge. This is definitely a birdie hole, but at least it's not completely brainless.

Well now, how much fun was that? No, I won't try to pump this course up as anything other than an extremely basic executive course that probably isn't worth the money. This was $18, Clearwater Country Club was $25, I believe, and you get an actual golf course for that extra $7. Not a great one, but far more interesting than this. Wentworth was $35, and even though I wasn't a fan of the back nine, that course is easily twice the course this was. So my advice, pay a little more, go somewhere better, unless you're operating on no sleep and just want somewhere to play. This course isn't worth your time otherwise.

Review: Wentworth Golf Club (Part 2)

And here we go with the back nine. If you haven't seen the front nine yet, you can read about it here.

The tenth hole is a fairly long par 5 at just under 550 yards. The driving range is right of the fairway, behind some trees, so you definitely don't want to be over there. While it is technically possible for longer hitters to get to this green in two, I think this hole, much like the eighth, is best played as a three shotter. There are a lot of bunkers, and there are a lot of places where you don't want to miss. There's the driving range on the tee shot, there's a marshy area on the left side of the fairway about a hundred yards from the green, and the green itself is hardly an inviting target. This isn't really a birdie hole, I'd actually call this one of the toughest holes on the course.

The tenth hole.

Lots of bunkers in view here.

The tenth green is not an inviting target.

The eleventh hole is a 410 yard par 4 that doglegs pretty sharply to the left. Driver is definitely not the club to use off this tee, the hole bends pretty quickly, and you'll end up in a bunker or in a yard if you go through the fairway. There's not a lot of room there. The second shot is a short iron over a pond to the green, which also has bunkers left. Another tough hole.

The eleventh hole.

Another difficult approach shot.

The twelfth hole is a short par 3 over a pond. There are dozens, if not hundreds of golf courses in Florida that have a hole just like it. Other than that pond, it's not interesting in any way. Moving on.

The twelfth hole.

The thirteenth hole is a mid-length par 4 that, much like the eleventh, doglegs sharply to the left. If you didn't want to go through the fairway on that hole, you really don't want to go through the fairway here. Once again, you'll want to lay up off the tee. The second shot is a bit easier than on the eleventh since its shorter, but I didn't get a picture of it and I don't exactly remember what the green is like. I know there's a pond left of the green, there are a couple of greenside bunkers, and I believe the green is slightly elevated. Maybe?

The thirteenth hole.

The fourteenth hole is a long par 3, played to a green framed by cypress swamp. It's a tough hole, but I think it would be better if it were tougher. Other than the aforementioned cypress swamp, there are no hazards, which makes the hole a bit dull. Throw some bunkers in there, you've got a 230 yard par 3, commit to the difficulty! It would be far more memorable that way.

The fourteenth hole.

The fifteenth hole is a mid-length par 4, and I liked this hole quite a bit. The bunkers look really good here, and while I don't normally like houses on my golf courses, I have to admit, the houses around this hole weren't too bad They suited the scenery, and I can appreciate that. Anyway, there's OB extremely close to the left side, and the hole is somewhat better approached from the left, since the green opens up slightly more from that side. Not a terribly difficult hole, but definitely one of the better holes on the back nine, if not the whole golf course.

The fifteenth hole.

Come on, that's a good looking (and very big) house.

The sixteenth hole is a 160 yard par 3, played to a very small green surrounded with sand. Very Postage Stamp-esque. It's another good looking hole.

The sixteenth hole.

The seventeenth hole is a short par 5, coming in just under 500 yards. I would nominate this hole as the best on the back nine, if for no other reason than the rambunctious nature of the bunkering. 8 bunkers, some of them quite large, not to mention the presence of another rare beast. This hole has true fairway bunkers, as in bunkers completely surrounded by fairway. You don't see too many of those around. Anyway, I like how the golfer is always given something to think about, regardless of whether or not they're going for the green in two.

The seventeenth hole.

Very scenic powerline in the background there.

The eighteenth hole is a long par 4, the longest on the course. Except not really, because the tees were up when I played it. There's OB right on the drive, and since the hole is a bit better approached from the left side, there's no good reason to go right. This is where I would usually say "Which is exactly what I did" but no! I hit a good drive on this hole, defying all the odds. The second shot is, once again, to a small green flanked by bunkers. Seriously, I didn't realize the greens were so small until I looked back at these pictures. Like I've said, this course demands a lot of accuracy.

The eighteenth hole.

Another good looking approach shot.

To be perfectly honest, and in case you didn't already figure this out, I didn't really like the back nine. Both nines require accuracy, but the back nine you are punished far more for wayward shots. On the front nine, there's a good chance you'll be able to find and hit an inaccurate drive. That is not the case on the back nine. For example, despite being spraying the ball more on the front, I didn't lose any golf balls on that nine, but I lost three on the back. There's more water and unplayable opportunities on the back, and while the hole corridors may be slightly wider, it's not enough to make up for the fact that the holes aren't running parallel to each other.

That said, I really did enjoy the front nine despite the general premium on accuracy. I appreciated the scenery a lot, I think this course looks really good. The bunkering is pleasing to the eye, and the forested nature of the course was a nice change of pace from the other Florida courses I played. I haven't played a course that looked quite like this one, and I liked that. So, even considering the weak back nine, I would still recommend this course. I enjoyed quite a lot of it.

I won't lie, the golf course I'm reviewing next month is quite boring. But if you want sarcasm, there will be plenty of that! I promise March will be good though, I've saved my favorite course from the trip for last.

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.

