Florida Golf Features
St. Joe/Arvida gets it right by taking environment, design to heart
The old axiom around here is "so goes St. Joe, so goes Northwest Florida." Considering the Jacksonville based land baron's current direction, the going is getting good. Since purchasing community development powerhouse Arvida in 1997, St. Joe has authored two of north Florida's most environmentally sensitive, progressively designed communities: SouthWood in Tallahassee and WaterColor in Seagrove Beach. Together, the communities are reinventing residential development in the Sunshine State.
... full article »Florida's best new courses of 2002
If the golf course construction industry is in the slowdown it claims to be, you couldn't tell it by looking at Florida. In 2002 the state that already harbors nearly 1,300 courses, the most in the United States, added roughly two dozen more. Several of the openings from the past 12 months prove that the range and styles of Florida golf is beginning to catch up to the nation's other hot spots. Here's the yearly round-up of the best new courses of Florida that opened in 2002:
... full article »Golf on the Emerald Coast A Destin Golf Primer
It's called the Emerald Coast because at certain times of the day the Gulf of Mexico waters just off the Panhandle shores shimmer a pure, amazing green color. The contrast between the calm, jeweled Gulf water and the pure white "sugar" sand beaches can be startling and is the reason why this is one of the truly beautiful and appreciated havens to those who know it. Thousands of families visit this corner of Florida between Panama City Beach and Pensacola each spring and summer to indulge in the powdery sand, consistently ideal weather and plethora of golf.
... full article »Couples/Bates Design forges ahead with an 'understanding'
Unbeknownst to many weekend warriors, the usually unflappable Fred Couples and the unassuming Gene Bates actually form one of the longest standing player/architect teams in golf course design. The partnership began in earnest in 1992 when Couples was one of the hottest names on the PGA Tour. Bates approached Couples prior to the Masters about assisting in the design of Hamilton Mill Golf Club just north of Atlanta.
... full article »Tallahassee Primer: A Look at the Hard Working Golf Courses of Tallahassee
Those who know the South will tell you that Florida is not a "Southern" state. Miami has as much in common with rural Mississippi as day does with night. Tallahassee, however, is different. If there's one city in Florida that could blend seamlessly into Georgia or Alabama, it's this one (it's closer to the Georgia border than it is to the white sand beaches of the Gulf of Mexico). Specifically, conservative Tallahassee doesn't exude a "Fun in the Sun" personality the same way that locales to the south do. Here's a look at the golf courses in the state's capital.
... full article »
