Playing Golf on the Florida Gulf Coast

By Terry VanderHeiden

As the temperatures drop in your part of the country, now is the time to plan your trip to the sunny area of the Florida Gulf Coast or more specifically, Anna Maria Island. Anna Maria Island or the Bradenton area plays host to many spectacular golf course venues.

One of the top public golf courses in the area is the Legacy Golf Club at Lakewood Ranch. This Arnold Palmer design is an 18-hole layout that is guarded by several lakes and sand bunkers. If you are looking for an easy resort golf course, keep looking. If you want a golf challenge, then you came to the right place.

The contest starts on the first hole, a difficult par-4 starting hole with water all down the right side of its 454 yards; if you slice the ball, be careful. Not only is the hole long for the beginning of your round, there are several humps and moguls throughout the fairway that can leave even the best of drives with a tricky lie.

It doesn’t get any easier with hole number two as it is a 539-yard par-5 that doesn’t reveal much from the tee box. The tremendous overgrowth shields the golfers vision from the box to force you to use the yardage guide and hope for the best after you take your swing. Water on the left side and mounding down the fairway as well as at least eight bunkers make your trip down the fairway, trying at best.

Number four is aptly named the “Watering Hole”. It’s a par-3 that is 205 yards from tips and all carry over the inlet of water. There is a bail out area to the right of the peninsula green but you didn’t travel all the way to Florida to lay-up did you? Add to that, hitting the green from the tee box is an exhilarating feeling and must be taken advantage of.

For a real test in golf, the rest of the golf course is divided up over many give-and-take holes in that some are difficult and some are downright impossible.

When the round is over, if you did well, you will feel like you just slayed a dragon. If you didn’t do so well, you’ll want to come back and try it again.

To find our more about golf on Anna Maria Island check out the web site at; http://annamariaisland.com

For more golf on the Florida Gulf Coast see the accompanying article on Tony Jacklin and the Concession.