Review: Clearwater Country Club (Part 1)

Winter has come to the Mid-Atlantic. It's cold, it's dark most of the time, and there's precious little golf to be played. It's not impossible, Maryland's just far enough south that you can almost always sneak out once or twice in January and February, but by and large, we're pretty much done until March. To keep the one course a month thing going, I either needed the weather to cooperate during the winter or I needed a backlog. I decided to go with the latter, and not in the way I was initially expecting. Someone's been traveling again. It's not any old place I've gone to, no, for the next four months, I'll be bringing you golf course reviews from the Sunshine State. Be prepared for lots of palm trees, and uh, not as much sunshine as you might expect.

My home base for this little jaunt south was Clearwater, which is near Tampa. So, what better way to start off than with Clearwater Country Club? The name is more impressive than the course, this is a very public golf course. It dates back 1921, and was designed by Herbert Strong. If you know your golf course architecture, you may recognize that name, Herbert Strong also designed Canterbury, Engineers, the original Ponte Vedra Beach course, Saucon Valley, and Inwood. Clearwater is not as good. Frankly, I'm not sure how much of the original is left. Unlike another old course I played in Florida, this one barely even feels like a Golden Age design. Who knows how much abuse it's suffered, or what features have been softened or removed entirely? Even so, there were some interesting bits, so let's dig in.

The first hole is a short par 4, which is something I'll be saying a lot in this review. Seriously, out of the 12 par 4s on the course, one is over 400 yards, one is just under 400 yards, and the rest are under 375 yards. This is a gentle opening, there's no trouble at all off the tee save the occasional tree. The green is flanked by bunkers, and there's OB long, but if you've hit a good drive, you'll probably just have a wedge into the green. The greens here are not exactly great, but they're not devoid of interest. You can find some decent slope in them, and they're probably the biggest giveaway of the course's age. 

The first green

You can see the tenth green and the eleventh hole in the background.

The second hole is 370 yards, fairly long for this course. There's a bunker on the right side of the green, which suggests a drive down the left side, closer to the trees and the road. But the bunker's not big enough to be very threatening, so I'm going to guess it was probably bigger at some point.

Even with OB left, it's a fairly open drive on the second.

Yes, those are railroad crossing signs behind the second green. We'll get to those.

The third hole is another short par 4 (the course opens with 5 par 4s in a row). It's a fairly sharp dogleg left, with a drive over a little stream. And yes, that is a hill it climbs. A hill in Florida. The second shot is to an absurdly small green with a bunker left. The entire course is like this, the first two greens aren't bad, and some are worse than others, but I'm almost positive that all the greens were bigger at some point. You can just sort of tell by looking at how far the green line is from any bunkers around it, and from the general green area. Anyway, this is a decent little hole, and I appreciate any sort of elevation change on a Florida golf course. It's amazing how much they stand out, and how much a simple ten foot elevation change adds to a hole.

The third from the tee.

I hope you can see what I'm talking about in terms of greens. The third has a ridiculously small green. There's no way that's full size.

The fourth hole is another short par 4, nearly the same length as the first and third, but this is a much more interesting hole than either of them. The drive is over a pond, but the water doesn't come into play for most. But look, the tee shot is blind! And there's a stream which cuts off the fairway about 50 or 60 yards from the green. And there's more elevation change! This hole has things going on. It's probably the best hole on the front nine. I wish the green was a little bigger, but otherwise, it's another good hole.

Fun fact, as my group was teeing off, a bald eagle landed on the other side of the pond, which was the first time I'd seen one up close. 

Can't see much from the fourth tee.

The pitch to the fourth green isn't an easy one.

The fifth hole is a par 4 that manages to be 100 yards shorter than the previous hole, which was not a long par 4 either. This is a 245 yard par 4, and it also happens to be home to the only fairway bunker on the golf course. Fairly certain the course probably started out with more. You can try going for the green if you'd like, it's not a long shot, but with a stream running right in front of the green, I wouldn't recommend it. I laid up. You may also notice the wooden trestle behind the bridge. That's the railroad track, and that's probably the most interesting feature on the golf course. It's not in play now, but it will pop up again on the back nine.

It's best to lay up on the fifth.

Yes, it was raining quite hard while I was playing the fifth hole.

The sixth hole is the first par 3 we get to. It's 175 yards, and there's a bunker front right. This is a less interesting hole.

The seventh hole is the longest par 4 on the front nine, at 371 yards. The drive is pretty simple, but there's a pond lurking to the right of the green. It's not excessively in play, but you do have to think about a little, especially if you go right off the tee.

The seventh from the tee.

The seventh from the fairway.

The seventh green from the fourth tee.

The eighth hole is the first and only par 5 on the front. There's a road that runs quite close to the fairway for the entire length of the hole, and it is very in play. Of course, I hit onto it. But this is still a 460 yard par 5, so I was able to save bogey by hitting the green in two. It's a tricky second shot, there are three bunkers circling the green, a stream in front, and the road is still there. If your drive is straight, it's a birdie hole.

The eighth hole. I'll address this now, the lighting was weird on some pictures. It wasn't a great day for photography.

The second shot to the eighth is not easy.

The ninth hole is a hole that I like, but I'm not entirely sure why. There's a bunker left of the green, but you can barely see it, and it's not a big concern. It may be because the hole rests upon the landscape very gently. It doesn't try to do anything exciting or dramatic, it just sort of suits the surroundings.

That brings us to the end of the front nine! It's been a little while since I've done a two-parter, but I think we'll do one here, and get the back nine another time.